pasta sauces

[scanty]

how do people rate the 'fresh pasta sauses' in the chill section at supermarkets. I sometimes make my own but do rely on them a lot. Am I being fooled into thinking they are healthier and not too processed or full of the wrong stuff (too much salt, etc.)

they will never be as good as home-made sauces, even the M&S nothing extra added ones.

they;re fine. as long as they don't have loads of salt/preservative in them they;re OK.

but... passata + garlic + oregano = awesome sauce

I quite like just butter and black pepper too - so quick and easy.

Agree with thumbwitch. (hiya again!)

So easy to make your own - all you need is garlic, oil and tomatoes.

Slice garlic, fry until just starting to brown, whop in the tomatoes and then leave to reduce until rich and yummy. Takes about 45 mins till it's properly reduced. With good canned tomatoes (Napolina or supermarket 'best') the flavour is amazing. Plum or chopped - makes no difference as plum tomatoes will disintegrate of their own accord when the sauce is properly cooked. Also don't skimp on the olive oil.

Another really quick one, if your family will eat fish, is tuna pasta - boil the pasta, add some peas or sweetcorn towards the end of the boil, drain, add a generous spoonful of mayonnaise and a tin of tuna - mix.
Sorted.

thanks for the replies and tips. For my own I usually fry the garlic, add some oregano or basil (sometimes a little sugar) and a tin of toms. Might try the passata, oregano and galic - always looking for new ideas as not too confident I'm getting it right with my own.

oh forgot, I always add loads of onion - which noone else seems to ave mentioned.

I added onion today for the first time as we had v little garlic. V nice, I must say! But the key (in case you don't do it already) is definitely in reducing the sauce to a rich loveliness. Itsa the Italiana way, eh?

Oh and with tinned tomatoes you get a more interesting texture than with passata, but that's down to personal preference.

I do mostly use onions, tbh but was leaving them out of suggestionsn in the interest of speed. With the tuna pasta, they need to be fried off separately and then added to the mix at the end.
I don't use them when it's just butter and black pepper though - that's a standalone.

I did find (before I stopped eating tomato) that a tub of fresh salsa dip made an excellent instant pasta sauce as well.

You could always buy a tin of tomatoes with herbs, add some black olives, capers and a tin of tuna and you've got yourself a cheat's puttanesca.....

I accidentally bought sundried tomato paste instead of the normal tomato paste, and I highly recommend making the same mistake. It's got a very nice rich flavour, so good for adding to tomato sauce made with tinned tomatoes, or else one night (in desperation) we made a pasta sauce using that, fried cubed courgette and a tin of tuna and grated cheese. Was surpisingly tasty