Food Talk  Discussion Forum

Hi,
Can anyone tell me the recipe for making pasta sauce?
prabha Kevin replied. this is truly an open ended questions that can have thousands of answers. one could really write at least one book on the topic, and possibly more. i will attempt a quick answer (i hope).

ok, what type of sauce? a white sauce, an oil sauce, an herb sauce, a tomato sauce, a cheese sauce. etc. this is a vegetarian site, but there are also meat and fish sauces, too.

1. simplest of all... cook pasta, drizzle and toss w/a good olive oil. grate a little parmesan and toss. grate a bit of black pepper at the table.

2. melt butter in a pan on low heat. when completely melted, add pasta. stir around. put on plates, grate parmesan over top.

3. melt butter in pan on low heat. when melted, add olive oil. crush garlic in a garlic press or finely dice. add to oil-butter mixture. heat, but do not brown garlic. add pasta or pour over pasta. toss to coat throroughly.

4. melt butter in a pan over low heat. add a little olive oil, crushed garlic. add a tablespoon or so of flour (maida). saute w/o browning. add cream/milk/half&half a little at a time to make a white sauce. allow to bubble briefly, add pasta, toss & stir until evenly coated, serve w/parmesan on top. (alfredo sauce)

5. pour olive oil in a blender. add a cup of basil leaves. blend until mixed. add pine nuts and blend. grind black pepper in too. pour over hot pasta. mix w/parmesan. add salt& pepper to taste. (pesto)

6. make a white sauce (the above alfredo w/o garlic). pick out your favorite type of cheese, cube it or slice it and add to white sauce over low heat and melt the cheese. stir and blend into the sauce for a cheese sauce. pour over pasta and toss to coat.

7. tomato sauce. remove skins from tomatoes. (boil for a few seconds, slip the skins off). halve the tomatoes and take out seeds(reserving any juice by using a seive) dice tomatoes and cook in a large pot over low heat for a long time reserved juice, maybe a little red wine, maybe some diced onion, garlic, etc(slightly sauteed in olive oil before adding). add herbs (oregano, marjoram, bay, etc) and salt/pepper as needed. add a bit of sugar to cut the acidity...smooth it out. add vegetables if wanted...mushrooms, celery, etc. cook to a nice thick sauce. when done, take 2 or 3 ounces and toss w/pasta to give a light coating. put pasta on the plate and spoon sauce over it. grate parmesan on top.

well, this is a start. the last is the most complex, and probably why the tomato pasta sauces are usually jarred...makes it so much easier to serve.

o, another nice topping is butter & parsley. toss and mix, put in an oven proof dish. sprinkle with bread crumbs. bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes or so until the bread crumbs are crunchy. serve hot.

ok, good luck w/this. i will also say that the better the pasta (fresher, or homemade, etc) the simpler the sauce should be...so you taste the fullness of the quality of the pasta.
kevin
:-)