carbonel: (cat with mouse)
carbonel ([personal profile] carbonel) wrote2019-01-23 02:24 pm

Please help me fix my spaghetti

I'm hoping some of the foodies on DW can provide some inspiration.

On Monday, I made this recipe from Hello Fresh. It's ragu spaghetti with zucchini, and comes with a little bottle of pepperolio (which appears to be indistinguishable from my Chinese chili oil) to spice it up.

Both Lydy (who had a taste) and I agreed that it was edible, tasty even, but bland. This despite the fact that it had onions, fresh garlic, and a generous helping of Italian seasoning (containing garlic, black pepper, parsley, basil, and oregano), plus some of the pepperolio. I don't remember blandness being a problem the last time I made this recipe. This time, the Hello Fresh had a rather larger onion and zucchini than the time before, but that shouldn't have made a significant difference. The only other difference I can think of is that last time I was on my own, and I left the sauce to simmer for about 20 minutes; this time, I was running late, and I only went with the minimum mandated 5 minutes.

I still have more than half of the spaghetti left, so if I can figure out what I can add to it to improve it, that would be nice. I would appreciate suggestions. I also have lots more of the Italian seasoning, since most of the recipes that use it call for half a packet. I have a decent but not luxurious spice shelf in addition to that.

I know that a lot of spaghetti sauce has some sugar in it, but I'm loath to add that without a strong recommendation. I can add more pepperolio, but spicy hot isn't necessarily a substitute for flavor.

Any other ideas?
graydon: (Default)

[personal profile] graydon 2019-01-24 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
Hurrah, utility!

Getting the veggies to balance is definitely a trick!

If you ever get tempted to heave in sun dried tomatoes for the definite and unquestioned tomato flavour, remember to heave them in in very small pieces so the flavour may be evenly distributed.