I'm a little saucy - Sauce Basics

Believe it or not, I did not grow up eating pastas.  Fast Italian foods in our house was macaroni and cheese from a box.  The only other thing we ate that could be considered Italian was pizza at Shakey's.  Fun place to have a pizza with all of the family.  In fact, out Shakey's would show old movies, shorts and newsreels on Saturdays.  That is where I saw Buck Rogers, Tarzan and other old fun serials.  When I did start eating pastas when I was older I was relieved to find Alfredo sauce.  I just couldn't get into marinara sauces.  Nothing against tomatoes, I would eat them raw like an apple for breakfast and tomato juice was a staple. 

With time, I had children and found that spaghetti with jarred sauce and frozen meatballs was easy and fast and the kids would eat it.  The thing is that I made the mistake of trying to make my own sauce with no guidance from anyone.  I started by doctoring up jarred sauce by adding a few sauces and ground meat.  The ground meat is a big mistake, it just makes the flavor very bland.  Spicing up the meat helps a bit, but not much.  If this is the way you go, the best solution is not to used ground meat but rather Italian sausage.

The good news is that you can make a sauce from scratch in about the same time you doctor up a jarred sauce.  The are a lot of great ideas out there and while I do not lay out recipes in this blog, there are a few easy things that are a base of any sauce.

1 - Use canned tomatoes to start off your sauce, most chefs do
2 - Some basic Italian spices are: Basil, garlic, parsley, and red peppers
3 - You can usually find wine, olive oil, and olives in almost any Italian dish
4 - With time, it is worth experimenting with all sorts of different vegetables in your sauce like onions, carrots, squash, and zucchini.
5 - Make sauce ahead of time and put it in the freezer.  It should last for at least 6 months.
6 - Worried about the Zombie Apocalypse, try some different jarred sauces, fins one you like and have a few jars on hand, just in case.
7 - Don't freak out if an Italian recipe for Spaghetti sauce calls it gravy.  That's just the way they do it.  :)