#Red Sauce

[weaselle]

idk who needs to hear this, but I know that someone has been making red sauce for their pasta and can't figure out why it doesn't taste right and why it doesn't stick to the pasta

It doesn't taste right because you need a spoon or two of sugar. That bright metallic flavor that cuts through the sauce and keeps if from tasting right is tamed by a little bit of sugar. You want enough to mellow down and round out the flavor profile, but not enough that the sauce turns sweet.

It doesn't stick to the pasta because you need to add a ladle of the water from the pot you cooked your pasta in. There's starch in that water and it will thicken your sauce up and make it gluey so it sticks to the pasta

extra tip: if you only cook the pasta about halfway in the water and then finish cooking it in the sauce, the pasta will pull water out of the sauce and thicken it. But you still need some of the pasta water in the sauce, for the starch. And don't put raw pasta in the sauce and try to cook it that way, it won't work right.

Took me like ten years to catch on to the sugar thing, and now my red sauces are top notch.

[multifandom-gif]

☆ THE MENTALIST APPRECIATION WEEK 2025 ☆

-> DAY 1 (2/12) - Season 1 or Favorite Character

She was SO happy 😭🥹

[normystical]

[victusinveritas]

[civ5crab]

[fieriframes]

[SALT, PEPPER. WAIT TILL THE MUSHROOMS COOK JUST A LITTLE BIT. ADD OUR RED SAUCE. AND THE RED SAUCE IS?]

[invertebrea]

my mom used to buy me ogata as a kid but she had to stop cause ogata would make me go crazy and hurt myself and others

[fruitteay]

I eat good everyday 🍝

[notakidcuisine]

Burst-Tomato Bolognese

Forward:

This recipe has become one of my go-to recipes for parties, as well as times I'm getting high, or just craving carbs. It has loads of vegetables, both core to the recipe and as optional additions listed below, and is remarkably healthy for you given how good it tastes. The sauce is chunky and tomatoey, getting extra sweetness from both the bell peppers and the recipe's namesake, the burst cherry tomatoes.

Mandatory Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

10-15 oz of Cherry Tomatoes (More will lead to a slightly sweeter and chunkier sauce)

28 oz Crushed Tomatoes (Canned is fine, or crush your own)

1.5 Tsp Tomato Paste (I recommend the toothpaste tube kind, as it allows for further use over time)

½ Large White or Yellow Onion, chopped fine

2-3 Large Cloves of Garlic, finely minced

½ Cup Bell Peppers, diced

Optional Add-ins:

1 Full-sized Carrot, diced

¼ Cup celery, diced

6 oz Baby Spinach (About a whole, small bag of the stuff)

1-2 small Habaneros, diced very fine

1lb Ground Beef (Or comparable alternative)

Directions:

Start by covering the bottom of a large saucepan or 'jumbo cooker' with a layer of the olive oil, and setting the stove onto medium or medium high heat. If using fresh carrots, add them once the oil has heated up and allow them to cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften. The pieces can be larger or smaller to taste, but I prefer mine cut into smaller chunks.

Once the chunks are beginning to soften, though not quite cuttable with a spatula, add in the onion, bell peppers, celery and habaneros into the oil, cooking them all until the onions start to turn see-through.

Lower the heat to medium or medium low, then add in the washed cherry tomatoes, turning them to cover them in the olive oil. Add Italian Seasoning (more is always better in my opinion), a pinch of salt and pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper atop the mixture. The oil and onions should darken a shade or two with the added seasoning, and the skins of the tomatoes should be somewhat covered, aiming for this should tell you that you've added enough (But you can always add more to taste at the end!)

As the tomatoes begin to burst, add in the two to three cloves of minced garlic allowing it to cook until golden brown. Cooking until half the tomatoes have split, and the garlic has gotten golden brown, add in 24 oz of crushed tomatoes (One of the big cans will do if you don't want to crush your own!) and lower the heat to a simmer, stirring in the crushed tomatoes until the mix looks even.

