How is pasta sauce made?
Check any Italian cookbook worth its salt, and you will find as many pasta-sauce recipes as there are shapes of noodle. In spite of the seeming complexity, all pasta sauces fall into one of three basic categories: simmered sauces, quick sauces and raw sauces. Each type of sauce is made using a single set of steps.Simmered Pasta SauceSimmered sauces are perhaps the best-known pasta sauces. They include your basic tomato sauce and a group known collectively as ragu, which contains meat. Most simmered sauces begin with a “soffritto,” a partially cooked mixture of onions, celery and carrots. Usually, tomatoes go in after the soffritto has cooked. Finally, seasonings, in the form of herbs or spices, go into the pot, which then simmers for many hours.Quick Pasta SauceAs a rule, quick pasta sauces take under 20 minutes to cook. Many cooks prepare quick sauces in the time it takes for the pasta to cook. A typical quick sauce begins with two tablespoons of olive oil in which minced or sliced ga
