Just want to point out that the canned Hunt’s spaghetti sauces are actually better than you might think- better than Ragu anyway.
Makes a cheap and solid base to doctor up as you see fit.
I’ll bet if Steve McQueen had a pasta sauce it would suck, too. But Real Men would eat it anyway.
I am a good cook, but I don’t have red sauce down well. Plus it’s just me and a kid, so a jar is more than enough. I don’t want gallons to freeze.
I buy jarred but I placate my Neapolitan ancestors by tweaking it up. I sweat some garlic and seasoning in some olive oil for a few minutes in the pot and then dump the jar in there. It gives it a homier feel without a lot of work. And no chunks. I hate chunks. That also inhibits my sauce making because the more smooth it is, the more it’s been cooked. I’m not going to stick blend whole tomatoes down so by the time we get to a texture I like in the canned options, it’s already basically sauce. So I just go right to the jars and save all the extra work.
I also think my Neapolitan ancestors might forgive me when watching me toss pizza dough around or when I make calzones from scratch.
'Course they might not already recognize me as a descendant because my Irish genes dominated everything and I look like an extra in a Wahlburg movie.
I find jar sauces tolerable at best, except for Victoria Marinara sauce.
Discovered via a fire sale discount at Pathmark (before they went belly up, I bought a couple of cases) and subsequently at Costco.
Very simple ingredients, tomato, olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, herbs & spices, and is good enough to put in a bowl and scoop out with nice bread. Clean simple tomato sauce taste. Not my mom’s sauce that was cooked all day on Sunday, but really nice.
I found the good stuff at a different Kroger than where I usually shop - HemisFares’ Sausage and Fennel Ragu with Barolo wine spaghetti sauce.
I use it as an alternate to or occasionally to augment our homemade pasta sauce. Excellent. Bought four jars yesterday evening with which to survive the upcoming End Times.