How can I salvage a tomato-based Italian sauce? I added WAY too much green pepper & it is too spicy to eat!?

Question

I am making a vegetarian lasagna & wanted to do the sauce one day in advance so all the flavors would be robust. It is a simple tomato paste base. I sauteed and then added diced tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, eggplant, onions, green pepper, a few garlic cloves, a few bay leaves, oregano, and dashes of salt & pepper & nutmeg. I'll be adding parsley and spinach to the cheese mixture.

Currently the sauce is just too hot. I have determined the culprit to be the green pepper. I was careful not to allow any of the seeds into the sauce. Currently, the sauce is inedible. But I hate to start over again. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

add something with a conflicting flavour to even it up.

Answer 2

Well, for future reference, it's the white stuff that the seeds cling to that has most of the heat, not the seeds, so remove that white membrane to reduce heat in future batches.

For now, consider splitting the sauce in half and adding more tomato paste and water and/or more tomatoes. You can also add some brown sugar. It cuts the acidity in the tomatoes and makes it a little easier to bear the heat, also. Add more of the other veggies and spices, if necessary, to get back to the original flavor.

Freeze the other half for another recipe.

Happy cooking!

Polly
p.s. A raw potato will fix a too-SALTY dish, but not a hot one!

Answer 3

YIKES! I never would have put a hot green pepper in it, but here is a way to help it.

Take half of the sauce you have. Just add more tomato sauce, more spinich and parsley too. You may want to try a touch of red wine. By adding more of the tomato sauce to half the mixture, it will cut the hotness. The rest you can freeze and do the same when you thaw it out.

Answer 4

split it in half and add plain tomato sauce...or in 1/3 then add tomato sauce till it's less spicy.....freeze the rest

Are you sure it was a plain green pepper, not a hot one? If you added more than a tablespoon of oregano that could be spicy. Or if more than a couple cloves of garlic...are you sure you didn't put a whole head of garlic in? I never put nutmeg in tomato sauce, I would go sparing with that....other than too much of those things, it really shouldn't be too spicy with what you have described here.

Answer 5

Just add two large potatos and simmer the sauce until the potatoe is cooked. If the sauce runs out of water, add water. Also, you could serve the dish with yogurt or some dairy product like Ice-cream. Dairy absorbs capsicum which is what makes hot things hot.

Answer 6

Add a lot more tomato sauce, past and chopped tomatoes and simmer.

Why would you put hot peppers in Italian sauce? You put green bell peppers in Italian sauce.

I make vegeatarian Lagasne with the classic Magherita sauce - tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, fresh basil

Answer 7

bizarre. most people think green peppers are sweet? what kind of green peppers. The only
way is to dilute. Add a litttle tomato paste and some sugar (maybe a tablespoon) to make more palatable. Are the green peppers hot to your
taste if you eat them alone?

Answer 8

All you can do is add more of the ingredients that are NOT hot and wind up with a mega-batch ...some of which you can freeze for later use.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And add a bit of vinegar to kill the acid of the tomatos & some of the heat of the pepper.

Add a bit of sugar to mask the vinegar.

This is what I do when I make any home made tomato based sauces.

BTW: next time use Bell peppers and NOT hot peppers. A bit of black pepper or Tobaso-type sauce should be PLENTY to spice it up somewhat.

Answer 9

Sounds as though you used the wrong peppers. The right ones would hardly make it hot unless you are like my wife who finds even a trace of chilli overwhelming. If that is the case then you might find a tablespoon of honey helpful but if you have used excessive amounts of real chilli it would be best to start again.

Answer 10

All you have to do is add Parmesan cheese to the sauce. I had the same problem the first time I tried to make homemade veggie tomato sauce.

Answer 11

it could be a combination of the onions, and garlic cloves causing this. i would add a can of tomato sauce and a little sugar to it. that should take care of the heat that you are experiencing.