pasta sauce recipes

Rebekah24

I tend to do a tomato based sauce, just throw in whatevers handy garlic, onions, quorn mince etc

easy to just grab whoopsie cans of chopped tomatoes, 10-20p, keep those stocked, 1 can easily does enough for 3-4 servings of pasta.

Silaqui

I use a similar basic tomato based sauce as the ones mentioned about, I never found it bitter though although I can't stand shop bought sauces because they are incredibly sweet - maybe you need to wean yourself off the sugariness of them? The first meal my boyfriend ever made me was spag bol made with a shop bought sauce and I could barely keep it down - i felt so guilty! Needless to say I've taught him how to do it properly now!

Do make sure you sweat the onions down well as well as they sweeten up as they cook.

If I want a creamier sauce I find that cream cheese (philadelphia style) works as well as marscarpone or cream fraiche. I tend to use the value one though.

Another nice quick sauce is to fry off mushrooms, garlic, bacon and onion then add cream cheese - very rich like this though, more of a stir through than a sauce.

x

Penelope_Penguin

Lots of delicious recipes here :j As this has fallen from the front page of OS, I'll add it to the existing thread to give you more ideas

Penny. x

Stephen_Leak

I can't believe that I haven't posted my humble offering. Here's the new improved version, with a little tin of tomato puree. It adds flavour. It also thickens the sauce a bit, so you don't need to reduce it as much and goes further. It also costs less than a second can of tomatoes.

ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE

Enough for pasta for 2

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
2 tablespoons of olive oil
400g tin of plum tomatoes*
140g tin of tomato puree
2 teaspoons of mixed herbs
Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and onion. Fry the garlic and onion for about 4 to 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Open the tin of tomatoes. Put the juice into the pan. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the pan). Put the chopped tomatoes into the pan.

Add the tomato puree and herbs. Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils. Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils, until the sauce has reduced.

Season with the pepper.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use basil instead of the mixed herbs.

Add a glass of wine and cook for a bit longer. Drink the glass of wine and cook for the same time.

In Italy, an oil-based tomato sauce (or sugo in Italian) like this would be traditionally served with a plain pasta, such as penne or spaghetti.

Add ¼ of a teaspoon of chilli powder to make it into an Arrabbiata sauce, which is usually served with penne pasta.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

This sauce can also be blended and used as a pizza topping. Add the herbs after the blending.

TIPS

Always "take the pasta to the sauce". Put the cooked pasta in the pan with the sauce and stir together until thoroughly coated.
　
* Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole.

morwenna

I buy reduced to clear and freeze the meat all the time. DS once asked why everything in the freezer had an orange sticker on. :rotfl:

Dinner tonight is a casserole made with Aberdeen Angus Stewing Steak, reduced to 85p. Oh, it was on date yesterday - I like to live life on the edge! Seriously though, I've never had a problem doing this, it's not as though meat goes off at midnight on the day the shop has printed on the package...

System

Hi all,

I was after a little advise please, I sometime open a jar of pasta sauce and put half back in the fridge and they say use within three days once opened.

Sometimes I forget and a week or two later discover the jars and have never eaten what's left - is it okay to use the contents of a tomato and chili pasta sauce after a few days?

Any advise appreciated please... I get the Lloyd Grosman Tomato and Chili jars as they are great on pasta but I could probably make something at home similar for cheaper to be fair..

Penelope_Penguin

Summer01 wrote: »

I was after a little advise please, I sometime open a jar of pasta sauce and put half back in the fridge and they say use within three days once opened.

Once they've been exposed to the air, I'd say 3 days is about right. Not sure I'd fancy a sauce that keeps fresh, once opened, for 2 weeks :eek:

One of us will add this to the food safety thread later.

Penny. x

ALIBOBSY

May be worth once opened sticking the opther half a jar in a bag/pot in the freezer rather than the fridge. Will keep for months like that.
I might use it if it was a non meat sauce up to about 4 or 5 days from the fridge, but no longer.

ali x

bargainbetty

I use the basic rule of sniffing. If it smells ok, I'll have a go. If it smells off, or even just slightly odd, then I bin it. OK, it doesn't always work, but it's rare I get ill from it! I just stop eating if it's really off.

alixia

I leave sometimes sauce in the fridge for a week (by mistake) but if it smells ok then I will use it. Just cook it properly until almost boiling (to be sure to kill everything:D)