It can be, but then you’ve got Cincinnati chili sauce. Which is not a BAD thing. If you like that, add a touch each of cinnamon and cocoa. Serve over spaghetti and top with beans, meat, onions, and shredded cheddar cheese. (Just google “Cincinnati Chili”)
I would avoid oregano, myself. Bensonhurst guidos deplore it as overly Greek, and prefer lots of basil, parsley, and garlic.
If you’re buying “bland” jarred spaghetti sauce, save money and buy a can of plain whole or crushed tomatoes. Season to your own taste.
I find cumin counteracts the excess sweetness in commercial sauce while brightening it up a bit (hard to explain). That plus added ground beef cooked with onions can be quite good. And I loath Cincinnati sauce - I had family from there. Give it a try. Many jar sauces are over spiced, it’s difficult to get a bead on what to add without making things worse.
My go-to is to cook bacon, drain off some of the grease for future use (can be used instead of olive oil), add some minced garlic to soften. Add desired amount to jarred sauce, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper or flakes. Add fresh basil at the end.
Which reminds me. I forgot to buy a basil plant at the store. I wasn’t expecting them to be on sale, since plants are generally not allowed to be sold. I guess there’s an exception for herbs.
I like to add a stalk of fresh rosemary. I’m afraid to add oregano, my mother, a first generation Sicilian whose parents came from a village on the slopes of Mt. Etna would have slapped me into next week if I’d added oregano to pasta sauce. Her firm policy was that oregano went on sliced fresh tomatoes and pizza, that was it. She’s been dead for close to ten years, but I figure why take a chance?
Yes to pretty much all of the above. Dice up a named meat. Red pepper flake, cheap wine, basil, oregano, marjoram, a little fennel seed and Robert’s your mother’s brother.
The effect of adding fresh garlic cannot be underestimated
And that does not mean, throwing whole or roughly chopped cloves into the sauce and then heating it up; quite the opposite.
You want to heat some olive oil over medium heat, add the garlic first until the smell of it is well released, then add the onions and peppers. Only after the onions are browned and the peppers are softened do you add the sauce from the jar, stir, add some fresh basil if you have it, and cover and simmer until the sauce bubbles gently.
If you are adding ground beef, drop the beef in there after the onions/peppers are softened but before adding the sauce. Add a bit of salt and black pepper at that time if you’re adding unseasoned meat.
Anchovy paste for umami can also kick things up a notch, or if you don’t have that, just use a pinch or two of Accent. Which is MSG. Which is umami. No worries.
Heh, my second grade teacher was Sister Annunciata Maria.
I like adding basil. Especially fried fresh basil leaves on top when you’re plating. Second adding a little anchovy paste. You don’t “taste” it per se but it adds that depth of umami.
I’ve never added fennel because my sister (who I live with) doesn’t like it. One day I’ll make a batch for me and add sauteed fresh fennel. Yum!
Honestly? Most of the commercial sauces are way over-spiced to begin with. I’d rather start with a can of absolutely plain tomato sauce. But, if you want to jazz it up, oregano and garlic are probably the two most common ones to try to start with.
OK, here’s the best move: get yourself to a Mariano’s or whatever (I’m pretty sure you’re in my area). Get some proper Parmigianno-Reggiano – it’s not even all that expensive. You just want the shit that has the stamp on the side. Theirs is branded as “White Gold” IIRC. Use that, grate it, put that on your pasta, and you will be good.
Really? The uninitiated need to be careful - very careful - if doing things in this order. You can burn garlic into acrid bitter pellets of grit in considerably less time than it takes to get colour into onions and soften peppers. And browning onions is a contentious issue in its own right. Marco Pierre White - Italian mother, three Michelin stars - says to cook them without colour. Plenty of others - Italian Nonnas among them - will probably tell you otherwise though…
Anyway, back to where garlic sits in the order of play: the liquid released from the onions and peppers can buffer the garlic against scorching, but it’s a great deal safer to add your garlic for a couple of minutes after the - far more forgiving - onions and peppers are getting to where they need to be.
Fresh basil though - yep, down with that. And a decent twist of black pepper, I reckon.