So many people knock using jar sauce…well I use jar sauce. I don’t have the time to make sauce from scratch, so I do the next best thing…. I doctor up a jar of sauce. Now you may be asking what do I mean by doctoring a jar of sauce? Well we can compare it to surgery…we just aren’t cutting up any people. First things first you’re gonna need a jar of sauce. I went with Ragu because it was on sale.
Now here’s where the cutting begins. I started by dicing onions, bell peppers and portabella mushrooms.
I then took about a pound of ground beef and browned it off. Added some sausage and some diced bacon.
After I added the diced vegetables along with a can of diced tomatoes ( you see I like a chunky sauce).
Now what most people don’t understand about cooking is that it is not a true science. It’s about what you like and how it makes you feel. You have to find out what works for you and your palette and make it WORK.
I love, love , love a lot of garlic ( especially in Italian food). Maybe that doesn’t work for you ( guess what don’t add it). After that’s done I added the jar of sauce and began a prescription of seasonings. Thyme, crushed pepper flakes, kosher salt, black pepper, dried Italian herbs and some slow simmering……
Let your imagination and your taste buds run free when trying to doctor a jar of sauce. maybe you want to add just vegetables,,,, diced or shredded zucchini, carrots, spinach, sweet peas or maybe you want to try adding seafood, or alternative to ground beef…It’s all up to you.
Now because I’m always taking it to the next level I decided I would doctor the pasta, too. I used thin spaghetti cooked according to to package directions. Then I sauteed garlic with red pepper flakes in olive oil, making sure not to burn the garlic ( nothing worst than the taste of burned garlic)
Then I added the pasta with some of the cooking water and minced parsley. Time to serve it up
Go buy a jar of sauce and get to doctoring.
BCJ2U
