Food

Quick pasta sauces from the pantry

January 5, 2013 by admin in Food, Homepage Slider

What can be easier, tastier, faster, cheaper, and more nutritious than a pasta dish for lunch or dinner? Use canned crushed tomatoes like a pro with these versatile readily available pantry staples. It only takes a few minutes to cook meal for one or a pasta feast for a group of guests. If using plain canned tomatoes, add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Don’t forget the garlic!

Method:

In a saucepan, preheat a tablespoon of olive oil. Add crushed garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add a can of crushed tomatoes, and any of the ingredients below. Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Like with most soups and sauces, this one will taste better next day, after all the flavors blend together overnight.

Dress up your pasta sauce with these ingredients:

Add vegetables

Prior to adding to the sauce, saute in a skillet in a little bit of olive oil mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, fresh tomatoes, onions, carrots, green or red peppers, or virtually any other vegetables you like.

Add beans

Any canned bean can be added to the sauce for extra fiber and proteins: kidney beans, black beans, or fava beans. Just rinse them in the colander under running tap water and add to the sauce.

Add meat

Click here for the tasty Pasta with Bolognese sauce recipe.

Add cheese

Sprinkle your pasta dish with a lot of Parmesan cheese for extra flavor and a fulfilling meal.

Add Italian spices

Add a pinch of dried Italian spices to the pasta sauce in the beginning of cooking process. Fresh herbs, such as basil or parsley are wonderful to add in the end.