If you want to make a great pot of spaghetti, there are a number of tips that can help. Some of them might not be quick or simple, but they are all worthwhile if the goal is to make the best homemade spaghetti sauce you can possibly make. Let’s face it, it is the sauce that makes the spaghetti terrific.
It also goes without saying that making the sauce from scratch is nearly always going to produce better spaghetti sauce than you can get out of a can or jar that comes from the store.
Cooking the sauce slowly
Preparing and cooking fantastic spaghetti sauce isn’t a fast process. It might seem like most people now-a-days want things to be as easy and as fast as possible, however cutting corners just to make a faster pot of spaghetti normally results in something that doesn’t taste as great as it could have.
That said, there are ways that can cut a little time from making the sauce. For example, if our tomato harvest is good, which it normally is, I home can homemade salsa. Using this in the spaghetti sauce does cut time. However, the amount of time is still there, because it took time to make and then can the salsa.
Varieties of onions
Assuming that a person is making Italian-style spaghetti, adding onions is nearly a requirement. Many people don’t consider that different kinds of onions and members of the onion family each add a slightly different flavor. If you want the best sauce you can make, use a variety of the onion family.
For instance, using red, white and yellow onions, adding garlic, chives and leek or shallots will normally give you a better sauce than one that has only a single kind of onion. The onions should also be chopped fine and added to the sauce before it is simmered. The sauce is going to cook for quite a while, so the onions will be cooked. Yet the slow cooking allows the flavors to mix completely with the other ingredients.
Sauce secret
A long time ago, I was asked why it was that my sauces always seem to have great flavor. While I won’t say that my sauces always taste great every time, my secret is one that came from my mother. Many times, she told me, “Something sour, something sweet, something bitter and something bland.” The statement is extremely old and I don’t have any idea who first coined it, but it is very true when it comes to great spaghetti sauce.
For my sauce, I add lemon juice, fresh or stewed tomatoes, honey or brown sugar and onions, thus taking care of the sour, sweet and bitter. The spaghetti noodles the sauce is served over is the bland part.
Kinds of meat
While meatless sauce still tastes good and is an option for vegetarians, meat adds enormously to the sauce, just as the onions do. Also like onions, different kinds of meat lend different flavors.
The sauce can be cooked with chicken, turkey, rabbit, beef, pork, bear, elk, venison and a host of other meats. However, a combination of meats tend to work best. Thus, sauce with ground beef can be good, but adding pork sausage or ground pork is usually better. Adding ground venison is better still.
Oil
Beef, bear and pork all produce a lot of oil when they are cooking. Venison, elk and turkey usually don’t produce much. However, regardless of the kind of meat that is being used, or even if no meat is being used, be sure to add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. This adds flavor and healthy properties. When possible, too, use extra virgin olive oil, as it is more flavorful. Avoid vegetable or corn oil, which don’t add flavor and just increase the fat content.
Cooking with wine
Using some good sweet wine when the sauce is cooking both enhances and brings out the flavors in the other ingredients. If the wine is added at the beginning, the alcohol is burned off, leaving only the flavor.
Using herbs and spices
There are few herbs and spices that won’t work well in spaghetti sauce. My personal preference includes the use of basil, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley and occasionally marjoram, lavender and cumin. The herbs are best when they are fresh rather than dried. There is a secret to using the herbs, too. They should be added to the sauce 10-15 minutes before the sauce is done and should be stirred in well. If the seasonings are added too early, the volatile oils that give the herbs their flavor can be burned off.
Get imaginative
My spaghetti sauce often contains finely diced bell peppers and I occasionally add chopped carrots or corn. Wild mushrooms are a fantastic addition and I especially enjoy morels, puffballs or shaggy mane mushrooms in the sauce. I often also add sliced black olives. I have been known to put chopped jalapeno peppers in the sauce, though only if the people eating it don’t mind spicy foods. The point is to be imaginative. Some additions can be superb, though they might not initially sound like they belong in spaghetti sauce.
Great tasting spaghetti sauce can be time consuming to make, but most people who eat it will agree that it is worth it. Naturally, some people will prefer to make a half hour pot of spaghetti, using a store bought jar of sauce, but the homemade version is so much better. Believe it or not, I’ve only given a small number of tips for making great spaghetti. There are many more.