Why do I add baking soda to tomato sauce? A few years ago, a friend who knows I love “Tips and Tricks” gave me this one. It started as a conversation about heartburn. I told her that it seemed to be an issue for me after eating tomato sauce. She mentioned that maybe adding a bit of baking soda during the cooking process might help because it cuts down on the acidity (Not medical advice, just a friendly tip!)
Against my better judgement, I decided to give this tip a try. After spending a whole Sunday making meatballs and sauce, I didn’t want to ruin it. In hindsight, I could have made a small pot of Marinara Sauce and not risked a whole day of work. But adding baking soda to tomato sauce worked out, so all is well.
I have been told about 1/4 tsp. of baking soda per cup of sauce. I do it in small stages until the sauce is the desired taste. You can always add more, but you cannot take it back once it is done. Some say this takes the place of a bit of sugar in your sauce. However, when it comes to Sunday Gravy, I still add a bit of sugar. With Marinara Sauce, I might leave the sugar out.
If Cauliflower can somehow become pizza…. You, my friend, can do anything.
-Unknown
The tip is to not add too much and to not be afraid of the foaming process. Gently mix the sauce until the foaming stops. This can take a few minutes and make sure to incorporate all the sauce or you will have foaming later. I was very nervous. It is kind of like being back in high school chemistry class and a bit fun.
I was asked what canned tomatoes do I use. I use Pastene No Salt Added Ground Peeled Tomatoes and I love them. If I happen to use another brand of tomatoes, I still use the baking soda trick and it works every time. This is not an issue that the sauce tastes bad without the baking soda, it is just better with it… in a subtle way. Also, I do think it helps with heartburn, but who knows. (No medical advice here, just an observation)
I will never leave this step out again. It mellows the sauce and does cut down on the acidity. I love these little tips and tricks. Please share if you have any to add. I would love to try them out and will give you full credit.
If you are interested in more foodie content, please check out the Recipes page of my blog Sunday Chefs for more tried and true family recipes and restaurant reviews.
As we were walking back from the Pantheon one night on our recent life-changing trip to Rome, the kids were starving and I didn’t have any idea where we could eat. Before our trip I studied and searched for restaurants that would accommodate our family and their food allergies (Peanuts, tree nuts, carrots, cucumbers, soy, gluten, legumes, eggplant and zucchini). Italy is known for being very food allergy friendly but information on specific restaurants is hard to find, so I tried to find blog information and there was a few, but it was outdated and limited. So I looked for restaurants that were recommended by friends or had good reviews and reached out to them. Then I made a master list of the places that I wanted to visit and nearby restaurants that were food allergy friendly. (We made the food allergy cards and they were great but only used them once). It was good old fashioned leg work that got the job done. I will share my hard work with you all to save you some time.
Our waiter was named Mimo and he was so much fun. He suggested that my husband try the steak which they cook at the table. We got the caprese salad, cacio e pepe, pizza and lots of house wine! Always get the house wine. We sat outside under the awning and had a fabulo
I did a lot of research on restaurants before going to Rome, especially ones that catered to food allergies. I have to say it was difficult. The general consensus was that Rome was very allergy friendly and we did find this to be true. But information on specific restaurants was tough to find. I knew the places that we wanted to visit (i.e. Colosseum, Vatican, Pantheon, etc.) So I wanted to discover restaurant choices near our destinations, so I wouldn’t be wandering with a “Hangry” family trying to find a place to eat. We were not looking for fancy…. inexpensive, great food, great atmosphere and food allergy friendly. 
Franco was our waiter and he was fabulous. He was very friendly and told us the food allergies were not a problem, they would make it work (I made the food allergy cards, but honestly never had to use them..the one place we tried, seemed confused by them. But I am still glad that I had them, just in case).
We got the Caprese salad, Bruschetta, Pette di pollo al limone (lemon chicken) Penna all’ arrabbietta (penne with spicy tomato sauce), Spaghetti alla carbonara (pasta carbonara) and Margherita pizza and a lot of wine (house wine). Always get the house wine in Italy! The food was amazing.
I forgot this and we had no cash. Franco was so wonderful and felt so bad he walked my husband to the nearest ATM and then brought us free desserts and “sexy wine”. The “sexy wine” is something you have to discover for yourself. When he brought it and I gleefully cried “Is this the sexy wine?” he was thrilled I knew what it was. (I do my research.. haha). It was wonderful!
As we were leaving, Mickey (the owner) was sitting outside and thanked us for coming. We are from Boston and he is great friends with the former mayor of Boston and former Vatican ambassador, Ray Flynn. We had a wonderful conversation about Rome and Boston. 
We recently had the opportunity to visit Rome and what an experience it was. My eldest has been studying in Europe for the last five months and we agreed to meet her in Rome. We were all so excited to see her and experience this magnificent city. When we arrived, we headed out to explore and get something to eat. We were right across the Ponte Sisto bridge from the charming neighborhood of Trastevere. Numerous people told us that Trastevere was a win for dining and character and they were so correct. It remains my favorite neighborhood in all of Rome.
We wandered, enjoying the sites and trying to pick which restaurant to go to. They all looked so wonderful, but we have a lot of food allergies to deal with in our family, so we were a bit apprehensive. Then it started to rain…it started to pour! So we just ran into the closest one we could find and we were very happy with our decision. The restaurant was 
