I’m often asked about what kind or kinds of tomato sauce I use with my fresh pasta. The answer is as simple as it is complex: depends on the final dish taste I’m after. I’m a huge fan of any sauce that starts with the holy trinity of diced onion, carrot and celery. From there, it’s a free-for-all of whatever I have on hand and/or feel like making up as I go along.

Here is a great resource guide for those of you looking to find the right taste for your dish. I love the Marcella Hazan butter tomato sauce, but sometimes I will make basic sauce sans butter {gasp} so I can add a cream product instead. Don’t forget to read the very helpful comments on that post. Many great tips and thoughts by home cooks in that post.

I’m not big on garlic or marinara sauce because of what it does to my breath for the following week, but a small bit isn’t a bad thing as long as you find a way to add a lot of mint or parsley to the plated meal somehow. Parsley and mint have long been known as natural breath freshener. Or, as I like to call it, garlic breath canceller. It’s not just garnish you leave on the side of your finish plate, kids. Not at all. Use it! It really does work. Trust me.