What is your favorite pasta sauce?

[texasgirl]

I don't make from scratch. I don't have a recipe for it since my mom died. She made the best and she took it with her
I was wondering what you all make for spaghetti?
i just buy the canned or jars of regular red sauce and alfredo.

It is multiple choice if you like.

 

[middie]

classic tomato with meat. i really don't have a recipe though. i just use canned tomatoes sauce and paste and add ground beef oregano, parsley, garlic and brown sugar.

 

[Robo410]

I like a quick red seafood sauce...olive oil, sliced garlic, rosemary, chopped/diced tomato, safron, orange zest white wine, clams shrimp squid over pasta ... sooooo good and easy.

 

[luvs]

i think my favorite is a red with meat, but i do love pesto.

 

[pdswife]

I brown a pound of hamburger with some chopped garlic and onion
drain.

Add chopped celery, onions, sliced mushroom ( can add green pepper too but Paul doesn't like it so I don't)

add some parsley, oregano, basil, salt, pepper,garlic, sugar
a can or two of sliced tomatoes and a can or two of tomato sauce.

Mix well and then let simmer for an hour or two. Delish!

 

[HappyAvocado]

tomato, basil, olive oil and garlic. yum.

 

[QSis]

I voted for "Other" because my favorite sauce was not on the list. I can't spell it, either. It's something like "alio e oleo", and is evidently a mixture of olive oil, butter and garlic, with a few parsley flakes tossed in.

I always order it and the waitperson always understands, no matter how badly I mangle the pronounciation.

Lee

 

[crewsk]

My two favorite are classic tomato sauce with meat & alfredo. I don't have a recipe for my meat sauce either, I just start tossing stuff in.

 

[jkath]

Alfredo is my favorite, especially when it's over something like cheese ravioli with a large sprinkling of fresh romano and basil leaves over that. mmmmmmmmmm!

I also do love a good meat sauce:
I roast garlic and EVOO in my terra cotta garlic roaster,
and while it's roasting (in the microwave!), I brown onions in a bit of butter.
When they're nearly clear, I add the garlic, and then add italian seasoning, freshly ground pepper, ground beef (double grind) and italian sausage in the mix. Once that's cooked well, I put fresh tomatoes into the food processor and add those. Then I'll add tomato paste and fresh basil. Once that's cooked in, I'll throw in a few more tomatoes, only this time they're just chopped into chunks. When they're warmed, the sauce is done.

 

[Andy M.]

I'm fickle. Sometimes I like Alfredo, sometimes tomato w/o meat. I make about four or five different tomato sauces and enjoy them all depending on my mood. Tonight, for example, I made cheese gnocchi and served it with a hot Italian sausage, pine nut and porcini mushroom tomato sauce. THAT tasted really good (but I was really hungry).

 

[ironchef]

My favorite is Amatriciana. It's basically a spicy pomodoro sauce with pancetta, but the secret is in the ingredients themself. Regular thick-cut bacon can be used instead of pancetta but San Marzano tomatoes are a must.

 

[urmaniac13]

Amatriciana is also my favourite...

My basic sugo is...
Saute finely chopped onion, carrots and garlic in evoo, when they are well cooked add some red wine and a bay leaf, let the wine get absorved. Then add the chopped ripe tomatoes and herbs (oregano, thyme, majioram, if you use a fresh basil add it at the end of cooking), salt and pepper and cook it to the prefered consistency. You can add some tomato puree if you like it thicker, and if ripe tomatoes are not available you can substitute them with the ones from a tin.
You can also add chopped bacon, crumbled sausage or lean mince if you like some meat in the sauce. (cook them with onion/carrot/garlic, if they have excess fat start by themselves and drain before you add the vegs)

I also like... when I am in the mood for something very rich and sinful, Quattro formaggi, 4 cheese sauce...
I like the combination of gorgonzola/taleggio/fontina/gouda or edam, I am not sure of the availability of taleggio outside italy, you can also use grated parmiggiano and/or emmenthar instead. Cut them in small cubes and heat them in a double boiler, add some cooking cream and milk, keep on cooking until it attains a smooth texture, stirring often. This is also wonderful mixed with steamed broccoli, you can enjoy it with potatoes as well...

 

[yankeefaninseattle]

You know what my very favorite sauce is??? A wine & cream pan sauce using 2 buck chuck white wine. Equal parts butter & flour till completely combined (I use a mortar & pestle) set aside, shallots sauteed in the pan drippings, add white wine, reduce, add cream, add roux above, (Can't remember the order, roux then cream or vise versa????) whisk till combined, simmer till thick as you like, add lemon juice, and remove from heat & add rest of butter, usually same amount as in the roux mix. More lemon juice to taste. OHMIGOD, THE best sauce. It tastes just as good the next day, but you have to combine it w/ pasta the nite before because the sauce breaks.

