Freeze sauces by pouring leftovers into ice cube trays. All you need to do next time you want to use it, is reheat in a saucepan. The frozen sauce will keep extremely well until the next time you need it!
To get some extra bang from your pasta sauce, reserve some of the water you cooked the pasta in. You will need to save roughly one quarter cup of water. When you are going to mix your pasta and sauce together, add some of the saved water. Amalgamation will take place in your sauce when you add the pasta water. The starch will give it the “creaminess” you desire.
During cooking, if the consistency of a sauce or gravy is too thin for your liking, try adding some corn starch to it in order to thicken it to your taste. Avoid using flour as it can make the sauce taste “chalky”. Corn starch is an excellent thickening agent and blends very well with the sauce or gravy.
To prevent your homemade pizza from becoming soggy with all of the juicy toppings you add, lightly coat the bare dough with olive oil. Pizza sauce, peppers and meats can all weigh down a pizza dough and cause it to be soggy even after baking so be sure to brush on a bit of olive oil for a crispier, firmer pizza!
You should not boil pasta in water that has oil in it. When you add oil to the water that you are boiling your pasta in it keeps the sauce from sticking to the pasta. By leaving the oil out you can toss your pasta in the sauce and it will cling to it.
Purchase a quality loaf of bread that you can use as a side piece to a variety of meals. Bread goes great with any dish that has sauce or cheese, as you can dip it in a variety of different toppings. Include a loaf of Italian or French bread with your next meal.
