A bowl of plain pasta noodles just won't do; this simple base begs for a tasty topping. Should you ever find yourself at a sauce loss, here are a few ideas. From a no-fail pesto recipe to a shredded pork and mustard cream sauce (yes indeed!), from a classic Bolognese to a basic Béchamel, these 10 sauces are the perfect pairing for your next pasta dinner.

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Good sauce is essential to great pizza, and excellent homemade pizza sauce is so quick and easy, I always make it myself. Here's how I make my tomato pizza sauce. It's uncooked, tangy, and take less than 3 minutes to whip up. More

Fajitas taste best when the meat and veggies come straight off the grill, no question. But don't let that stop you when it comes to getting your fajita fix. I make this recipe entirely on the stovetop, where the spicy chicken picks up a touch of char from the grill pan and the peppers cook until they are completely tender. Add a dollop of creamy black bean spread and we have dinner. More

Q: I had a great Alabama white sauce at Dixie Bones BBQ in Woodbridge, VA. Do any of your readers have a good recipe?

Sent by Jenna More

Chimichurri is that wonderful, fresh sauce that brightens anything it comes in contact with. Traditionally made with olive oil, lots of fresh parsley, lemon, garlic and shallots, it's most often used as a sauce on grilled meats and fish, but I've found that keeping a little container of it in the refrigerator allows you to dress up even the most basic of leftovers. More

What is your signature salsa? Sara Kate brought us the deliciously smoky Lizano-style salsa yesterday, inspired by Costa Rica. Nealey turned to Georgia fruit for her saucy sweet and spicy peach salsa. Me, I try to keep salsa as simple as possible. Mostly because I am lazy in the sauce department, but also because I need something fast and easy in the moments just before the guests show up. What do I put out with chips? Something hot, something smoky, something that take 5 minutes to make, like this poblano salsa. More

There is a particular bottled salsa on every table in Costa Rica. It's called Lizano and the first time you taste it you have to stop and think a minute. Do I like it or not? Sure, it tastes like a mass-produced bottled sauce but somehow it's also really pleasant in a sweet, smoky, tangy way — like A1 meets tamarind paste — and then you're addicted and you look at the label, and if you understand Spanish, as I do, you find that it's loaded with fun stuff like like sodium benzoate and MSG.

You're already hooked, so you continue eating it on your vacation knowing that soon you'll be home and can swear off the stuff, conveniently no longer within arms' reach of a bottle. You eat it because it's perpetually in front of you and is a perfect match for the day-in-day-out Gallo Pinto, literally "spotted rooster" or rice and beans in Costa Rica.

You hate Lizano and love it all at once, and when you get back home you can think of little else. More

A condiment, a sauce, a basis for beans, rice, and stews – sofrito is all this and more. There are as many recipes for sofrito as there are cooks in Latin-Caribbean countries like Puerto Rico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, but just about everyone would agree it's an essential building block in the kitchen. More

It's always tempting to eat pesto by the spoonful. It's so very fresh and so very green. And those flavors of basil, pine nut, parmesan, garlic, and olive oil just play so very nicely together. Spread it on sandwiches, toss it with pasta, or yes, treat yourself a single happy spoonful, but definitely absolutely positively make pesto any chance you get. More

Q: Today I put together a salad of shaved summer squash, radish, and sugar snap peas after a trip to the local farm. Tossed with S&P, olive oil, and vinegar, and it's just too bland! Added chives, and still not quite right. What's a mellow dressing that can kick this up a bit without drowning the sweetness of the veggies?

Sent by Erica
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