I learned it from James Peterson Sauces book.... I guess it would taste just as good w/ any other white wine, but I don't drink the stuff unless it's Suave or Chianti from Italy, so spending $2 on a bottle of Charles Shaw white wine is alright. I think it tastes so much better cooked...

Good topic. Thanks.
B.

 

[ironchef]

Amatriciana is also my favourite...

My basic sugo is...
Saute finely chopped onion, carrots and garlic in evoo, when they are well cooked add some red wine and a bay leaf, let the wine get absorved. Then add the chopped ripe tomatoes and herbs (oregano, thyme, majioram, if you use a fresh basil add it at the end of cooking), salt and pepper and cook it to the prefered consistency. You can add some tomato puree if you like it thicker, and if ripe tomatoes are not available you can substitute them with the ones from a tin.
You can also add chopped bacon, crumbled sausage or lean mince if you like some meat in the sauce. (cook them with onion/carrot/garlic, if they have excess fat start by themselves and drain before you add the vegs)

I also like... when I am in the mood for something very rich and sinful, Quattro formaggi, 4 cheese sauce...
I like the combination of gorgonzola/taleggio/fontina/gouda or edam, I am not sure of the availability of taleggio outside italy, you can also use grated parmiggiano and/or emmenthar instead. Cut them in small cubes and heat them in a double boiler, add some cooking cream and milk, keep on cooking until it attains a smooth texture, stirring often. This is also wonderful mixed with steamed broccoli, you can enjoy it with potatoes as well...

Quattro formaggi is soooo good. The cool part is that you can combine all kinds of different flavors. When I worked at the Italian restaurant we did a Risotto ai Quattro Formaggi. The four cheeses we used were:

Pecorino Romano
Montasio
Boschetto al Tartufo
Fontina

Good stuff...

 

[urmaniac13]

Boschetto al Tartufo!!
That's a brilliant idea!! How did I not think of that before... thanks for the inspiration!!

 

[Constance]

I love pasta with just about any kind of sauce. I almost always make my own Alfredo because my altered version is a lot kinder to my arteries. It's based on a white sauce (veloute?) that is well seasoned with garlic and a bit of cream cheese.
I do make my own tomato sauce sometimes...last summer I made some wonderful roasted tomato sauce from the Romas in my garden, and froze several batches of that.
But very often I start with Prego and do my own thing with it. I cook it in a big pasta bowl in the microwave, so I have fewer dishes and don't have to worry about it scorching. You'd be amazed at what some good Italian Sausage, fresh herbs, and long simmering will do for jarred sauce. That's actually the kind my kids prefer. One can add mushrooms, sliced black olives...what have you.

 

[Zereh]

I chose other.

I am not fond of tomato-based pasta sauces. I don't care for traditional spaghetti or lasagne at all.

I didn't choose alfredo because even though I do like it, it's not really something that I eat or cook often as it is just way too fattening for me.

I really prefer light sauces with twists to fit the mood. Hot pepper flakes and breadcrumbs, anchovies and good olives, puttenesca type "sauces", a little pesto, a few diced tomatoes, garlic and some basil, lemon juice and a dash of cream, etc. Clean, simple and full of flavor.

Then again, I'm perfectly happy with some good pasta, a dash of high quality EVOO, garlic and some freshly grated parmesan with a sprinke of S&P.


Z

 

[AllenOK]

I voted for them all, as well as "other", as I like to try different stuff, like a clam sauce with linguine, garlic/butter, garlic/lemon/wine, etc.

 

[urmaniac13]

Then again, I'm perfectly happy with some good pasta, a dash of high quality EVOO, garlic and some freshly grated parmesan with a sprinke of S&P.


Z

This is actually the fav for many Italian kids and Italian kids at heart. They call it "La pasta bianca" (white pasta). At first the idea seemed rather strange to me but if the pasta, evoo and the cheese are of good quality, it comes out REALLY, REALLY GOOD!! What a simple beauty!!

 

[AZRelish]

I voted Alfredo. A good tomato meat sauce is traditional and when in doubt, this is what you order. As far as home cooking, I enjoy making my own sauces. I have this one sauce that I created called Southwest Alfredo. I don't have it with me, as I am at work but if anyone would like to have the recipe, send me a message and I'll send it to you. It's quite complex and robust.