Simpler than simple

In a recent story in Eater, writer Halima Mansoor explains that you should always make tomato sauce from scratch, because it’s always worth the effort. Matt Adler, the chef behind Washington, D.C. red-sauce joint Caruso’s Grocery, agrees, saying: “I am never ever going to use jarred sauce in my house, because for me, it doesn’t taste delicious.” On an intellectual level I agree with the article’s premise: if you have wonderful fresh tomatoes you need little else to create a fabulous sauce, and quality canned tomatoes can be easily turned into a sauce that betters anything you can buy in a jar. However, on an emotional level, I prefer food writers to be more like Ina Garten and say “If you don’t have homemade, store-bought is fine.”

I usually enjoy heading into the kitchen and making a meal like I did today: gyros with everything scratch-made including the pita, tzatziki, and gyro meat, with honey-sweet homegrown tomatoes adding the finishing touch. However, there are times when the thought of opening a can, peeling and chopping garlic, and retrieving olive oil and a dried herb or two from the pantry feels like a Herculean task. Even the famous Marcella Hazan sauce, which could hardly be easier, is a bridge too far. On those days I crack open a bottle of Rao’s and dump it on angel hair pasta (because it cooks the quickest). And you know what? It’s pretty good. It definitely beats fast food, in both price and quality. Yes, homemade sauce tastes better, but I’d rate Rao’s at ~85% as good as a simple sauce made from canned tomatoes. In high school that would be a solid B, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Using a premade sauce lets this be a true one-pan dinner: cook the pasta until it’s almost done, drain most of the liquid and add the Rao’s, letting the pasta finish in the sauce (the pasta marriage ceremony). I am certain that Ms. Mansoor and Chef Adler would understand that sometimes tired cooks need a process that is simpler than simple. If they don’t, at least Ina has my back. Store-bought is fine, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.