What To Add To Premade Spaghetti Sauce

Awhile dorsum, my fellow Epi Exam Kitchen bud Anna Stockwell was making batches and batches of Parmigiana—with chicken, eggplant, veal, and more than, and the Epi staff was pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed the sauce. Why? It came from a jar.

We're big fans of anything that saves fourth dimension on weeknight dinners, and jarred pasta sauce is certainly that.

And then, nosotros decided to put some jars to the test—like nosotros've done with butter and peanut butter earlier—to figure out the best sauce to turn to when a four-hour marinara just isn't possible.

Nosotros all had our favorites. I put together a list of 10 sauces to endeavour, ranging from Rao'south, a staff favorite, to the cult classic Trader Joe's brand to the actually-classic Classico. Simply dipping into the sauces, fifty-fifty warmed, even spooned on bread, was non successful. Directly from the jar, most were bland, some tasted strangely chemical, and most all were disappointing.

The overwhelming issue of our gustatory modality exam was this advice: don't swallow pasta sauce direct from the jar.

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Simply that doesn't hateful nosotros'd ban jarred sauce from our pantry. Jarred sauce tin can salvage you lot time for a quick weeknight repast, and make lasagna, meatballs, or Parmigiana come together beautifully. You just have follow a few steps before you utilize it.

1. Oestrus It

Never pour jarred sauce directly onto pasta and telephone call information technology a day! At a minimum, rut the pasta sauce in a split pot. Warming the sauce will awaken the spices and encourage the sugars to caramelize as the aromas are released. (You desire your nutrient to smell practiced, right?!)

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2. Flavor It

Fifty-fifty better, season information technology! Taste the sauce once it's warm and add some seasoning. Maybe information technology needs a touch of salt, red pepper flakes, or some fresh garlic to liven it upwardly. You could add dried or fresh herbs too: oregano, basil, thyme, tarragon, parsley—they're all great!

Want to go side by side level? Toss in some chopped anchovies (or anchovy common salt), olives, or some lemon zest and/or juice. These things all add layers of flavor and give the sauce either depth or brightness, depending on the ingredient.

Detroitstyle pizza cut into six square slices.

iii. Cook Information technology

If you want to go a piffling creative, treat that jarred sauce just like you would a can of whole or crushed tomatoes. Start past sautéing garlic and onion, then add some wine and let it deglaze the pan, releasing any (flavorful) bits stuck to the bottom. Stir in the sauce and taste. Reduce the jarred sauce a bit to really concentrate that flavor—you lot can fifty-fifty let information technology dry out in the pan until it'south really caramelized (and then thin it back out with pasta cooking h2o) to really concentrate the flavor and give the sauce trunk. Give it a taste? Pour in a splash of vinegar, or a spoonful of sugar to balance the season if necessary. Finally, toss in some fresh herbs, if you take them, to finish it off.

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4. Enrich It

Want to immediately transform that sauce into a creamy, rich texture? Stir in a few spoonfuls of heavy foam. Or finish the sauce with butter, à la the much-loved Marcella Hazan method. You could as well fold a few handfuls of grated Parmesan or other hard cheese into the simmering sauce. Got goat cheese on mitt? Stirring some in makes regular marinara into a creamy, tangy pasta sauce that's dandy with whatever vegetables you take on hand.

No dairy around? A hefty drizzle of olive oil stirred in off the estrus is also a great move.

And if y'all're feeling really spunky, add together some meaty richness to that sauce: crisp some bacon or brown sliced sausages or footing meat. For some veggie richness, sauté mushrooms or caramelize fennel in plenty of olive oil. If you're drinking vino, you lot can pour in a fleck to deglaze the pan equally you cook them. Add together the jarred sauce over the cooked meat or vegetables, stir well, and simmer it all together for several minutes.

Pasta with Vodka sauce in white bowl with gold fork and wine on the side.

5. Broil It

The Epi staff's favorite way to use jarred pasta sauce is baking information technology, which lets those sugars really caramelize and the flavors cook downwards and deepen, also as take on some of the flavour of the foods the sauce is cooked with. Use information technology for Parmigiana, lasagna, meatballs, broiled ziti, or any other baked tomato sauce dish.

The pasta in a white stoneware baking dish—the top a valley of toasted cheese and concentrated pockets of tomato...