Should I peel my tomatoes before making a sauce?

Question

What are the pros and cons of peeling my tomatoes before making a sauce?

I basically make two different sauces a classical red sauce and a "pink" sauce that is a light alfredo infused with white wine and then chopped tomatoes are added and reduced.

When making my pink sauce you can see some skin afterwards but not much and most people like the texture. However I am talking to a local chef and we are picking tomatoes in his back yard and he tells me he skins them all... I have never had issues but ???

Note: I am getting a lot of feedback and I think there may be confusion. I chop my tomatoes into relative small cubes (let's say 1/3" cubed). There isn't much trace of skins and those left are very small slivers. Also is skin on vs skin off affecting taste? People love my pink sauce so I don't want to change the taste.

Answer 1

It is unnecessary, however some people don't like the skins. They tend to curl up into tube sticks that don't chew very well and can hurt if you chew one accidentally and you have a sensitive tooth or gum disease.

Peeling it very easy. Score an x at the bottom of each tomatoe and blanch. The skin will curl back and leave you with a whole but peeled tomato.

Edit based on change to question: The skins will have almost no affect to the taste either way.

Answer 2

We cook down our tomatoes with skins on and then about half way through we strain the juice out to get rid of skins and seeds. Once we do that it goes back in the pot with our spices until it's reduced enough for our liking. We prefer smooth sauces.

Answer 3

Yes, I think you should peel tomatoes, but I have a thing about tomato skins. In my opinion, you should either peel them or use a food mill to weed out the skins. If they don't bother you or your guests, it's an unnecessary step.

Even if the tomatoes are diced, some of the tomato skin will separate from the meat of the tomatoes and make a paper-like curl in the sauce. I dislike what that does to the texture of dishes, but it doesn't have any effect on the flavor.

Most canned tomatoes are peeled for that textural reason.