How to add a little "je ne sais quoi" to tomato-based (saucy) dishes

[QuimReaper]

I read a tip here recently to add a splash of white wine vinegar to "white" dishes (like leeky soups etc.) at the end of cooking to give it a little something extra, and it really does work.

Is there an equivalent for tomato-based dishes? In the last couple of weeks I've made a beef stew and a sausage one in my slow cooker and they've been "fine" but somehow lacking in depth. Maybe a bit acidic, I'm not sure. I find the same thing with ratatouilles, although I tend to be heavy-handed with herbs in that so it's not so much of a problem. Is there a similar hack for tomatoey dishes? Maybe Lea & Perrins?

Always add a good pinch of sugar to tomato sauce . It makes an enormous difference.

I use butter and olive oil when softening the garlic or onions and a little sugar... less than half a tsp, more if needed. Lots of pepper. Chopped birds eye chilli (not much!) can be nice too. Black pitted olives sliced are a good addition as well.

Tesco do a red wine stock pot-that is my secret weapon!

Lea & Perrins, as you say. Or be daring and bung in the L&P secret ingredient, which is anchovies.

(No, really. Especially for a long-cooked dish like lamb or beef.)

Bit of soy sauce usually works for me.

Depends on what kind of added depth you want, but my easy go to for tomato based dishes is usually dark soy sauce. Gives a depth of flavour and I use instead of salt. Other things I use, just less frequently, are anchovies (already mentioned above, and you can get anchovy paste in some supermarkets which is extra convenient), and balsamic vinegar (which is more for an extra kick of acidity with a bit of sweetness). There are other things but these are my regular for ‘rounding out’ the dish.

However I prefer the soy/anchovy flavour as I’m not a big fan of ‘sweet’ sauces so it just depends on your palate (balsamic in tomato doesn’t actually make it sweet in a sugary sense, but I pick up on sweetness very easily and tomatoes are already naturally sweet so to me it becomes very sweet).

An obscene amount of butter does wonders for tomato based sauces. And indeed many other things.

Balsamic glaze is another good one.

I like to use Mushroom ketchup for tomato based dishes ,I find it helps balance the flavour.

A little bit of chilli, Worcester sauce, a little bit of sugar with some balsamic vinegar. Depends what I am cooking it for.

A good dollop of tomato ketchup

My secret weapon is Harissa paste. Bloody love the stuff, it goes in all sorts of sauces.

A dollop of chutney (tomato or caramelised
red onion here usually) takes away some of the acidity and gives it a bit more depth

Marmite.

Wow, so many replies! Thank you! The anchovy paste idea in particular sounds wonderful, and I'll definitely try soy sauce!

Following.. I have often thought my tomato based beany stews need a little something extra..

Hendos, it isn't available everywhere though.

Worcester sauce and marmite. Together.

Peonies I love harrisa paste - I also have an actual addiction to Harry Brand Harissa Mayonnaise. I actually did add harissa to a ratatouille a while ago and decided to finish off the jar as I didn't want an annoying scraping left over, so I just shook it with a bit of stock and dumped it in. Turns out I misjudged a bit, it nearly blew DH's head off

Don't skimp on oil, then after you've fried/sweated off onions/soffrito add a really decent splodge of tomato purée and cook it off a bit, it enriches the sauce. Any dried herbs should also be added at this stage as the flavours are typically oil based and won't be released fully if you add them after adding liquid.

@Quimreaper Harissa mayo, I'm doing a search for that on Ocado! Sounds like heaven.

Balsamic vinegar!

I stick a dollop of caramelised onion into practically everything these days

Balsamic glaze or vinegar

Pomegranate Molasses