Whether you’re working with a homemade tomato sauce or one that’s store-bought, adding some well-chosen spices is always a great way to enhance the flavor. While chili flakes or oregano are classic additions to a batch of tomato sauce, try this flavorful yet underrated spice for a twist on your usual recipe.

Tomato and fennel pair so well together, so try tossing a tablespoon of fennel seeds into a red sauce for a sweet, earthy, licorice-like flavor throughout the pot. Simply toast the fennel seeds to wake up the flavors and then chop or ground them up, the latter of which provides an effective yet less noticeable bite.

Dried herbs and spices take some extra time to infuse into a sauce, but if they’re ground up, they can be added near the end of cooking, since ground spices release flavor more quickly. Just be careful about adding ground fennel to the sauce too early, which can cause it to lose its intensity and defeat the whole purpose.