Frankly, we’re surprised by the number of people we meet who cook at home, yet have never made pasta sauce from scratch.

A basic pasta sauce couldn’t be easier. All you need is a lidded sauce pan and a wooden or silicone spoon. The ingredients are found in the kitchen of every person who cooks: a box of strained tomatoes (like Pomi; we spend extra for the superior flavor of San Marzano tomatoes), olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Most recipes recommend strained tomatoes (purée); but you can use chopped tomatoes for a chunky sauce, or purée them in your food processor.

The only thing you may need to pick up is fresh basil and optional fresh parsley; but you can always fall back on oregano from your spice shelf.

You can get more elaborate with subsequent batches, adding browned, chopped sausage or chopped meat; sautéed onions, mushrooms and/or bell peppers; chopped artichokes or sundried tomatoes.

And then, let your creative sauces flow, adding whatever appeals to you to the basic pasta sauce. Anchovy paste? Blue cheese? Chipotles or jalapeños? Cream? Currants and slivered almonds with cardamom or curry? Lemon or orange zest? Pistachio nuts? Truffle oil (added at the end, not as cooking oil)? Vodka or tequila (stir in at the end)?

The sky’s the limit. And as an extra piece of heaven, your homemade sauce won’t contain preservatives, added sugar or high fructose corn syrup—the sweeteners added to compensate for inferior tomatoes. Premium ripe tomatoes have plenty of natural sugars and require no added refined sugar.

Use your homemade sauce on pasta, pizza, chicken or eggplant parmesan, grilled fish or seafood, meatball sandwiches, omelets, polenta and steamed veggies.

Make a triple batch and freeze it in portion-sized containers so you can microwave-defrost it in minutes or bring it as a last-minute gift.

But the goal is to make that first batch. Once you do, you’ll never go back to relying on supermarket pasta sauce.

Love pasta? Check out the recipes and tips in our Pasta Section.

Simply set out toothpicks and let family and guests enjoy a succulent cherry or grape tomato with a dip of flavorful salt.

Choose salts with contrasting colors, flavors and textures (crunchier coarse salt versus fine grain). Here we’ve used:

 
There are many other wonderful choices, from pink Himalayan sea salt to crunchy smoked Maldon sea salt from England, which has unique, pyramid-shaped crystals.

Skewer with ease with the Grillcomb. Photo courtesy Fusionbrands.

You need dexterity to thread foods dead-center onto conventional wood or metal skewers. But the Grillcomb, with its row of individual 18/8 stainless steel teeth, lets you easily slide on chunks of beef, chicken, shrimp and vegetables.

When it comes time to flip, even the most delicate items turn easily without spinning. If you’ve ever watched cherry tomatoes spin and end up on the wrong side, you’ll appreciate this feature.

The grilled food easily slides off the Grillcomb onto the plate; no more burst tomatoes or smashed scallops. Plus:

 
Get a set of two for intimate meals, or load up on Grillcombs for larger parties. Pick up extras for house gifts when you’re invited to a cookout.

A set of two single serving skewers, 12 inches long, is $11.00 at Fusionbrands.com.

MORE GRILLING GEAR

These specialty items can make grilling a breeze:

CORN: If you have trouble flipping corn on the grill, try a corn grilling basket.

FISH: To keep fragile fish from breaking while flipping, use a grilling basket.

POPPERS: How about some jalapeño poppers, easy to make with a chile grilling rack?

SLIDERS: It’s easy to make sliders, mini-burgers, with a slider grilling set.

So serve them as a first course in a trio of three different recipes. Here’s a gourmet deviled eggs concept from Root, a farm-to-table restaurant in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Chef Richard Larcom prepared a delicious appetizer of deviled eggs served three ways, using Pete & Gerry’s Heirloom Eggs.

Chef Larcom’s deviled egg selection includes a his signature deviled egg, a bacon fat and Cheddar deviled egg and the Dare-Deviled Egg, which includes Maine sea urchin, wasabi and a garnish of toasted nori.

MAKE GOURMET DEVILED EGGS

Here’s your opportunity for creative expression—to create your personal trio of gourmet deviled eggs. Some ideas to start you off:

 
TAKE ANOTHER BITE

 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STUFFED EGGS & DEVILED EGGS

Stuffed eggs were a popular dish as far back as the Roman Empire. There are many different recipes for stuffed eggs, but the term “deviled eggs” originated in 18th-century England.

“Deviled” refers to the use of hot spices or condiments in a recipe—paprika, mustard, hot sauce, horseradish, chiles, wasabi, etc.

The recipe comes from Disaronno Originale almond liqueur. The website has a trove of cocktail recipes for almond lovers.

To get the coconut flavor, add flaked coconut as a garnish. Or, if you have coconut liqueur, add 1part to the recipe.

Enjoy this Almond Joy as an after-dinner drink…or drinkable dessert. You can serve an actual piece of Almond Joy or Bounty candy bar, chocolate-covered coconut patty, chocolate chip cookie with almonds and coconut, or a coconut macaroon on the side.

ALMOND JOY COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Drink

1. Combine amaretto, white chocolate liqueur, fresh cream and a sprinkling of powdered cocoa in a cocktail shaker.

2. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with another sprinkle of cocoa.

TIP: We keep our “garnishing cocoa” in an extra salt shaker, with a piece of plastic wrap between the shaker rim and the cap, to keep it fresh between uses. If you don’t want to keep it in a shaker, use a small sieve to get a fine sprinkle of cocoa on top of the drink.

Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes.