Restaurant Recipes at home?!

tootoo

Hi all,
I've been looking at trying to re-create my fav Italian meal at home, but its just not working!
Would anyone kindly give me some suggestions? I have the Takeaway secret book and i was hoping it would be in there but it isn't.

Here is the blurb from the menu:-
Pollo Vesuvio -
Chicken cooked in a hot and spicy tomato sauce with ham, Mushrooms, Onions and Diced Peppers

We do eat out as a treat occasionally, but by the time we factor in petrol (taxis are too much) as its a 40 miles round trip, drinks etc its going on for £50!
The sauce is a smooth tomatoey one, slightly creamy although I'm not sure its definately cream, as the colour is quite a medium - light red, but to get the colour right it tastes way too creamy and not nice....

Any suggestions most welcome.
Tootoo

Stephen_Leak

I had a similar problem trying to recreate my favourite Indian takeaway's Chicken Tikka Masala sauce.

A Google search comes up with loads of recipes. You should see a pattern emerging of the most common ingredients. Filter out any "unique" ingredients. Especially as it's Italian, go for the simpler recipes. These are more likely to be more authentic.

Try the rest. Pick the one(s) that come closest, and then fine tune them, one ingredient at a time.

Of course, regular comparisons to the target dish are now justified, to check your progress.

tootoo

Thank you. I've had a look online, but nothing stands out. I'll just have to try a few like you suggest and then on the odd occasion try the real thing for quality purposes!
Tootoo

Gigervamp

Instead of cream, what about adding a knob of butter at the end? That lightens the colour and adds a little bit of creaminess, but not too much.

maman

Or what about a little yogurt or creme fraiche?

Allegra

Are you using tinned tomatoes for the sauce ? For the sort of sauce you describe, I would use either passata (sieved tomatoes) or even just tomato puree instead. Oil, onion, garlic, herbs, paprika, chilli powder (if it's supposed to be really spicy), and a good slug of white wine, then reduce to the right consistency. If you get the tomato/wine ration right, the colour should be quite creamy without having used any cream at all. A squeeze of lemon at the end of cooking as an optional extra, perhaps ? Oh, and a small spoonful of sugar if you find the tomatoes too tart.

song_of_calliope

Maybe try adding some cream cheese at the end or, if the flavours would go, some Boursin.

M0neysav3r

My son likes a tomato based pasta sauce made from a white sauce ( just butter, flour and milk) mixed with a tin of chopped tomatoes, this gives quite a pinky looking sauce which thickens, ds likes cheese added to the white sauce but you could add anything, chilli etc.

If you cannot find anything how about emailing the restaurant (pretend you live miles away and are never likely to return blah blah) You never know

tootoo

Thank you all - some great suggestions.
I've been using tinned toms, but whizzing them up. Passata would give a similar consistency.
I'll give the suggests a try and see how I get on, hopefully I can come up with something similar!

clairehi

I have a Nigella recipe for meatballs in tomato sauce which involves adding 100ml full fat milk to the tomato sauce. it makes a richer sauce but not too creamy - may be worth a try?
ps this recipe also uses passata not chopped toms.

babyshoes

I was also about to suggest a slug of milk. I add some to my bolognese if it is too tomatoey and acid-y.