Alright, so now you've got your meat cooked, your veggies cooked, and you've added sauce to that mixture. Your sauce is a little thinner than you want it at the moment, because you're going to give it time to boil down. Now's the time for flavour. Use any combination, or all of the following, or, get creative and see what else you've got that might taste good!
Salt and pepper If you use sea salt and cracked pepper, you'll notice the difference. Easy on the salt if you're using stock.
Basil and Oregano Just dump some in. Estimate a few tablespoons of each. Parsley works, too.
Bay Leaves work great if you've got time. They take some of the strong tomato taste out, especially if you're using a lot of tomato paste. Put in two or three. Make sure you take them out before you serve.
Stock Mix up some beef or vegetable stock (just dump a spoonful or two of stock power in a cup and pour in some hot water) and add it to the sauce. You're an instant pasta sauce hero.
Vinegar Add a few tablespoons of white, balsamic, rice vinegar, or cooking wine. Trust me. It makes a difference.
Sugar Just a tablespoon or two, especially if kids are eating. It's just more fun. You can also add margarine and ketchup (tomato sauce) for a less healthy, but more kid-friendly taste.
Spinach adds an awesome element of colour and flavour to your sauce. Tear it up by hand into thumb-sized pieces, and add it at the very end, just as you take the sauce off the heat. It will shrink up and cook quickly just from the heat of the sauce itself.
Dairy You can add cheese directly to the sauce, but you have to serve it right away, and it doesn't reheat well. Powdered parm works the best, and I find mozza is way too stringy. The easiest thing to do is just shred some cheese on the side, and let people put in what they want. You can also add cream to the sauce to make it richer, but it does look a little weird.
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