It feels like everyone and their nonna has a special twist on pasta sauce. Some swear that all you need to make restaurant-quality pasta sauce is your favorite grocery store jarred brand – we’re partial to Carbone pasta sauce — and a whole stick of butter. Others claim that you have to make it from scratch or bust. Ultimately, everyone is trying to crack the code on how to elevate pasta sauce from a passable noodle lubricant to the star of the dish.
It comes as no surprise that celebrity chef, food scientist, and TV show host Alton Brown is a “make sauce from scratch” kind of guy, but we were surprised to learn about his secret weapon for making unbeatable pasta sauce. Hint: It’s something you’d more likely find at the 7-11 checkout counter than in any high-end Italian market. Yup, we’re talking beef jerky. The unorthodox ingredient plays a significant role in Brown’s 10 best tips for cooking pasta. If you’re going for a quick and easy weeknight dish, we recommend grabbing your favorite brand of beef jerky and rehydrating it before adding it to your tomato sauce. But if you’re feeling particularly ambitious (and have an extra six hours on your culinary side), give this simple beef jerky recipe a try to earn some brownie points and make the whole sauce from scratch.
How to incorporate beef jerky into a number of sauces
Alton Brown’s jerky tomato sauce requires you to rehydrate the jerky before adding it to the tomato sauce — a fairly simple process. To rehydrate your jerky, dice it up into bite-sized pieces and throw it into boiling water until the texture is chewy enough for your liking. You can also wrap the pieces of beef jerky in a wet paper towel, throw it into a microwavable container (with a sealed lid), and microwave it for a minute at a time until it’s soft and chewy.
Despite its reputation as a road trip protein power-up, beef jerky is an incredibly versatile addition to many sauces. Don’t have pancetta? No problem! Use rehydrated beef jerky in place of pancetta in this simple carbonara sauce recipe and you won’t miss the Italian pork belly. Another recipe that would do well with beef jerky is sausage gravy. Again, all you need to do to make the swap is to ensure you rehydrate the beef jerky first. We recommend making it as a dipping sauce companion to your favorite garlic bread recipe.
It’s unclear what inspired Brown to include this creative protein addition, but we’re reminded of the classic Chinese comfort dish featuring seasoned pork sausage and rice. Brown, himself, points out that you don’t have to use this tomato sauce simply on pasta; it’s also good on bread or over rice.
