World's Best Spaghetti Sauce Recipe + Video | The Bewitchin' Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What adds richness to spaghetti sauce? ›

Just as we like to simmer pasta in its sauce with a little bit of the pasta-cooking water for the last few minutes of cooking, we also like to enrich most sauces with a final glug of fresh olive oil, a pat of butter, and/or a big handful of finely grated cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano.

Mix in Some Meat

Mixing meat into your jarred pasta sauce will do wonders for making it taste high-quality. Browning and adding some sausage, turkey, chicken or ground beef will increase your sauce's flavor, incorporate extra texture, infuse a heartier taste and up the protein content.

The trick is to cook your noodles directly in your sauce. Sounds a little bizarre, but it totally works! By adding uncooked noodles and a little extra liquid into the sauce, you end up with a simple and delicious meal made in just one pot.

Add butter

Yes, that's right. Toss in a few tablespoons of butter, and let it melt into the sauce. If you've never tried it before, it might seem strange, but a little butter makes tomato sauce rich and smooth, and also balances out too much acidity, which is common in jarred sauces.

For the best spaghetti, cook it in salted water.

Pasta water should taste salty. I add a lot of salt to our pasta water (it makes the pasta taste delicious). I add about one tablespoon of salt for every four quarts (16 cups) of water, which is perfect for cooking one pound of pasta.

Season with oregano, basil, and rosemary. Stir 3/4 cup red wine and tomato paste into beef mixture. Pour spaghetti sauce into the pot; stir. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking until flavors blend, 10 to 30 minutes.

Starting with good quality tomatoes and crushing them by hand offers great flavor and texture later on. The combination of butter and oil releases fat-soluble aromatics and gives the sauce a creamy texture. Slowly cooking the sauce in the oven creates rich caramelization without burning.

It may sound a little unusual to add cream cheese to a pasta recipe, but it adds a tangy note and rich creaminess to the sauce. You can also add extra seasonings and other ingredients to the base recipe to fit your personal taste.

Egg yolks are the ideal addition to pasta sauces, salad dressings and custards that need thickening. The protein in egg yolks thicken when heated and they also add a richness to sauces. You'll need to be careful when adding egg yolks to hot sauces because they can scramble the sauce.

Why do chefs add pasta water to sauce? ›

Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.

To achieve a simmer, you will need to cook between about 185 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit, but the best way to monitor a simmer is visual because you will see the small bubbles forming in the pot. For this reason, it is best to simmer without the lid.

Monter au Beurre is a French term used to describe the process of adding or whisking in whole, cold butter into a sauce or puree at the end of the cooking process. This process, which is usually done off the heat, adds shine, flavor and richness.

Tomato paste is typically added at the beginning of cooking, often briefly sautéed in olive oil. You may have seen recipe instructions to add paste to your pan and cook, stirring, until it “turns brick-red”; this process caramelizes the natural sugars in paste, deepening its flavor, so don't skip it.

Restaurants build an aromatic base for their sauces

Pasta water isn't the only base ingredient that restaurants add to their sauces. According to Ferraro, the bases for sauces are hard-won flavor bombs that take effort and planning to perfect. "Building flavor is an important thing, and it takes time," he said.

A hefty drizzle of olive oil stirred in off the heat is also a great move. And if you're feeling really spunky, add some meaty richness to that sauce: crisp some bacon or brown sliced sausages or ground meat. For some veggie richness, sauté mushrooms or caramelize fennel in plenty of olive oil.

If the consistency of a sauce is too thin or the flavor too weak, adjust it by gently simmering the sauce to reduce, thicken, and concentrate the flavors. Other alternatives include adding a thickening agent, cream, a swirl of butter, or a liaison of egg yolk and cream.

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.