My pasta sauce is boring......any ideas?
Mar 28, 2011, 9:35 am
#46
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Agreed uk1, heavy tomato based sauces overpower the pasta sometimes. Myself I like nothing more than good olive oil, black pepper, finely chopped chilli, parsley, garlic and parmesan warmed and then tossed with some dried linguine (cooked). Nothing more is needed except perhaps a large glass of chilled Chablis!
It can be difficult enough if it's intensely flavoured but then it's often the quantity of the sauce. In it's simplest terms purely to illustrate the point .... if you had a bowl of pasta and added a spoon of Heinz tomato sauce ... it might be acceptable but a whole cup of it .......
Less and lighter is more.
Mar 28, 2011, 9:56 am
#47
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Agreed uk1, heavy tomato based sauces overpower the pasta sometimes. Myself I like nothing more than good olive oil, black pepper, finely chopped chilli, parsley, garlic and parmesan warmed and then tossed with some dried linguine (cooked). Nothing more is needed except perhaps a large glass of chilled Chablis!
I see the need for a tomato sauce when you're making a ragu but plain tomato is dull and heavy.
If it must have tomatoes then I like to blanch fresh ones to remove their skins and then finely dice them before adding to the chilli, parsley and garlic above. Let the pasta warm the ingredients.
Mar 28, 2011, 11:04 am
#48
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One thing that hasn't been mentioned is quality of the ingredients. Do the tomatoes have a decent taste when eaten fresh? How about the canned variety (sauce or whole)? If that is lacking to begin with, trying to jazz it up with other stuff isn't going to help a whole deal.
I'm not sure what growing conditions are out like in the Pampas but you might try growing your own tomatoes. They are a lot tastier than the store-bought stuff especially since you can pick them when they're ripe (unlike stuff that is picked green for transport and allowed to change colour (or sometimes forced to by gas) - these never develop a good flavour.)
As for pizza sauce, that is generally a plain tomato sauce (with herbs such as oregano/marjoram, maybe basil and thyme) reduced until it is thick.
If you're looking for variety, I can tell you a whole bunch of ways to make pasta more exciting but I think one of them has been ruled out (only four ingredients: spaghetti, olive oil, black pepper and anchovies).
I'm not sure what growing conditions are out like in the Pampas but you might try growing your own tomatoes. They are a lot tastier than the store-bought stuff especially since you can pick them when they're ripe (unlike stuff that is picked green for transport and allowed to change colour (or sometimes forced to by gas) - these never develop a good flavour.)
As for pizza sauce, that is generally a plain tomato sauce (with herbs such as oregano/marjoram, maybe basil and thyme) reduced until it is thick.
If you're looking for variety, I can tell you a whole bunch of ways to make pasta more exciting but I think one of them has been ruled out (only four ingredients: spaghetti, olive oil, black pepper and anchovies).
Mar 28, 2011, 1:04 pm
#49
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uk1.....a sauce without garlic just isn't going to happen mate. Sometimes we just have plain pasta with a dressing of hot garlic and olive oil. Very easy and very tasty.
By the way.....the quality of the pasta here is excellent. We either buy it freshly made or my wife makes her own. ^
Mar 28, 2011, 3:30 pm
#51
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uk1.....a sauce without garlic just isn't going to happen mate. Sometimes we just have plain pasta with a dressing of hot garlic and olive oil. Very easy and very tasty.
By the way.....the quality of the pasta here is excellent. We either buy it freshly made or my wife makes her own. ^
By the way.....the quality of the pasta here is excellent. We either buy it freshly made or my wife makes her own. ^
Mar 28, 2011, 7:03 pm
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Mar 28, 2011, 7:36 pm
#57
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Mar 28, 2011, 8:36 pm
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