Finally, add three large squeezes of tomato paste (approximately ½ a tablespoon) and the spinach into the sauce, allowing the spinach to cook down on low heat if applicable. If cooking alongside a protein source, such as ground beef, add that in once the meat is almost fully cooked (a little pink is okay, as the beef will cook on low heat and absorb the flavors of the sauce.) My recommendations for seasoning ground beef are a healthy amount of Italian seasoning, garlic (fresh if possible, or powdered), onion powder, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. As with anything, season to taste <3.

Closing:

In closing, this is one of my favorite recipes, and one of the ones I'm proudest of coming up with. It's complex, but not overly difficult to make, and yields amazing pasta anytime I make it. I usually put the sauce over tricolor rotini, the pasta that was popular in my house growing up, but it works well over anything, as the sauce is thick and chunky, so any noodle should work.

I hope you enjoy my recipe, and those which I'll inevitably add to this cookbook of mine in the months and years to come. I'm excited to hear if anyone cooks it what their thoughts are, so feel free to reblog it and tell me what you think :)

[gluttonysansgluten]

Homemade GF gnocchi with red sauce, roasted bell peppers, and goat cheese. So so good!

[renegadesstuff]

Annoyed & in love. 🤭🥹

I LOVE that scene SO much 🥹🤏🤍

[writer-rider-flirty-thirties]

🔥

Hmmm.

Ketchup is the superior condiment.

[fieriframes]

[IF I GO LIKE THIS, THEY SHOULD FALL RIGHT OUT. LOOK AT THAT. SO NOW LET'S COOK 'EM? 10 TO 15 MINUTES-- WHEN THEY FLOAT, BASICALLY THEY'RE DONE. WE SERVE 'EM WITH A RED SAUCE. THERE YOU ARE. MMM, DELICIOUS-- GOOD MEAT FLAVOR.]

[paulpingminho]

[adhd-languages]

Right yeah thats kind of how I’d use it. Like a very generic term to mean “a sauce that is red”. My first thought hearing it would be some type of spicy sauce, tho I’m not sure why.

Using it to imply the sauce doesn’t have sugar I haven’t heard of.

A group of far-future linguists and archeologists suddenly *poof* into existence in front of me. One is holding a tablet. "What is the difference between 'red sauce' and 'tomato sauce?'" they ask me. "The distinction is not clear in extant texts from this time and place."

"Uh, they're the same thing," I tell them. "Who are you?"

"Yes!" the being with the tablet exclaims.

One of the other researchers groans. "No! My thesis...months of writing wasted..." One of the others comforts them.

"Now, what is this object for?" The first researcher holds up a discolored, dinged-up plastic object. It's clearly been buried in the ground for quite some time, but the two holes and the scuffed plastic window are distinctive.

"That's a cassette tape. You record music with it."

"Interesting, interesting." The being enters something on the tablet.

"How are you speaking English?"

"Sophisticated translation technology," one of the researchers confides. "We are students of your society. From the future."

"What does this pictogram represent?" The researcher with the tablet turns it around so that the screen faces me.

It's the eggplant emoji.

"Sex," I say. "Why do you need to ask me this if you can time travel or whatever? Can't you just go wherever you want to go and look around and see how these things are being used?"

The beings shift guiltily and look at each other. "Technically, travel to times and places prior the advent of time travel is strictly prohibited. Paradoxes, you know."

"Oh."

"We must get back before our advisor returns to the lab. Just don't tell anyone you saw us, alright? The space-time continuity depends on it. Can you do that?"

"Uh, sure, I guess?"

One of them pats me on the head. "And don't go to Mars."

"Okay. Wait, why? Is it dangerous?"

"No. Just not worth it."

The group disappears in a shimmering light.

The cassette clatters to the sidewalk behind them.

Out of befuddlement, mainly, I pick it up. It's clearly old, discolored and scuffed, but it still has tape in it.

I carry the tape around in my pocket for a while. The curiosity builds. I want to know what's on that tape. I don't have a cassette player anymore, so I go to Goodwill and pick up the first one I can find, praying that it still works. I plug it in. It turns on.

I slide the tape inside. It's dirty, but it still seems to be in decent shape. I snap the player closed and hit play. The wheels begin to turn. I hold my breath.

A familiar tune starts up. A wobbly voice comes out of the machine.

We're no strangers to love