I like to make sauce with fresh italian sausage. I cut up some onions
and thinly slice (or mash to paste) some garlic. I brown onions with
the sausage and add the garlic part way through. Then pour in the
sauce. I usually use canned stewed tomatoes instead of comercial sauce.
I also add other things. Doug mentioned some very good ideas, but also
:

Mince a few olives to add to the sauce.

With the garlic, you can always throw in a few peeled, but not sliced
or smashed cloves. They will cook, and get mild, but not impart too
much garlic flavor. This way you can either fish them out at the end
for garlic bread, or smash them and stir them into the sauce if it
needs it.

Thinly slice some veggies
-zucchini
-carrots
-fennel
-peppers (hot if you like them)
-mushrooms
If you don't have lemon or lime, add a bit of vinegar or wine. Never
use cooking wine, always go with the real thing. Cheap table wine is
better than cooking wine.

Add some herbs. Add a lot. Fresh is prefered, but dried work as well. I
like basil, oregano, parsley, sage, and celery leaves. Usually not all
at the same time. I often add some at the beginning when I add the
tomatoes, and then add a bit again about 10 or 15 minutes before
serving.

If you have time to simmer the sauce a bit, add a sprinkle of fennel
seeds. With enough time, the flavor will mix and the seeds with soften.

You can thicken a sauce by adding tomato paste. Wait until almost ready
to serve before adding, because the sauce consistency may change while
cooking. Usually it thickens, but some veggies give off quite a bit of
water.

Freshly ground pepper is also a very good addition.

If you like beans, they can be added to the sauce.


Dean G.