Alone and Unobserved

Pasta sauces can be spicy, cheesy, creamy, meaty, garlicky—you name it. But the most common sauce used in Italian kitchens is probably salsa rossa: “red sauce,” or simple tomato sauce.

The main rule of thumb of an amazing red sauce is: Simpler Is Better.

Tip #1: Don’t mix garlic and onion. A red sauce is all about clear, clean, distinct flavors. A garlic/onion mix is too heavy and complicated for such a simple sauce.

Tip #2: Olive oil or butter? This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but garlic generally goes best with olive oil and onion goes best with butter.

Tip #3a: Don’t brown the garlic. If you’ve decided to make a garlic-based sauce, begin by placing the minced garlic and the olive oil in a cold saucepan. Gently warm them over low–to–medium-low heat until both are fragrant and the garlic is turning translucent. Add the tomatoes or tomato sauce immediately to keep the garlic from browning and turning bitter.

Tip #3b: Onions are more robust. Melt the butter in the saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the onions and a little salt and cook until soft. Then add the tomatoes or tomato sauce.

Tip #4: Use canned tomatoes or tomato sauces that taste fresh and delicious right out of the can. Red sauce is all about the bright, zingy tomato flavor, which means it’s especially important to choose the right tomato base for your sauce. While there’s no way to know if canned tomatoes or tomato sauce are good without opening the can and tasting them, you can at least improve your chances by looking for brands with short, uncomplicated ingredient labels. Tomatoes, water, salt and citric acid are fine. Sugar, spices and other vegetables are not.

Tip #5: Don’t add sugar. Don’t ever. Just don’t.

Tip #6: Go easy on the herbs. Red sauces are SIMPLE. You do not need more than one herb. Basil, oregano and marjoram are all perfectly good and each will make a red sauce with a particular character, but will cover up the clean flavor of the sauce if used in combination.

Tip #7: Go SIMPLE. You can leave out all of the ingredients except the tomato sauce and the olive oil/butter. That’s right: if your tomatoes are good enough, you don’t need garlic, onion or herbs. Put the tomato sauce in a saucepan, drizzle in some olive oil or plop in a tablespoon of butter, and heat to a simmer.

Tip #8: Go light on the Parmesan. If your pasta is fantastic and your sauce is amazing, it is a crime to drown that flavor under a mountain of salty cheese. That doesn’t mean no Parmesan or Romano, but a light garnish should be plenty.

Go to the Salsa Rossa recipe. Also check out the companion piece, Eight Tips for Cooking Fantastic Italian Pasta for help getting your pasta dish to come out right every time.