Virtues of Store Bought

• In most parts of the country, the fresh tomatoes available for much of the year have little of the rich flavor you'd get with a vine-ripened local tomato. Factories producing canned tomatoes and prepared tomato sauce are usually situated in tomato-growing regions, so they can use riper tomatoes that aren't suitable for shipping over long distances. This means their flavor is more consistently reliable than you'd have with fresh tomatoes and produces a better sauce.

Choosing your Sauce

• Of course, not all sauces are created equal. When you're shopping for a sauce to use and improve, read the labels carefully. Avoid brands that have high quantities of sugar and sodium, or long lists of additives and preservatives. Some premium brands use all organic ingredients or Italy's famous San Marzano tomatoes. Those are especially good, but probably overkill for feeding the kids on a weeknight. When you're planning to tweak the sauce to your own tastes, look for a relatively plain version without lots of extra flavorings.

Basil and Other Tweaks

• Fresh basil's distinctive flavor and aroma is very volatile and perishable, so it shouldn't be added at the beginning. Instead, chop your fresh basil and stir it in for the last few minutes of cooking. Garnish with a little more, if you want to emphasize the flavor. If you'd like to further improve the flavor of the sauce, gently fry leeks or onions, celery and minced garlic until just translucent at the start of the cooking time. If your kids are resistant to vegetables, you could also add minced sweet peppers and finely shredded carrots or zucchini. Add the sauce and let it simmer until the added ingredients are completely softened and undetectable.

Another Option

• If you're going to the trouble of adding those flavoring ingredients to the sauce, you might consider simply buying canned tomatoes as your main ingredient. Use good-quality whole or crushed tomatoes, draining any excess liquid at the beginning and adding it back as needed. This gives you more control over the ingredients in the finished product and doesn't take much longer than tweaking a ready-made sauce.