Store bought pasta sauce

M

Macanudo

2,500+ Posts
I'm too damn lazy to make my own. I used to buy Classico almost exclusively. A few weeks ago, I picked up Newman's Own Italian Sausage and Peppers. This stuff rules. It's just a tad bit sweet with lots of flavor.

What do you buy?
 
Blumetti's is really good. There are two flavors that I buy -- one, I think, is Diavolo. You can get it at Central Market.
 
Classico is my favorite if I need large quantities for lasagna or a big group meal, but if I am making pasta for myself (rare, due to trying to stay skinny), I eat those Buotini (sp?) tortellini or ravioli ones and use their sauce.

f I am trying to show off and make something badass for a chick, I'll use the Buotini stuff as a base and add to that.
 
Oh yeah... I always add more garlic to the classico sauce.

Can never have enough garlic
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For tomato sauce, I used to use Classico, but have found it just as easy to make it.

Here's what I do:

Heat about 2 tbsps. of olive oil in a medium sauce pan.
When hot saute 1/2 of a coarsely chopped medium to large onion.
When almost translucent, drop in 2 large cloves of finely chopped garlic.
When hot, add a 28oz can of diced, (or "Chef's Cut" or crushed) tomatoes. (BTW,l if you happen to grow them, or have a source for good homegrown tomatoes, use those!)
Throw these into the pot to quickly heat.
When hot, pour in about 1/4 cup of red wine. (Optional).
Pour in water to cover with a little extra for simmering.
At this stage, you can, (but don't have to), add mushrooms, red, yellow or green bell peppers, a little of the hot peppers, etc.
Also add basil, rosemary and/or oregano, (fresh if you have them, dried if not). If fresh, use about 1 tsp of basil and oregano, and 1/2 of rosemary and half of those amounts if dried. Salt and pepper to taste, (or not).
Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

This is a very versatile sauce and freezes well. I keep some in the freezer, (flat in a ziplock baggie), and break off chunks for adding to stuff, (vegetables, baked chicken, stuffed pasta shells, etc.). Add cooked meatballs or browned ground meat, (or not), and serve over pasta or on a hoagie roll.

Use different wines, add an extra clove of garlic, use different combinations of herbs, mushrooms, peppers, etc.

Make it DIFFERENT every time!

Make it to suit yourself and make it your own.






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for making your own sauce, using canned tomatoes:

use Pomi. they're actually ina sort of box, type contraption. they are the best pre-done tom's you can get, by far.

if you can't find them, use cento. I usually don't buy precut, jsut due to consistency.

Instead, I buy the peeled, whole tomatoes and break them down with my hands.
 
Will any of these store-bought sauces NOT give me the trots? I've had too much bad luck with them, so I make my own now. But I'm willing to try again.
 
The HEB brand is really good. Of course, if you're not in Texas, Classico is good too.
Is it just me, or are the HEB brand foods better than other stores' generic food? I love the spaghetti sauce, creamy creations ice cream, Dr. B, and a bunch of other stuff.
 
I use Del Monte's 99 cent can and add some additional spices myself.
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Yeah I know most of you will
pukey.gif
at the idea of eating that kind but I have tried different kinds out of the jar I still like the flavor of Del Monte. Sure some of the $5 jars are very good but not $4 better in my opinion.
 
in southern italy they only cook with cherry tomatoes...mmmm...penne arrabiata....
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i usually grocery shop with the checking acct balance in mind, and dont splurge too much. there are certain things that are worth the extra dollars (beer, coffee, etc.) of the gourmet status. for pasta sauce, i use heb, classico, or bertolli. i admit though, that i do drool over the $6-8 bottled sauces, and would love to try them, but for my money the <$2 ones work fine. i always add tomato paste, garlic, onions, and lots of herbs.
 
If you dont want to spend all day making a authentic sauce I suggest this little Marinara Sauce...

Coat large fry pan with Olive oil
Sautee yellow onion
Pour Crushed tomatoes over it..
Add 2 cloves or fresh chopped garlic (or garlic powder)
Add fresh chopped Basil
Red Pepper
A little salt and some black pepper
add a teaspoon of sugar
mix it around... (season to taste)

If you decided to make this an all day thing and want to make a real sauce that is another thread..... but a little tip if your tomatoes or your sauce taste acidic then add some baking soda to the mix stur and the acid will rise to the top and can be scooped out.
 
I'm a hippy liberal, so I use Newman's Own organic tomato basil.
The best tomatoes are the San Marzano, if you're going to make your own.
 
I look for the lowest sugar content and for sugar or high fruitose corn syrup to be preferable missing from the ingredients list or one of the last ingredients. I hate sweet pasta sauce.
 
We use Classico Spicy Red Pepper sauce with the addition of a package of hot Italian sausage (whatever we can find), and a half a cup or more of dry red wine. (We are precooking some of this for a fishing trip 4-9 Aug.) I cut the sausages up into 1" chunks and parboil them to get some of the fat out. Then pour off the water, add some olive oil and brown them for awhile. Then pour in the sauce and the wine. Now it is a matter of waiting for the spaghetti to fininsh cooking while the sauce bubbles away. Kraft Parmesan works pretty well with this simple dish, save the Reggiano for pesto, alfredo.
 
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