Las Vegas-area pasta lovers are hitting the sauce

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, May 8, 2002 | 8:23 a.m.

A good homemade pasta sauce can transform an ordinary dinner into a memorable one. But there are so many commercial sauces on the market, at prices that are more than reasonable and probably less than it would cost to make a sauce from scratch.

Plus, the variety is endless, from white sauces such as Alfredo or white clam, to the red sauces that appear on millions of American tables every evening.

If you plan to make your own sauce, Trader Joe's is as good a place as any in which to buy components. There's a large selection of basic ingredients: olive oil, imported canned tomatoes and whatever else for which a recipe calls.

There are people, however, who swear that the metal in cans interacts with the acid in tomatoes, changing the taste. Traditionalists such as Chef Piero Broglia insists he uses nothing more than fresh tomatoes, olive oil and salt.

Broglia runs Cafe Chloe at 4155 S. Buffalo Drive. Customers rave about Piero's sauces, made from a simple tomato sauce he prepares daily.

"I make a basic red sauce using peeled plum tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, onions and salt," he says. "I bring the mixture to a boil, then let the whole thing simmer for 20 minutes. Later I add garlic and other spices for a marinara, capers and olives for a puttanesca, or other components for other sauces. I never use sugar or tomato paste. The sweetness should come from the tomatoes. Tomato paste makes a sauce heavy."

Twenty-eight-ounce cans of chopped Italian tomatoes can contribute almost-fresh flavor to a homemade sauce. Look for Italian-label tomatoes for the best results. Such tomatoes are found in most supermarkets and all Italian markets.

Still, store-bought sauces have advantages, and every market in the city has a sizeable selection of jarred sauces for reasonable prices. Those who rely on bottled sauce will find a huge selection at Wild Oats Markets, more than two dozen producers in all, including boutique producers such as Oregon's Rising Moon, and Coppola, owned by film director Francis Ford Coppola, a Renaissance man who also makes great wine.

It doesn't take much imagination to add creative touches to any commercial sauce. It can now be classified as a homemade sauce.

Another popular commercial sauce line is Newman's Own, sold in all market chains. According to company spokeswoman Kirsten McKamy, these are commercially bottled sauces made from all-natural ingredients that are based on the actor's personal recipes. All after-tax profits from the sale of Newman's Own products, including salad dressing, popcorn, lemonade and salsa, go to charity.

Newman's Own sauces include a marinara, made with a small quantity of oil, which is approximately $3.29 per 26-ounce jar.

In roughly the same price range is Emeril's line of bottled sauces, which sell for $2.99 per 25-ounce jar. Emeril's Kick It Up sauce is a blend of tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and cayenne pepper.

One pricey bottled sauce is Rao's, a passion for those who have dined at the namesake New York restaurant. Rao's sauce is available at Wild Oats Markets, Trader Joe's, and Village Meat and Wine gourmet and meat market at East Tropicana and South Eastern avenues. To find out what justifies an $11.39 price tag for a bottled pasta sauce, it was necessary to call Sharon Straci, COO at Rao's. She was most happy to expand on the subject.

"What makes a sauce this expensive is complicated," Straci said. "First of all, we use fresh, all-natural ingredients, 100 percent San Marzano tomatoes, (considered the best and sweetest of all Italian tomatoes), imported Italian olive oil and other top quality stuff."

She pointed out that her company's sauces are made from scratch, and that the slow cooking process, the fact that there is no added sugar, dried ingredients or preservatives make it the best sauce on the market.

"Look on the label of most sauces," she said, "and you'll see sugar, water and other fillers, not to mention oils like soybean and canola, which aren't as nearly as healthy or tasty as olive oil."

Not exactly an accurate description, but almost.

But are these sauces worth such a hefty price tag? To some people, apparently, they are.

Whichever path is chosen, there are no excuses not to wind up with a delicious sauce.