Upgrade Your Jarred Pasta Sauce With An Aromatic Base

Whipping up homemade pasta sauce is a real joy — when you have the time. Achieving that good balanced texture while the pot simmers can definitely make you feel accomplished when you serve it up to friends and family, but sometimes you only have the supplies (or energy) to just boil pasta and heat up some store-bought marinara. Still, with a little extra effort you can turn any old jar of spaghetti sauce into something special.

The simplest addition you can make is to start off with fats and aromatics. Try sautéing minced garlic, diced onions or shallots, and even celery and carrots in olive oil and butter to prepare a fuller, sumptuous base to the more acidic tomato sauce. Once you've emptied the jar and started heating it up on the stove, you can experiment with a little wine. A dry white will add some spark and tart to the sauce while red wine can help accentuate the more savory flavors.

One big upgrade you can make with any pasta dish is adding in fresh picked basil. Some home cooks may not have a plant on-hand — if that's the case, put it on your grocery list and you'll see just how much utility you can get out of this fragrant herb in future meals.

Of course, you can always add in one or two other things to really level up your pasta. Ground beef can turn any tomato sauce into a meat sauce, if you're interested in bulking up your dish. And, along with that fresh basil, topping off each bowl of pasta with shredded Parmesan cheese can go a long way toward making a simple off-the-shelf sauce into something almost decadent.

Plus, if your Parmesan is still on the rind, shred it beforehand, save the cheese in a bowl, and cook the sauce with the rinds included. Just make sure to remove them before serving.

Don't be afraid to play around — making pasta sauce, even out of the jar, is more about creating a great flavor than "getting it exactly right." Have you considered sautéing sliced fresh mushrooms with your garlic and onions? What about adding green or red bell peppers? You can even add some crushed red pepper to the tomato sauce while it cooks. Give it a whirl. No matter what you do, hopefully this means you'll try sprucing up a jar of Prego before caving and ordering Domino's pasta, instead.