Your Favorite Jarred Marinara/Pasta Sauce...

Yes, those cherry sized are fun. Got any favorite dishes using them?

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Where do you find it?

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I’ve used them for Santorini-style shrimp with tomatoes and feta https://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/shrimp-saganaki-recipe-with-feta-cheese/

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I’ve posted that my wife recently spent two weeks in Italy and came back raving about the light, vibrant tomato sauce she experienced there, mostly on pizza. From comments from servers and shop owners she believes that the sauce she experienced there is basically just really good tomatoes with some seasoning and, notably, little to no garlic.

We are now trying to find something similar to use with pasta and, so far, tried something she found at work from Cipriani foods that is just tomato pulp. I’ve added some of a seasoning blend she brought home and some fresh basil and EVOO. Results have been really good. Would just plain Cento crushed San Marzanos be the closest thing at a more reasonable price? I’m headed to a nearby Italian market soon and coujd use some advice.

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Mutti seems to be the preferred brand. We can’t get it where I live, but it was the most popular brand at the Italian market in Berlin where we shopped a lot last summer.

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Not following most recipes but still a tasty sauce: mince fine and sweat in olive oil some onion or, better still, shallots, and add canned tomatoes. You can use the crushed ones, but as I have said above, I like crushing the whole ones in my fist. Add a little ground black pepper, herbs of your choice (I like a chiffonade of fresh basil on top, not cooked in the sauce), and a small splash of a bright white wine like a Pinot Grigio. Cook until the raw wine taste dissipates, season, and eat. I love it on pappardelle with grated pecorino Romano.

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I can’t say that I’ve noticed it but Mutti’s website says they’re sold in both of our local chain supermarkets. It’s just tomatoes and salt. Not sure why the salt. The Cipriani is only tomatoes. Will certainly give it a try.

I’ve done just that before I found Rao’s… Looks like I’m on a path back to where I started.

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I’ve looked for it on Instacart to figure that out for my own zip code - maybe that would work for you? (Fwiw that’s how I discovered Carbone even made a sauce, lol)

Have you tried passata (strained tomato purée)?

Pomi was the first brand easily available near me, but Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and most regular supermarket chains now carry a few other brands too.

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I’ve had pasta sauces of those brands but not those varieties, and it’s been several years ago.

I tried Lucini Tomato Basil which I thought had good tomato flavor but not a lot of flavor beyond that, and I tried Lucini Tuscan Marinara which I thought was a bit too sweet and a bit too thick and dry–not saucy enough. Not bad sauces but IMO there are plenty of better sauces for less money.

The only Muir Glen sauce I’ve had was Tomato Basil. I didn’t like that one. Too sour for me.

And no, my memory isn’t that good. I keep brief notes on all the jarred pasta sauces I’ve tried. The list is at about 110 currently.

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I did a LOT of label reading and several side-by-side tastings to find a low-sodium sauce that also tasted good to us. Green Mill Tomato Basil (220 mg sodium) is our “house sauce” now. And a good friend gifted us some (seasonal) Aldi’s Pumpkin Butternut Squash sauce - higher sodium 520 mg - which we now buy when available and enjoy in small amounts in fall/winter.


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Dave’s Gourmet Butternut Squash sauce is a nice change. I liked Dave’s Masala Marinara Sauce, which had spices and coconut, but apparently it has been discontinued.
I sometimes find discounted Dave’s sauces at Winners, Homesense or Marshall’s in Canada.

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Market Basket Burlington. I think even my local Stop and Shop in Arlington carries it.

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On second thought, that probably is the Lucini Tomato Basil I tried. I didn’t list it as “Rustic” Tomato Basil in my notes, but I’m not seeing any other tomato basil sauce from Lucini when I google.

There were more flavors in the stack but I didn’t pull them all out.
I trust your opinion so I probably won’t be dropping the big bucks. :slight_smile:

Local grocery stores have been promoting Carbone Marinara Sauce. Pretty good!

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Browsing this thread made me wonder whether folks here use passata much. I didn’t grow up with the stuff, but after I was introduced it became my go-to over jarred sauces. I find passata incredibly versatile because I can flavor it any way I please, and its thick texture makes it easy for me to put together a sauce in minutes. For a slow-simmered dish or a soup, I add water to the pot to thin out the passata.

Like you, Pomi brand (in the little box) is what I can regularly find in my supermarket. Stuff in the glass jars isn’t as available at my usual store.

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Passata is a staple for many Italians in Toronto, but I don’t think it’s that popular outside the Italian and maybe Greeks communities. I’ve only started using it recently.

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