• Fondots@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Straight-up out of the jar onto your pasta, I think Raos is probably the best widely available option.

    That said, I have yet to meet a jarred pasta sauce that didn’t benefit from a bit of tweaking, some extra herbs/spices, a splash of wine, some cheese, sauteing up some extras garlic & onions, etc.

    In general, I don’t tend to think of jarred sauce as a totally finished product, it’s more of a shortcut that lets you skip most of the more labor intensive parts of making a sauce from scratch and skip to the finishing touches. Even the most lackluster bargain brand sauce can usually be dressed up to a pretty damn good sauce without too much effort.

    My usual process is to finely chop up some onions and garlic, give that a good saute with some olive oil, maybe deglaze with some wine, add the sauce, then season to taste with some herbs & spices (normally oregano, basil, rosemary, black pepper, red pepper flakes will be a pretty safe bet, but I get a bit weird with it sometimes, taste as you go) finish it off with some Parmesan cheese, and of course a bit of the pasta water.

    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I usually do a meat sauce with a similar idea, I also finish my sauce before I start heating water for pasta. The new ingredients really benefit from time simmering with the sauce in my opinion.

    • Chenzo@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Was coming here to post this. Rao’s Marinara Sauce is the best out of a jar.

      Seriously, get some Italian bread, pour a little bit of Rao’s into a bowl, dip a piece of the bread in there, enjoy.

    • LilDumpy@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Ya, I agree, they all need a bit of personalized flavor profiles. I used to take out the jars, heat 'em up in a pot, spice them up, but it gets to laborious and the sauce pops all over the stovetop and now I have to do dishes.