Is it possible to cook a marinara sauce too long?

[BabyLitigator]

Quick question. I made a large batch of marinara sauce yesterday for serving today, and I will have a couple of hours where I can stick it on the back burner (it was in pretty good shape last night). Is there any downside to cooking it longer?

[coll]

The way to check if marinara is done: Put a spoonful on a plate, tip it and see if any water runs off. If not, it's done.

[OldDog]

If you put it over the lowest possible heat, covered, on that back burner, you're not cooking it more, just reheating. It'll be fine.

[MakingSense]

Absolutely. You lose all nuance. The less time you cook a marinara, the more vibrant the flavors and the fresher it tastes.

[ipsedixit]

Yes, indeed.

But isn't there a perfect balancing point of cooking time? Too little, and you have warm salsa. Too long, and you have pizza sauce.

[MakingSense]

Isn't "salsa" a Spanish word for sauce? Marinara is the quickest Italian sauce.

[Kelli2006]

If the heat is low, the sauce will thicken by evaporation if not covered, but it will not affect it in a negative way, unless it burns on the bottom.

I simmer my red sauce 6-8 hours on a very lower burner.

[Ellen]

Yes, if it's fine now, then why would you want to cook it any longer? The flavor would only deteriorate too. I cook my tomato sauce as little as possible, even when using canned tomatoes. If using fresh tomatoes, then I measure my cooking time in a few minutes.

[howchow]

yes, you would get tomato paste.