Jarred and canned tomato sauce often saves us on busy weeknights, but whether you use store-bought sauce or can your own, chances are you'll want to doctor it up from time to time. We've shared plenty of ideas in the past, from ways to flavor jarred tomato sauce to simple finishes, and the ideas keep flowing! Here are five more…
• Caramelized onions – Discovering that we could freeze caramelized onions changed our life, as it's such a quick way to add depth of flavor to a weeknight meal. And they're excellent in tomato sauce.
• Fennel – Quickly saute a thinly-sliced fennel bulb in olive oil, and then add it to your sauce for a bright anise flavor.
• Olives and capers – These are delicious on their own, or you can add a few more ingredients and make it a pasta puttanesca!
• Pesto – Who says you have to choose between tomato sauce or pesto? If you have frozen pesto cubes in your freezer, this is a great way to add some basil flavor even if it isn't in season.
• Roasted garlic – Just like the onions, you can make a batch of roasted garlic ahead of time and freeze it.
Any other ideas?
Related:
Weeknight Meal Tip: Ways to Doctor Jarred Tomato Sauce to Add More Flavor
Simple Finishes: 8 Ways to Round Out Any Pasta Sauce
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Some new and great ideas here-thanks!
Half a teaspoon full of celery seeds.... I often put some veg stock in as well.
I can perform all kinds of kitchen chemistry on my sauce when it needs it: baking soda to cut the acid, sugar or balsamic to add a touch of sweetness (also reduces acid), and a dash of Worchestershire or anchovy paste for umami. Still love the Patricia Wells vodka-pepper sauce from the Tratorria cookbook, so simple! I also love the olive and caper approach - puttanesca is a great go-to.
how about chocolate chips!? yes, seriously. that's what I did in this recipe for ablondigas, aka Spanish Meatballs.
I usually spice up my sauce by adding a can of diced tomatoes (yeah I use jar sauce woo), minced garlic, and an array of whatever seasonings I think sound good. I love adding some thin slices of zucchini though.
Butter. I never would have believed it but wow, what a difference. It gives a nice, round mouthfeel that I usually attribute to sauce that's cooked all day long with lots of meat in it.
Canned sauce - ugh!
It's so easy and quick to make tomato sauce that there's no reason to use canned.
This weekend I sauteed onions, green pepper, spicy Italian sausage, and red pepper flakes in olive oil, and then added a bit of red wine and a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes. Easy, and good.
I put in some shredded carrots, celery, and some of the juice from a jar of pepperoncini peppers.
I agree with Tiamat_the_Red -- after making tomato sauce with butter, I've never thought of going back. It has this magical flavor combination of decadence and clean simplicity.
Tomatoes, butter, salt, and an onion = perfection.
Throw in a parmesan rind when you heat it up -- all the cheese flavour goes in the sauce, then you fish out the rind and serve.
Otherwise, I pretty much toss in whatever leftover veggies I have.