I’ve grown up on eating Fusili pasta with shop bought jarred pasta sauce like Dolmio, I’d brown up mince and then simmer with the sauce. Overall a very basic, simple meal.
Dawned on me that there may be other ways to enhance this meal. Do you use jarred sauces or make your own?
What are good accompaniments and what pasta shells do you tend to use?
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I can’t stand the jarred sauces (too sweet and salty), but for a basic tomato sauce you can:
Chop some onions and gently fry for 5-6 mins. Then add the mince to brown in the same pan. Once nicely browned add a tin of chopped tomatoes, some mixed herbs and let it cook for a couple of hours.
I also add carrots, peppers to the onions to mix it up a bit and sneak vegetables in for my daughter (toddlers). You can also add a beef stock cube once the tomatoes are added to enhance the flavour of the mince.
It’s so easy to make your own sauce. I’ve never bothered with jarred. A handful of cherry tomatoes, a few capers or olives, salt and pepper. Goes with any pasta shape
Jar sauces are OK but tend to be quite high in salt/sugar. Making your own it fairly easy…..whizz up some tomatoes (or use a tin of chopped tomatoes), bit of chopped onion, bit of garlic, some basil/oregano (you can get a dried ‘Italian herb’ mix which works quite well), a decent glug of red wine and I find one of those beef stock pot things makes it nice and rich.
If I’m doing a meat ragù I’ll use tinned chopped tomatoes. If I’m making a plain tomato sauce I’ll usually use cherry/normal tomatoes, or sometimes chopped tomatoes if I don’t have fresh tomatoes in.
For both I usually add onions, garlic, wine, basil, tomato purée and sometimes celery and carrots if I really want to push the boat out.
Jarred sauce is fine if you like it, but it usually does contain more additives, salt, sugar etc than homemade.
Always make my own, tastes better and better for you. At the very least chop and sweat an onion before adding the sauce.
Also all jarred sauces are basically variations of tomato, whereas a true bolognese is a meat sauce, not a tomato sauce, and shouldn’t overly taste of tomatoes.
Lloyd Grossman is quite good if I can’t be arsed to make my own
if i use a pasta sauce jar then i always add a bit of something to it such as dash of Worcester sauce, ,black pepper and occasionally some Tabasco
Pipe rigante is a type of pasta shells, they hold the sauce better than fussili. Chopped tomatoes herbs and spices ( mixed herbs, oregano, salt,pepper, paprika, chilli flakes) to taste, with browned mince onions garlic and peppers, plus I add anything I fancy/have laying around, eg peas, corn, carrots. It’s cheaper than the sauces, better and more tasty, and you will probably have twice as much, you can make it thick or have it slightly runnier by adding passata, or even tomato sauce/brown sauce/bbq sauce. All slight variations to the end product. You can save in the fridge for a couple of days or portion and freeze for an easy dinner.
If you have tinned tomatoes in your cupboard, you can make a basic but decent “emergency” pasta sauce by emptying them into a saucepan, adding a pinch each of salt, pepper and sugar and then a dash of whatever vaguely flavourful ingredients you have lying around.
A key point is to balance sweet, salty and acidic. The sugar sounds weird but it counteracts the unpleasant metallic tanginess the tomatoes can have on their own. Salt enhances the flavour and a bit of lemon juice or wine vinegar adds refreshing acidity if not overdone. Once you’ve got that balance correct, anything else is just there to add flavour. A bay leaf, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a crushed garlic clove (leave it whole and just fish it out at the end), the leftover rind of a Parmesan wedge, or whatever else you have in the cupboard. Simmer while cooking your pasta, fish out any bay leaves or garlic cloves and then mix the pasta in.
The kids love it and it’s saved my bacon on multiple occasions.
I make my own.
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Tin of chopped tomatos (Lidl do a nice one with herbs), Passetta, Tomato Puree, Basil. I then finely grate courgette and carrot in to the sauce to thicken it and add some texture.
