Spaghetti Sauce

What do you guys use when making Spaghetti? I know a lot of you are probably great cooks and make your own, but for the culinary impaired, such as myself, what do you use?

I find that Classico makes the best sauces you can find at a grocery store. The texture and consistency of the sauce, and the spices, are by far superior in my opinion. My girlfriend likes Emeralds, which I can't stand at all. I find Emeralds, bland, soupy, and just gross honestly.

I ask this because spaghetti plays a big part in me and my girlfriends lives. We cook it at least twice a week, as it is easy, quick, and cheap.

See this thread:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=74694

I agree with Austin... even if you have difficulty boiling water, you can make a pasta sauce better than most of the jarred sauces. They almost all have way to much sugar added to them, with no real flavor.

I'll preface this by saying that I always make my own pasta sauce, and about 90% of the time, I make the pasta noodles at home as well. That being said, a friend of mine did one time bring over a bottle of Rao's vodka sauce.... I was quite impressed, it is more than decent.

Just fry up some diced shallot (or onion I guess) till it starts to caramelize, add a bunch of tomatoes and possibly some ground beef. Heat and serve. Voila, instant entree.

Get some canned tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, onions, anchovies, basil and whatever else you desire: olives or whatnot.

Start with olive oil and anchovies. The little buggers with break right down into the oil. Throw-in onions. When they are translucent toss in a few cloves of garlic. When the begin to release fragrance add in the canned tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes in your hand as you add them to the sauce. Maybe a little basil and some S&P. Let it cook down slowly. Remove garlic, add fresh basil and /viola/. Cheap and easy sauce.

Learning how to make a good sauce is similar to learning how to make "stone soup".

Take a bottle of spaghetti sauce. Any one will do. Most likely, it will stink. To improve it, try slicing some garlic and sautéing it in olive oil, then adding the bottled sauce to cook. Do the same with sautéed onions. Spruce it up with some red pepper flakes and some oregano. Hit it with a splash of red wine. Then get a can of whole San Marzano tomatoes- crush them in you hands and add to pot. Yum.

Now try the whole thing again without the bottled tomato sauce et voilà- home made spaghetti sauce.


Of course, the red glop, heavenly as it can be, is only the beginnig. Minor twists can turn it into-
filetto di pomodoro, with prosciutto and onion
all'amatriciana, with onion, garlic, and prosciutto
puttanesca, with olives, capers, and anchovy
bolognese, with meat and cream
vodka, with prosciutto, cream, and, you guessed it, vodka
fra diavolo or arrabiata, fiery with red pepper

Grill some steaks (or pork or veal chops), finish in a pan with your new sauce, and you have steak pizzaiola. Toss some shrimp into your fra diavolo or puttanesca for a treat. Pan fry some chicken pieces, add some mushrooms and your sauce- chicken cacciatore.

Why stop there? Man does not live by tomatoes alone-
aglio y olio, with garlic and oil
primavera, with cream and vegetables
alla panna, with butter and cream
alfredo, butter and reggiano parmigiano
carbonara, with bacon, garlic, and egg
alla vongole, with olive oil, garlic, clam juice, white wine, and clams

Easy as pie. Eat great for dirt cheap.

Wonderful list Ouch.

Couple of tins of Tomatos , handful of chopped onion , oregano , dash of Balsamic , - Bish bash bosh - Basic Pasta sauce.

I don't make sauce, I make gravy......

If you want to add a little something special to your sauce, take your whole tomatoes from a recipe above, drop them into an oven safe vessel, and stick them under the broiler of your oven until they get nice and caramelized. It'll sweeten your sauce a bit without adding unnecessary sugar or calories, and provide a nice depth of flavor too. Stick your garlic in there in some olive oil for a nice roasted garlic touch too.

I open the jar of whatever. Pour it into the pan and then heat it up.

One thing I like to do is first add some tomato paste and saute it in a little olive oil. It gives the sauce a smoky flavor from the caramelized sugars in the paste. Then add the onions, garlic, crushed tomatoes, herbs and dash of of something sour, like balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar. Cook for about an hour and a half. Easy.

thirdeye said:

I don't make sauce, I make gravy......

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Gravy is what I pour on biscuits.

Neil once you try your hand at making a sauce the name Ragu will never roll off of your lips again. I just made a meat sauce last night that took about 15 minutes to make and simmered for another 45. Here's how simple it is-

Saute a small onion and 2 cloves of garlic
When onions start to carmelize, add a pound of hamburger.
Brown the burger, chopping it down as you go.
Once the burger is browned nicely add 1 can of high end crushed tomatoes, one small can of good tomato sauce (not a jarred spaghetti sauce here, tomato sauce), 1/2 a can of tomato paste.
Add some oregano, salt and basil to taste
Consider adding some crushed red pepper.
start stirring.

You might need to add a little water to loosen it up, but you'll be in heaven.

I have friends that throw in nice italian sausages, red peppers, green peppers, whatever. The possibilities are limitless.

And that's just the quick version of throwing a sauce together. And guess how impressed your girlfriend will be? I like stobes' suggestion and will have to give that a shot.

I don't make sauce, I make gravy......

regardless of the pre-made store bought brands, I always augment my sauce with extras. I like to add pepper and garlic orageno thyme ect... I add and taste until I come up with something that I like the taste of. I am a great experimenter in the kitchen. If it smells good it prolly tastes good. Get out your nose and start cooking, eventually you will come upon things that you like better then others and, walla, you have your own kitchen personality!

homebrewer said:

I agree with Austin... even if you have difficulty boiling water, you can make a pasta sauce better than most of the jarred sauces. They almost all have way to much sugar added to them, with no real flavor.

I'll preface this by saying that I always make my own pasta sauce, and about 90% of the time, I make the pasta noodles at home as well. That being said, a friend of mine did one time bring over a bottle of Rao's vodka sauce.... I was quite impressed, it is more than decent.

Click to expand...

If you don't want to make your own or are too lazy too get your fave jar sauce then add your own sauteed onions and garlic, and Italian seasoning. It really perks up a jar.

thirdeye said:

I don't make sauce, I make gravy......

Click to expand...

atta boy Ray.

Mrs. Chip said:

If you don't want to make your own or are too lazy too get your fave jar sauce then add your own sauteed onions and garlic, and Italian seasoning. It really perks up a jar.

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Mrs. Chip, I have been monitoring Mr. Chip's time on this forum and have determined that he is on here way too long. You need to restrict his access here and make him rake the leaves and fix and the garbage disposal.

Austin said:

Mrs. Chip, I have been monitoring Mr. Chip's time on this forum and have determined that he is on here way too long. You need to restrict his access here and make him rake the leaves and fix and the garbage disposal.

Click to expand...

Tell him to stop breaking your computer and force him to install Linux so everything works right.