Got The Knack: Cortazzo Sauces - Let Chef Scott Martino Cook For You Tonight

April 04, 2013

Cortazzo Sauces - Let Chef Scott Martino Cook For You Tonight

I would looove to spend 6-8 hours every day in the kitchen with pots on the stove, making sauces from scratch (In fact, I'm so bent on cooking that I have a whole menu written for my one-day-dream restaurant).

But let's be realistic - I'm a full-time freelance writer with 12 projects currently on the go and I need to make a good, healthy, tasty dinner quickly for my fella and I.

So when I stock my pantry of any kind of pre-made sauce, it's got to be top-notch - as a restaurant critic, it is hard for me to let go of assessing food for it's flavour profiles, texture, and everything I look for when I'm dining out for review. 

In other words, I'm a pretty tough customer.

Cortazzo Foods, a line of fresh, homemade sauces inspired by generations of Cortazzo family recipes and brought to us by Chef Scott Martino, make the grade.

What strikes me about these sauces is that the tomato-based ones - Arribbiata, Marinara andPomodoro - burst forth with immense fresh, rich tomato flavour. The tomato isn't masked by other ingredients, but instead highlighted. The thick sauces really adhere to your pasta - they're not runny like most jarred sauces - and stand up against the thick carbs.

And most interestingly, Chef Martino offers two sauces that are not Italian at all, and are perhaps the most fun of the bunch. 

Awesome in a Jar is a wonderfully tangy barbecue sauce that is perfect for grilling season. It has just a hint of heat (chili powder) and sweetness (honey, brown sugar and pineapple juice) and again, Chef knows his textures, as you can brush it onto your ribs or top your burger with it and the consistency is perfect. 

Carolina Peakes is a fascinating sauce with a grainy texture, made with mustard and vinegar, that will transform your food. Slather it on your chicken and broil your veggies with it - zesty and vinegary, it takes your food to a whole other level.

What's most remarkable about these jarred sauces is the amount of flavour packed into 'em, while using only whole, natural ingredients, with no preservatives or trans fats.

Sure you can spend hours slaving at the stove, peeling and deseeding tomatoes, reducing ingredients down for your sauce. But why when you've got Chef Martino and Cortazzo Foods at your side?

-Stephanie Dickison

Got The Knack

Cortazzo Foods & The Made Collection

                                                                            Cortazzo Foods & The Made Collection

Cortazzo Foods & West Elm Market

Just like grandma's. Every batch of handcrafted Cortazzo Marinara Sauces is lovingly made of all-natural ingredients and simmers for hours. Stock your own pantry with these 25-ounce jars (perfect for all kinds of pastas) or give a few as gifts.

Williams Sonoma - West Elm Market

Made Collection Cortazzo Tomato Sauce

                      CORTAZZO FOODS - TOMATO SAUCE VARIETY 3PK  $27.00

PRODUCT DETAILS

There’s an old woman who lives on East 188th Street in the Bronx, off Arthur Avenue. She’s got garlic under her fingernails, age spots on her hands. She has hard, deep eyes that watched generations pass her by—starting back in Italy, then America. She stands over her Westinghouse stove in the apartment on East 188th Street, rocking on swollen, rusted ankles, stirring the sauce she has stirred for 60 years. And then, one day, she tastes the marinara from Cortazzo, and she stops stirring. She unties her apron, sits, and closes her eyes. She smiles. And she tells Sonny to order some more jars on the computer.

COMPANY INFO

Inspired by generations of passed down family recipes, Cortazzo chef J. Scott Martino combines fresh, tasty ingredients with classical cooking techniques to create his line of robust, authentic tomato and barbecue sauces. Obsession is what it takes to make sauces worthy of the Cortazzo name -- it took nine months to develop the company's secret mustard barbecue sauce blend. Cortazzo has stayed true to their roots since 2005, in Lancaster Pennsylvania, by making sauces that give Italy a run for its money.

SHIPPING AND RETURNS

This specific item usually ships with 7-10 business days. All sales final. Not eligible for return.

DETAILS AND CARE

Each jar is 24oz. Comes with three different flavors of sauce, Arrabbiata, Pomodoro and Marinara. Arrabbiata & Pomodoro: 100% natural, no preservatives, no added sugar, no trans fats and gluten free. Marinara: 100% natural, no preservatives, no trans fats, gluten free. Made in USA

Made Collection Cortazzo Tomato Sauce

Cortazzo Holiday Gift Baskets

                                                                           Cortazzo Gift Baskets

Holiday Flavors with Chef Scott Martino

Holiday Flavors with Chef Scott Martino

Tuesday, October 16th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm

1. Wednesday, October 17th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm

$49.99

The holidays are approaching. Join guest Chef Scott Martino, owner of Cortazzo Foods and former Executive Chef at Doneckers, for a demonstration of his culinary techniques. This meal offers great ideas guaranteed to spice up any holiday gathering. Come enjoy this filling menu and learn helpful cooking tips.

For more information visit:

http://goodcookingstore.com/cooking-classes/

Chef Scott Martino & Smucker Farms

Chef Scott Martino & Smucker Farms of Lancaster County

     On a summer day in 2005, Chef Scott Martino took a break from working at one of the finest restaurants in Pennsylvania and spent some time in his home garden. That day he harvested a bounty of tomatoes and used this fresh-picked produce to create what would become known as the Cortazzo Foods Marinara Sauce.

     Chef Martino’s Lancaster County-basedCortazzo Foods now consists of three traditional Italian tomato-based sauces as well as two barbecue sauces. He still cooks using the same principle employed with that first pot of Marinara: small batches and taste-tests of every pot. The chef says that although this is a more time consuming method, it is a “labor of love.” Every batch of these handcrafted sauces simmers for hours and is created using only 100% natural ingredients, many of which are sourced directly from Lancaster County.

     Family and friends have played a key role in the creation of Cortazzo Foods. The name “Cortazzo” was inspired by Chef Martino’s grandmother, Marianina Cortazzo. In honor of the chef’s heritage, he uses Marianina’s original Arrabbiata sauce recipe. Her portrait and other family photos are displayed on every jar of the tomato-based sauces. Much like the original Cortazzo sauce, the first batch of what would become Awesome in a Jar BBQ Sauce was created as an accompaniment to ribs Chef Martino cooked for an afternoon of watching football with friends. The Carolina Peakes sauce was created when a native South Carolinian friend told the Chef that people from Pennsylvania couldn’t possibly make Carolina barbecue sauce. Taking on the challenge, Chef Martino produced a sauce with a mustard and vinegar base, the traditional components of the region’s barbecue sauce. To remind his naysayer of her unfounded skepticism, he put her name on every bottle. Now Mrs. Peakes can no longer doubt Chef Martino, and we never will.

     Here at Smucker Farms we carry the full line of Cortazzo Foods sauces. Next time you’re looking for inspiration for dinner, stop by the store and pick up a jar of your favoriteCortazzo sauce and cook your family’s next favorite meal, or just use the following recipes created by Chef Martino:

Steamed Clams Cortazzo: http://www.cortazzofoodsllc.com/recipes.htm

Awesome Beef Barbecue: http://www.cortazzofoodsllc.com/awesomebeefbbq.htm

Carolina Peakes Barbecue: http://www.cortazzofoodsllc.com/carolinapeakesporkbbq.htm

http://www.smuckerfarmsdc.com/?p=236

http://www.smuckerfarmsdc.com/