I am vegan so often make a veg and tomato sauce. Onions, garlic, green beans and courgette, tin of chopped toms, some fresh basil or if not dried. tsp of marmite and simmer for a while as it depends the flavour of the tomatoes.
I never use jar sauces, they’re absolutely horrific and you’ll be able to make much nicer sauces yourself.
Make my own sauce and ragu, it is only tinned tomatoes, herbs and suchlike. Adding extra water and stock and simmering it down for a long time really helps with depth of flavour I find. A couple of hours no problem. Really brown the mince and onions first too.
I make my own. Onion, a stick of Celery and a carrot, chopped really small. Fry on low heat for about 20 mins – don’t brown it. Add garlic, a big dollop of tomato puree, a tablespoon vinegar and a teaspoon salt and teaspoon sugar.
Then a tin of chopped tomatoes and – here is the secret – fry the whole mush for a good while really gently until it starts to darken in colour and smell sweeter. Then add 500 ml veg stock in water, cover and simmer for another 20 mins, mushing and stirring it often as you go. Delish.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with them but you can easily make your own which is tastier and cheaper. This is my basic recipe:
500g any low fat beef mince you can buy (steak mince is good)
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
Handful of fresh basil
1 onion (diced)
Garlic powder (1.5 tsp)
Dried oregano (1 tsp)
Dried sage (0.5 tsp)
Dried thyme (0.5 tsp)
Worcester sauce (1 tbsp)
Tomato puree (1 tbsp)
Ketchup (1 tbsp)
1 beef stock cube (the Knorr ones are really good, this little cube enhances everything massively)
Olive oil
Salt/pepper
Method/tips:
– Fry the beef mince until it’s browned, drain the fat
– Gently fry the onions in a generous amount of olive oil
– Add everything else
– Throw in the fresh basil near the end
– Season to taste
– I like to add a little pasta water to the sauce at the end as well once its cooked 🙂
I always add some Worcester sauce, a bit of tomato puree and a beef oxo cube to jar sauce. Gives it a much richer taste
Jarred pasta sauce for kids eh?
Jarred has aids
I don’t find the jarred sauces any easier or more convenient than just using a tin of tomatoes or passata which are much cheaper. You have so much more control and therefore potential to make it tastier, like by adding your own herbs (dried and fresh!) and seasoning.
Fry an onion, add some chopped garlic, add chopped tomatoes, and some herbs, salt, pepper, red wine, and a beef stock pot (I find stock cubes far too salty). Add mince for spaghetti bolognese (add to pan earlier on).
Add chilli if you want a bit of heat, or different herbs, mushrooms, or peppers.
Once you have a few ingredients in your cupboards it’s easy to knock one up.
Must be loads of videos and recipes out there.
I personally like to add some fried onion, mushroom and pepper. Then I might bulk it with microwaved carrots. Maybe not haute cuisine but tastes good and it’s a quick easy meal.
Can of chopped tomatoes, teaspoon or two of lazy chopped garlic, couple if teaspoons of basil, tiny bit of salt, plenty of black pepper. Simmer it down on a very low heat for an hour or so. That’s all you need for a perfectly acceptable pasta sauce.
Basic tomato sauce:
3 cloves of garlic,
Olive oil,
Oregano,
Basil,
Salt,
Pepper,
Passata.
Finely chop the garlic, fry it in olive oil with the pepper for a minute (don’t let it burn). Add everything else. Let it simmer on low heat for a while until it thickens to the consistency you want. Done.
Experiment with adding more or less of those ingredients until you get it to your taste. Once you’ve got that down, start introducing more stuff – thyme, chilli, celery, onion etc.
Easiest thing in the world and can be used as a base for loads of dishes with a little tweaking – arrabiata, lasagne, bolognese, pizza etc, hell, even patatas bravas and chilli with some substitutions and additions.
Just make your own basic tomato sauce. Can be used for loads of dishes.