What makes lasagne sauce taste sweet?

[mynameiswah]

When I make it it doesn't ever have that 'sweet' flavour I get in restaurants and bought lasagnes - what is it that they use? Marinara sauce or something? I've looked at recipes online and I just can't see anything specific... They usually just say tomato sauce.. and white sauce with milk.. is it the right combination of the two that creates that sweetness? Just curious!

Sugar!

Put a bit of sugar in your tomato sauce, delicious

Sugar definitely.

They add sugar. Most tomato recipes call for sugar. Even if personally you do not add it, a lot of chefs will.

Time! You want the tomato sauce to simmer very gently for a minimum of 1.5 hours before you even assemble the lasagne.

Yep, sugar when making the tomato sauce!

Or you could add balsamic vinegar?

Sugar! A jar of Dolmio sauce contains 5 or 6 spoons of sugar

How come you did not know?

Brown sugar x1 spoon or white x2

They add sugar! Ingredients for Dolmio lasagne sauce:

Tomatoes (76%), Tomato Paste (15%), Modified Maize Starch, Onion, Sugar, Salt, Basil (0.4%), Garlic, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Herb, Parsley, Spices

Really?! As simple as that? There's me thinking there's a specific type of Italian sauce that I didn't know about!

I always add 2 sweeteners to any tomato based sauce. Adds a sweetness and no more calories.

(Yes I know sweetener is full of lots of chemicals )

I don't use Dolmio, I was making my own up with tinned tomato, herbs, vinegar etc. I guess I need to make it more tasty!

Yes a spoonful of sugar or two
The quality of tomatoes helps a lot too, and adding some tomato purée and/or letting the tomatoes cook for a long time

@mynameiswah You're adding vinegar to your tomato sauces? Why?

Heinz tomato ketchup (the regular one). About a tablespoon full.

Sugar and skip the vinegar

If doing it from scratch, you need sugar to balance the acidity from the tomatoes. It doesn’t need to be much, but a pinch of sugar makes a difference.

I was going to say nutmeg in the white sauce.

Sugar, plus cooking the tomatoes long + slow enough to reduce down and release their natural sugar. Plus salt to bring it out...

Balsamic vinegar works but you need to let the acidity cook off.

I was going to say nutmeg in the white sauce.

Me too!

I put a little bit of treacle in mine, half a tsp. Gives it a nice deep colour too.

I add a dollop of redcurrant jelly.

Me three

I was going to say nutmeg in the white sauce.

Yes to sugar, but you may not need it in a bolognese if you add finely chopped carrot and celery when softening the onion!