Nowadays, every good restaurant offers at least some staple pasta dishes, such as bolognese. Why? Because these classic dishes can quickly satisfy people of all ages and tastes. That should be a good enough reason to introduce them to your kitchen.
The following article lists some tantalizing sauces that can bolster any pasta, including penne, macaroni, and spaghetti. Adding these sauces to your recipe collection can act as a solid foundation for your cooking and make you less stressed about your family dinners.
Putting Your Best Pasta Pot Forward: Know The Basics
Okay, let’s get some things straight first. A good pasta doesn’t have to involve complex ingredients or techniques to blow your mind. On the contrary, a great pasta sauce is one that’s been through its fair share of trial and error. The secret is to practice making one sauce so often that you memorize it at the back of your hand. Begin by selecting a few essential recipes that pique your interest. Next, learn them and keep using them until you start loving them as your own.
Learning and adding a good sauce recipe to your chef’s toolkit can offer a plan B when you’re running out of dinner options for your picky kids. Also, who knows, maybe one day you’ll become known in your neighborhood or family for your one-of-a-kind sauce. Isn’t that the ultimate dream of all home chefs?
The Noodles Deserve Some Love Too
Besides a lip-smacking sauce, noodles also play a significant role in making or breaking your pasta dish. Therefore, focus on cooking the noodles and treating them with just as much love as you would your sauce. And soon enough, you’ll be on your way to an epic pot of pasta.
1. Alfredo
When parmesan and butter come together to amplify the sweet, savory pleasure of a rich cream sauce, the Alfredo is born. You’re mistaken if you think the classic Alfredo sauce is only reserved as the chef’s specialty at your favorite Italian place. One can make this creamy goodness at home just as quickly. And don’t hold back from adding a generous topping of chicken.
Usually, the best way to use your Alfredo is fettuccine. However, if you’re more on the more wild side, you can also use it as a base or topping on your pizza.
2. Ragù
Got some boxed pasta lying around? Just add some simple ragù and watch it transform into a complete, nourishing meal. With its abundance of fragrant herbs like parsley, meaty texture, and tomato-y sweetness, ragù is one hard-to-resist sauce.
Take some ground meat to your basic marinara, and voila, you just whipped up some ragù. When meat sauces are concerned, you should always simmer slowly and at a low flame. This way, your sauce will have enough time to extract all the juices and flavor from the meat. As a result, you’ll have a richly-flavored sauce, packing meaty goodness in each bite.
Though tagliatelle is the go-to pairing with a ragù, you can also use other pasta. But, if you don’t want your noodles to be soggy or weighed down by the meat, go with tagliatelle’s wide noodles. And though polenta isn’t technically pasta, it pairs perfectly with ragù.
3. Marinara
The marinara has ruled as one true king of the pasta world for most of food history. A handful of ripe tomatoes, aromatic garlic, and a kick of fresh herbs are all you need to make this simple tomato sauce. Simmer all these together,and you know you’re done when your kitchen smells like an upscale Italian bistro.
In the case of marinara, store-bought will surely not do. Do yourself a favor and try cooking a batch at home. There’s no right way to make a classic red sauce, and there’s a lot more to a marinara than just plain tomatoes. For instance, you can use red wine to intensify the flavor or add a chewy texture using chopped onions.
Nothing comes second to spaghetti when using marinara. Still, penne might be a good alternative, given its ability to hold some of the sauce in its shape and providing plenty of flavor in every bite.
4. Pesto
What do you get by mixing a ton of fresh basil, garlic, nuts, cheese, and olive oil together? Your good ol’ pesto, that’s what. The basil pesto is as straightforward as a recipe gets. Learning it can be a great addition to your growing collection of pasta sauces. Plus, you can use it to dress up your boring lunch salads, add on pizzas, or as a sandwich spread.
Both penne and fusilli are fitting choices for pesto, as their little shapes can hold the sauce’s texture pretty well. Don’t have those fancy ones? No worries. Spaghetti will work just fine too.
5. Brown Butter
Here comes the show-stopper, the one-ingredient pasta sauce, a.k.a brown butter.Sounds fancy, right? Well, its rich, thick, nutty texture does make it a pure indulgence, but it’s just as quick to make. If you’re short on time but still want to upgrade your basic bowl of ramen/noodles, use this sauce.
First, melt butter in a saucepan and keep cooking it for some time. You’ll know you’re done when you smell something nutty, and the sauce has turned a toasted-brown shade.
Though all kinds of pasta will only upgrade with a touch of delightful brown butter, ravioli is the premium choice.
In Conclusion
If you can memorize only one recipe for the rest of your life, make it a pasta sauce recipe. By learning these delicious recipes and using just a few ingredients, you can get rid of those store-bought jars and turn all your meals into gourmet affairs. This article discussed some pasta sauce recipes that never go out of style and the ways to incorporate them into your dishes. These include Alfredo, pesto, marinara, and brown butter.
Comments are closed.