This is the pasta “sauce” I make in August, when just-picked tomatoes in all shapes and colors are piled on our kitchen windowsills—and it is too hot to hang around the stove. It’s a fast no-cooking preparation, but it requires ripe and juicy tomatoes, preferably homegrown or heirloom tomatoes from the farmers’ market. Be sure to have them at room temperature. The sauce actually develops in the hour or two when it marinates: salt draws the juices from the tomatoes, and they become infused with the flavors of basil and garlic. Then all you do is toss piping-hot pasta with the tomatoes and enjoy one of the rare treats of the whole year.
This classic 15-minute sauce is your secret weapon for homemade mac and cheese, chowder, lasagna, and more.
In this lasagna, soft layers of pasta and béchamel are interspersed with a rich tomato sauce laden with hearty Mediterranean vegetables.
This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks pasta much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but it’s actually vegan!
This marinara sauce is great tossed with any pasta for a quick and easy weeknight dinner that will leave you thinking, “Why didn’t anyone try this sooner?”
Every sauce needs a few secrets. Ours is smoky, sweet, and savory—use it for burgers, fries, tenders, and more.
Spaghetti is a common variation in modern Thai cooking. It’s so easy to work with and absorbs the garlicky, spicy notes of pad kee mao well.
A quick-fix dinner thanks to store-bought tortellini and chicken broth.
Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.