solo2020

I come from a Korean family. Hate to say this, but a lot of times, I am quite disappointed in the cooking in this household. Not to say that Korean food is bad (it's actually quite tasty, good use of spices and vegetables).

So I find myself cooking for meself and my dog (she gets enough to fill her up)
Italian food being one of them, this is my usual spaghetti recipe. Which I cooked up for breakfast

- Grocery store dry spaghetti - I'm not sure how much of a difference dry pasta makes, but I bought it in bulk at Costco

- Prego - This sauce mixed Ragu Meat sauce actually makes a thick and beefy sauce. Quite tasty

- Chopped onions cooked in olive oil

Boil pasta for 10 mins. Add the onions and sauce. Cook for 1 minute. Enjoy and add parmasean cheese.

Am I missing something here? It comes out alrite, but I just can't seem to get that restaurant quality taste out of it.

maleficent

Korean food? Oh can I come to your house? Please... I love kimchee, and that hot pot bowl of rice and a bunch of other stuff served wiht the egg on top...

When you are cooking the pasta, the water should be very very salty, it's the only time I ever use salt in cooking, I will throw in a handful of salt into a large pot of water. You also want to make sure that there's plenty of room in the pot for the pasta to cook. and experiment wiht the cooking time, I prefer pasta al dente, so it's got a little bit of firmness in it.


I've seen a lot of recipes that suggest some oil either in the cooking water or after the pasta is cooked, oil i've found, prevents the sauce from clinging.

What I'll do, is throw the spaghetti in the sauce for about a minute while it's still on the heat, it finishes cooking in the sauce and takes on a great flavor.

Jarred sauce? I've never found a good one, Paul Newmans Aribiatta is about the closest I've seen. ("I've lived in Guidoville too long, jarred sauce would get you evicted from North Jersey

Fresh parmesan cheese - get yourself a hunk of the cheese and a grater, and it will make a world of differene (it's expensive so don't share that with the dog)

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SinisterMotives

Here's how I make marinara sauce:

2 large cans tomato paste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion
4 or 5 fresh garlic cloves
1 pkg. fresh mushrooms
basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper to taste
olive oil

Chop the onion and garlic cloves and simmer with the spices in olive oil until dissolved. Add tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. Simmer low, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Slice the mushrooms and add them a few minutes before the sauce is done. You want them to cook, but not cook down to nothing. This will make a little over 3/4 gallon of sauce. You can store it and reheat it as needed.

I always use angel hair spaghetti or fetuccini instead of regular spaghetti, but that's just my preference. Cook the pasta in water with a little salt and olive oil until al dente - i.e., it should be firm, not limp and soggy. It should offer some resistance when you bite into it. When the pasta is done, strain and rinse it immediately. Mix some olive oil in with the pasta to keep it from drying and sticking together.

SinisterMotives

By the way, you can make a really awesome substitute for parmesan cheese using peccorino romano (hard sheep's milk cheese) and shredded mozarella in a food processor.

OFKU0

What? No meatballs? Everyone has their favourite sauces so let's talk meatballs.

This is easy, cheap and will please everyone.

1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
Slowly mix in one pouch Lipton onion soup mix(or other brands)--mix
Add soya sauce, Catalina (or to taste) salad dressing, bbq sauce of choice, dijon mustard and a hint of A1 sauce(optional). Add all in bowl to taste, then add slowly to meat. DO NOT soak the meat. Just a good dampening.
Place covered in fridge for 24 hours
Remove from fridge and make meatballs to chosen size
If possible, steam meatballs. Pan fry to desired brownness on medium heat or microwave 10-14 minutes, turning covered plate and mixing after 6 minutes, once a minute
Drain fat and add meatballs to sauce. Let stew at least 1/2 hour stirred occationally
Enjoy

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splck

Saute onions and some garlic till limp, add a pound of lean ground beef and brown with salt and pepper to taste. Add stewed tomatos, a can of tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce. You can add mushrooms, fresh tomatos or anything else you want at this time. Add a fair amount of oregano, a bay leaf and let simmer.
It's real fast and tastes a heck of alot better than out of a can.

Do as maleficent says and add lots of salt to a large pot of water. Don't add oil and don't boil it on high.

Definatly grate your own parmesan cheese if you can.

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Aerobit

So much better than with suace! Im no expert but, one thing that I really like is "Spagatini In Sand" just cook your spagatini the same as you would and instead of using tomato sauce just toast some bread really crisp, then crush toast in to little crumbs and add on top of your serving and add additional seasoning if desired like garlic mmmm. Hope you try it its really good.

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cameroncrazy822

A couple bay leaves, some cayenne pepper, a half stick of butter, add some parmesean cheese to sauce are all good additions....

inharmony

I love to add just the slightest bit of sugar to my sauce...tastes great.

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ShaniFaye

Ok here is my quick spaghetti....it may not be as "homemade" as some like...but anytime I am cooking dinner for a group the ALL request my sghetti

2 pds hamburger meat
1 pack onion soup mix
1 can tomato PASTE (cant remember if its 12 or 16 oz, but its like a normal size can)
garlic salt
black pepper

When I cook the noodles I use salt...no oil

brown hamburger meat..when about 1/2 is browned add soup mix and let them cook together

when meat is cooked drain it in a strainer
add tomato paste and mix with water (I usually fill the tomato paste can up 1 1/2 times)to your desired consistancy...I like my thicker..and stir until the paste is all evenly distributed
add galic salt and black pepper to taste

and voila youre done!!

