Also tip the waitstaff but questions about tipping are not sent here. Last I heard CS is for arts and entertainment - Did I miss a memo?
Salsa, baby!
In my opinion cooking can be an artform and is greatly entertaining. I’ve been reading the boards for awhile now and I’ve seen a few threads about cooking here, none seemed out of place to me.
I keep a jar of store-bought white gravy mix around for just such an occasion. It’s great as a thickening agent, and I can always take care of those 3am gravy urges.
“You doctors have been telling us to drink 8 cups of gravy per day for years!” – Homer Simpson
Tim
(sorry that I probably screwed up the quote)
Easiest way to thicken it? Toss in a couple o’ tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes (not the kind in oil). They’ll absorb bunches of liquid as they rehydrate.
And I third the “don’t buy the cheap sauce” argument. (I like um…used to be “Five Brothers” but (stupidly) changed it’s name to something like “Bertiolli”
Fenris
Heat the sauce in a large frying pan rather than a sauce pan. Cook the pasta til it is just a little short of al dente and then add it to the pan with the sauce. Heat the pasta in the sauce until it is done. The starch in the pasta will thicken the sauce and the sauce will permeate the pasta. This is how Italians prepare pasta (usually with home made sauce of course).
The way I was taught is to cook the meat/vegies, whatever you are adding to the sauce and then pour the sauce in the hot pan. Then add some red wine and let it all simmer together. It sure likes to splatter! But the wine adds a delightful flavor.
Some good suggestions already. But if you’re going to buy store-bought, “don’t buy the cheap runny stuff” is right. Barilla is good, and I used to get Five Brothers/Bertoli. Personally I go for Newman’s Own Sockarooni sauce when I still get store-bought. Thick and very good when combined with meat or veggies and mushrooms.
For thickening with some flavor, try adding a can of Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes with Balsamic Vinegar, Basil, and Olive Oil to the sauce then cooking it down. Yum.
I second using cornflour. If you already like the taste it won’t change it at all.
For a 450mL can, I’d use a tablespoon of it. Mix it in a cup with a little cold water first so that it doesn’t clump, then pour it in. Make sure you cook it for a few more mins so you don’t get a floury taste.
Cornflour works for thickening almost anything it seems!
Blue Curls, are you talking about cornmeal? Like to make cornbread with, right? It seems like it would be really grainy to me. I love that oat idea, though. I love oats, period. I eat them with a spoon, uncooked!
Slight hijhack.
UK/Aus “Cornflour” = US “Cornstarch.”
And in my experience,
US “Cornmeal” = UK/Aus “You eat that?”
It’s probably not as uncommon as it was ten years ago, when I made a bunch of UK and Oz friends, but I doubt it’ll ever be a staple the way it is here.
On cornstarch: dissolving it first is essential. Any liquid will work - red wine is ideal if you have an open bottle in the fridge.
But really, the better option is simmering it down or using better sauce. Consumer Reports recently rated them; sadly, they found that the more expensive gourmet brands were significantly better than Ragu or Prego (they didn’t test Barilla, which I like a lot and is only slightly more expensive). Best Buy: of all things, Emiril, who’s an offensive human being but apparently makes good sauce.