How do you make your best pasta sauce ?

Brizeida

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Hi all!
I am creating this thread because my bf and I make a lot of very delicious pasta, but I am fishing for more ideas.
What we do now is basically a variation of Bolognese pasta.
What are your favorite ways of cooking pasta and your fav ingredients?
Greetings!
 
When making a traditional pasta and tomato sauce recipe, there are two techniques I've come across on various cooking blogs which work well to prevent puddles of water from forming on the plate when the pasta is plated. The first tip is to thoroughly drain the pasta then return it to the still warm pot and let it rest until the steam stops rising off of it, before dressing it with sauce. This will let much of the excess water evaporate off. The other method is to drain the pasta thoroughly and return the pasta to the still warm pot and dress it with the sauce immediately, then put a lid on the pot and let it rest for several minutes. This will allow the pasta to soak up the residual liquid a bit before plating.

For making a homemade mac and cheese sauce, it's been suggested to add a little sodium citrate to the cheese sauce to make the cheese melt more evenly, and prevent any separation or graniness in the sauce. However it's difficult to find sodium citrate in the store, so you usually have to order it online (and it should not be confused with powdered citric acid, which is not the same). Also, if you use too much of it, it can impart a salty metallic taste to the sauce which unpleasant.

A better option I've come across, which I was admittedly reluctant to try since it sort of seemed like a "cheat" like using Velveeta, is to add a few slices of plain old American Cheese to your bechamel sauce and letting it melt in completely before adding your other cheeses. I get some Land O Lakes brand American Cheese from our deli, and use that along with some hand shredded sharp cheddar, and it works like a charm. American Cheese is typically just scraps of cheddar and colby cheese that have been emulsified with water, so the cheese melts better. The added benefit I noticed was the sauce actually tasted more "cheesy" too - which was a common problem I would encounter when making a cheese sauce from scratch. Often times the bechamel sauce alone would cause the sauce to taste too bland.
 
It is New Year's eve here and our new year's dish is spaghetti. The sauce is the usual tomato sauce with bay leaf for spice and black pepper, of course. The cooking takes time because we sautee the ground beef with garlic and onion to give it more flavor. And before putting in the tomato sauce, we have to cook the soy sauce in the sautee. The sauce tastes a bit salty and sour so we add a little sugar for a merry mix of flavor. By the way, sliced hotdogs and sliced spam complement the ground beef.
 
I have a Great homemade tomato sauce (AKA marinara) that I got from the nicest Italian lady on allrecipes. her screen name on AR is Manella


Makes about 3 1/2 quarts



Ingredients


1 onion dived

1 carrot diced

1 rib of celery diced

2 Tablespoon of fresh diced Rosemary

½ teaspoon oregano

2 Tablespoon diced fresh basil

½ teaspoon turmeric

3 cloves of garlic diced

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper

1 can tomatoe paste (5.5 ounces) a small can

2 cans diced tomatoes(28 fluid ounces)

¼ cup olive oil

Pinch of sugar





Directions:


1. Heat the olive oil in a medium size pot and add the onion, garlic,carrot and celery.Saute for about 5 minutes then add the turmeric and stir one minute. Add the tomatoes( I use my immersion blender for a smoother sauce.


2. Add the herbs and bay leaves. Bring to a gentle boil, turn down the heat to semi low and add the tomatoe paste.Add salt and pepper to your taste and a pinch of white sugar.


3. Let the sauce simmer uncovered for about 1/2 hour. Cover if you wish, but tilt the lid to allow steam to escape. Let simmer 2-3 hours, stir every once in a while. Un cover the last twenty minutes to let any water evaporate, You could also put it in the oven at 350 for the same amount of time.


4. Take bay leaves out before serving, toss with your choice of pasta


5. I like the San Marzano tomatoes, they don't have water in them.This sauce doubles and freezes very well.
 
I don't cook a lot of pasta and I came here actually looking for ideas once I saw the title of the thread. I got some good ideas. Naturally I had a look on Pinterest for some added ideas and found loads of great looking stuff. I'll try something new at some point.
 
I don't, only because I have two awesome women who make homemade spaghetti and marina sauce and bottle them to give some to me. Both my mother and my mother-in-law make really good spaghetti sauce and when they make a batch they usually double it so they can give some to my family. My mother's has a little spice to it, it's delicious and what I grew up with. Not long after my husband and I started dating he introduced me to his mother's spaghetti sauce and it was so good so now we have two sauces to go back and forth to.
 
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