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maleficent

Ok, so I'm of Irish descent, but NJ Italian American by location...

meatballs are much tastier when they aren't all beef - the best concotion, that was shown to me by Luigi at the italian Deli... Your meatball mixture should be Ground beef, Ground pork, ground veal, and a big handful of sausage, either spicey or sweet (I like the spicey)

Mix all that together, and cook them in the oven for about 30 minutes, for all the grease to drain off, then finish cooking in the sauce (that was the nod to better health, he was of the mindset that the meatballs shoudl be cooked in the sauce, andall the grease they give off is just flavor...
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Once I get the red sauce made, I'll adapt it and make a vodka sauce out of it - hold the meatballs, and throw in some chopped proscuitto, a small handful of capers (Optional) ,add in a some vodka (I've grown partial to Absolut Peppar, givesit a nice kick) 2 bay leaves, and at the end 1/2 cup of cream...

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clavus

So much excellent advice preceeds me. I can only add a couple of things.

1) Chop up some spicy italian sausage. Brown it and add to the sauce.
2) Here is my secret weapon. If you tell anyone, I will have to kill you...add salsa. Use the fresh, chunky Pico de Gallo style (chunky tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers). This may seem like some cross-cultural abomination to some, but I urge you to try it.

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toid333

Holy Crap are all these recepies suckie.

OK Try this one for a good Marinara sauce (no meat). This is a Newark, New Jersey Recipe that my Italian Grandmother taught me.

Saute 1/2 a chopped but not too fine onion in a few table spoons of olive oil along with 4 or 5 cloves of garlic (not heads, cloves). When the onions turn translucent, take them and empty them into a pot with the oil in the pan. Now add 2 cans of Curshed tomatoes (the good italian kind like Pope or Tuttarosa) Now add 1/2 can of tomato paste and now turn on the heat. Put about 1/2 tsp of salt, Now add about 2 good pinches of dried parsley and a big palms worth of basil. Make sure you crush the basil between your hands, it brings out the flavor more. Cook an hour or so.

If you want to add meat, get some good Italian sausage and brown in the pan that you cooked the onions in. DO NOT Poke the sausage or you will loose all the good juices. Use tongs and add to your sauce. Which is now called Gravy - Every Italian knows you cant have garvy with out meat. If you want you can also put in a 1/2 stick of pepperoni that will add some zing to it or even a piece of pork or beef that has already been browned. You can also add mushrooms if you would like but do not add them in too early or they will shrivel up. Now if you want meatballs, I can't tell you that or I would have to kill you or myself. Its a family secret.

Lastly - No matter what anyone tells you, NEVER ADD OREGANO to your sauce. Only Non-Italians add oregano. Oregano is for Pizza or salad.

Mephisto2

I think Toid's is the closest to what I would consider a great recipe.

A secret ingredient that my mother gave me, and which I believe always improves a spag bol (as they are called in Australia), is a dash of sugar.

Yes. Sugar.

It adds just a hint of sweetness and really works well. An alternative is a dash of tomato ketchup; after all, it's 80% sugar anyway.

Try it. You'll like the results.


Also, I always use a bay leaf in my bolognese sauce whilst its simmering. Just make sure you remove it before serving!


Mr Mephisto

toid333

Sugar huh? My Grandmother taught me to drop in a few white rasins. Does the same trick. The sugar or rasins cuts the acid in the tomatos. I like the rasins in it. Another add that brings out good flavor is adding in some Pine Nuts or as they call them in Italian pinoli nuts. You sometimes find them in good pesto too. I now feel like making a pot. Some good crusty Italian bread - MMMMmmmmmm.

Dane Bramage

Making it from scratch. Anything out of a jar just ain't gonna cut it.

My own personal tastes...

Italian Sausage, a can of whole black olives (drained) and a sweet bell peper (choice of color). I also like it spicy, so I add crushed red pepper amungst other spices/herbs.

DB.

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spindles

Gotta throw in my 2 cents worth:
olives - but not black, they are evil - bugger - can't remember the type - damn beer is getting to me
chillies - added early when you are frying the garlic and onion

My wife has this idea that you have to eat something green with a meal, and we have often added (I know this sounds weird!!) brocholli to a tomato based pasta sauce. Hey, I'm not Italian, I'm cooking "spindles pasta sauce"

Fresh pasta is heaps better than dried. Buy a machine to roll out the dough and take the time to make the pasta yourself. It takes heaps less time to cook in the water and tastes fantastic!!!!!!!

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thingstodo

I'm not going to drop a recipe, just the key ingredients:

- garlic - a lot
- FRESH basil - a lot
- fresh diced tomatoes or even better, roman tomatoes that you have dropped in boiling water for 2 minutes so you can get the peel off - and the cut out the seeds
- a touch of sugar to cut the acid
- olive oil.... the dark kind
- options.... some onions if you want, capers possibly, black olives or even real olives, cooked to death carrots as a paste

With all this stuff you can create anything great. Just the garlic, basil, roman tomatoes and olive oil alone makes a great tomatoe/basil sauce you toss with angel hair pasta as a side dish (almost like the capelinni pomadoro at Macaroni grill).

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william

Here's a simple recipe for you:
1-2 lbs Ground Beef
1 lb Ground Sausage
1-2 Onions, diced (depending on size and preference)
Mushrooms (depending on taste)
Garlic (depending on taste)
1 can Spaghetti Sauce
Italian Season Mix
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Pasta
Olive Oil
To Prepare:
Brown the ground beef, sausage, onion, mushrooms and garlic. Add sauce and seasonings. Let simmer.
Cook pasta as descibed on box (7-11 min, depending on pasta), usin olive oil in pasta water. Once pasta is cooked, drain, and serve in your prefered manner. Some prefer to mix pasta and sauce, some don't.
It's not old school, but it's simple.

castex

More than any other factor I'd say the key to a good sauce is to cook it for ages on a very low heat.
The only bought sauce I would ever use would be pesto. Stick some of that in your ragu, wait a couple of hours and you'll be laughing.