The pasta's boiling and you reach for a jar of sauce in your cupboard.....easy dinner, right? It would be easy if you actually HAD pasta sauce.....What do you do? The pasta's already boiling. Let's assume that you're cheap and lazy (there's no way you would throw out the half-boiled pasta and/or think of another dinner option). You must improvise!
Let's head back to the cupboard and look at the pile of cans that sit in the corner. Cans are trusty friends that are always there for you in a pinch. You toss them into your grocery cart and then they sit on your shelf for years. The cream of mushroom soup that sounded so good in the store is now nearing its 5-year expiration date.
I digress.
In this edition of "Things that can be used as pasta sauce (other than pasta sauce)" a can of tomato paste and a can of El Pato Salsa de Chile Fresco come to the rescue! Never heard of El Pato? Believe me, you MUST buy at least a few cans. They are the lazy girl's super sauce! Here's a description.
The recipe: Pour a little olive oil in a skillet. Saute garlic and peppers (or whatever else you can find in your fridge/freezer). Dump equal parts of tomato paste and El Pato into the skillet. Stir. Add water to make a less viscous sauce.
Ta Da! Delicious and spicy sauce!
I hope that you've enjoyed this first installment of "Things that can be used as pasta sauce (other than pasta sauce)." More episodes are sure to come.....
One time I used salsa as pasta sauce...I figured, hey, its spicy and tomato...what's the difference? There is a difference. Yes there is.
ReplyDeleteEl Pato was brought to us by a Google-eyed god, who is often depicted in stone carvings and on small figurines at Teotihuacan. It was delivered from the breath of a cave to us here on earth, so that we might eat tasty foods and enjoy new forms of pasta source. So say we all!
ReplyDeleteThrowing in random vegetables adds color and flavor, just so long as they aren't too random---such as parsnips or fennel.
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