As someone who has always cooked dried beans and chicken soup from scratch, I used to find the idea of bringing a jar of commercially made spaghetti sauce into my house unthinkable.
Well, times have changed.
Today's bottled sauces taste fresher and more flavorful than they used to. The preservatives are gone, and using them is as easy as opening a can of soup.
New varieties include sun-dried tomato, four cheeses, garden vegetables, mushroom and onion, zesty garlic, fat-free, chunky, Mom's, house red, northern Italian, southern Italian, European-style, California-style, seafood and cacciatore.
Now I use commercial spaghetti sauce when I don't have time to cook sauce from scratch. But I like to customize it, make it my own.
Jazzing up a jar of sauce can be as simple as adding some heavy cream and the juice of a fresh orange, or a cup of ricotta, or a can of tuna.
I like to add meat and peas or artichokes and prosciutto when I want something really different. I fry eggs sunny side up and simmer them in sauce, as my mother-in-law used to do on Friday nights when times were tough.
When I can't find anything in the house to eat except bacon and pine nuts, I can always make a meal by combining them with store-bought sauce. Or I'll transform a jar of spaghetti sauce into a party dish by adding shrimp and feta cheese. Pouring one of the flavored sauces over chicken or seafood and baking the dish in the oven makes an easy entree.
Sauces come in different size jars. All my recipes were made with 30-ounce jars, but it's perfectly OK to use a bigger jar if you want more sauce.
To add flavor to the dish, cook the pasta until it is almost al dente. Drain it, return it to the pot holding the sauce and cook them together until the pasta is done. And don't add salt and pepper until you taste the sauce.
Each recipe below is enough for one pound of pasta.
Sauce with Peas and Ground Beef
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas, defrosted
1 (30-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 pound percatelli, cooked
Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the beef until it is no longer pink, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to break up lumps. Pour off any accumulated fat. Add the peas and sauce and simmer 15 minutes; toss with the cooked pasta.
Spicy Sauce with Penne
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1 (30-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup imported black olives, pitted
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
4 anchovy fillets, chopped
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 pound penne, cooked
In a medium saucepan combine the sauce, olives, pine nuts, capers, anchovy and parsley. Simmer 15 minutes and toss with the cooked pasta.
Sauce with Bacon and Pine Nuts
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1/4 pound bacon
1 (30-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
hot red pepper flakes, to taste
1 pound rigatoni, cooked
Cook bacon until crisp. Drain off any fat and chop bacon into small pieces. In a saucepan combine bacon, spaghetti sauce, toasted pine nuts and hot pepper flakes to taste. Simmer 10 minutes and toss with cooked pasta.
Sauce with Meatballs
Makes 6 servings
1 slice bread
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/4 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 (30-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 pound spaghetti, cooked
grated Parmesan cheese
Soak bread in water for 5 minutes. Squeeze dry and discard water. Combine bread, beef, egg, cheese, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and mix well with your hands. Divide mixture into 12 equal portions and roll between wet palms to form smooth meatballs. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees 20 to 30 minutes, or until meatballs are no longer pink inside.
Place sauce and meatballs in a medium saucepan and simmer 10 minutes; toss with cooked pasta. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on individual servings.
Sauce with Chicken and Mushrooms
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 (10-ounce) package mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup capers, rinsed
1 (30-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 pound farfalle, cooked
Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick pan and saute chicken until opaque. Remove and set aside. Heat remaining oil and saute mushrooms 3 minutes. Combine chicken, mushrooms, capers and spaghetti sauce in a medium pan and simmer 10 minutes; toss with cooked pasta.
Sauce with Sausage and Chickpeas
Makes 6 to 8 servings
8 ounces sweet Italian-style sausage
8 ounces hot Italian-style sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (30-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (19-ounce) can chickpeas
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted, chopped
1 pound linguine, cooked
Remove sausage casings. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and add sausage meat. Cook until meat is no longer pink, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up lumps. Drain off fat. Add sauce, chickpeas and olives, simmer 10 minutes; toss with cooked pasta.
Sauce with Sunny-side-up Eggs
Makes 6 servings
1/4 cup olive oil
6 eggs
1 (30-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 pound spaghetti, cooked
Tabasco sauce
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and when it's very hot add the eggs a few at a time. Cook until yolks are set and edges turn a crispy brown; add oil as needed.
Heat the sauce in a medium pan. Add eggs and simmer 10 minutes. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and toss the sauce with the cooked pasta. Place an egg on each serving. Pass the Tabasco sauce.
Sauce with Shrimp and Feta Cheese
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 cup white wine
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 jar spaghetti sauce
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried mint
1 pound linguine, cooked
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Place white wine in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add shrimp, simmer 3 minutes. Add sauce, lemon juice and mint and cook 3 minutes; toss with cooked pasta. Sprinkle with feta cheese and parsley.
Sauce with Artichoke Hearts and Prosciutto
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1 (16-ounce) can artichoke hearts in water
4 ounces prosciutto, chopped
1/2 cup imported black olives, pitted
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 pound shells, cooked
grated Parmesan cheese
Cut artichoke hearts into quarters. Combine with prosciutto, olives and sauce in a medium saucepan and simmer 10 minutes; toss with cooked pasta. Sprinkle grated Parmesan on individual servings.
Sauce with Eggplant and Mozzarella
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small eggplant, diced
1 jar spaghetti sauce
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 ounces diced mozzarella
1 pound rotelli, cooked
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add eggplant and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until soft. Stir in sauce and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in capers and cayenne pepper. Pour sauce and mozzarella over cooked pasta and toss well. Sprinkle with parsley.