Cowboy Spaghetti (Easy Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

How to make spaghetti at home better? ›

How to make good spaghetti at home - Quora. I use noodles that absorb the water and add flavor including lots of spices (oregano, basil, cayenne, chili powder, jalepno seeds and others) a little bit of salt and a small amount of honey to the water. I also add extra basil and fresh garlic to Prego sauce.

Nutmeg. Nutmeg is the key to boosting earthiness and adding a touch of nuttiness to your spaghetti sauce. Nutmeg also has a slightly sweet flavor, which we know goes great with acidic canned tomatoes. Overall, it accentuates the other ingredients in the sauce and adds complexity.

Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level. Although fresh herbs might pop a bit more, dried herbs and spices can work just as well. Sprinkling in some red pepper flakes, a pinch of parsley and a dash of salt and pepper can liven up your jarred pasta sauce.

Use salt and pepper to season ground beef, turkey, or pork. Add garlic, onions, bell peppers, oregano, basil, parsley, or Italian seasoning for extra flavor. Stir red pepper flakes, chili powder, or hot sauce into the meat for a spicy kick.

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

The trick is to add an egg! That's right, the fat from the yolk and the egg white help make tomato sauce silky and smooth. And before you freak out about adding a raw egg to your food let me assure you that the egg does get cooked.

If you do not have crushed or diced tomatoes, you can use tomato sauce and tomato paste instead. If using tomato paste, you will need to add 1 cup of water and allow the sauce to simmer. Worcestershire sauce – (Optional) Deepens the flavor of the sauce.

Why do Italians put sugar in spaghetti sauce? ›

It is widely held that Italian immigrants began adding sugar to their sauce to make up for the overly acidic tomatoes they were forced to work with in their new home.

Great tomato flavor is all about balancing acidity and sweetness. Too much of either can leave you with asauce that tastes one-dimensional. Many sources recommend adding a pinch of baking soda to a sauce that's overly tart, which raises the pH and makes it less acidic.

The longer the better but you need to get the temperature right. It just needs to gently bubble, not boil. The longer you cook it the thicker the sauce so for thinner, long cooked sauce, consider adding no more than about a half a cup of water after about two hours of cooking. Then cook for another hour.

Step 5: Add Fat

A small amount of fat—extra-virgin olive oil or butter—is essential to good pasta sauce texture. Without fat, you have at best watery sauce (nobody has ever said, "Waiter, my pasta is not quite wet enough"), and at worst sauce that over-thickens with starch alone and takes on a pasty texture.

Yes, sugar might make the sauce taste better, but good old baking soda is an alkaline that will help balance the excess acid. A little pinch should do the trick.

Fresh or dried herbs will also add flavor to pasta dishes.

"I use a lot of parsley, either fresh or even dried," Montillo said. "Oregano, garlic powder, onion flakes, black pepper all work well in a variety of sauces."