During Christmas this year, my Nana and Grampy Jim came to visit. They stayed with us. It was wonderful. My kids had a blast.
But having people in meant that I cooked…a lot. Well, ok, we cooked and then ate the left overs the next day…but still. Work with me, ok?
I love pasta. Have I ever told you that? I really like making my own sauce now that I have learned what spices really go together and what an assortment of other foods you can add to sauce. Peas, Carrots (I do that for Lil’A I have to sneak it in somewhere.), peppers (my favorite choice) & meats. My husband grew up on a really thick and greasy meat sauce, which isn’t really conducive to eating healthy (nor is the pasta, but at least you can get whole grain pasta. There is no substitute for all that grease). I also grew up on a thick meat sauce. Eventually my mom would just take out some sauce for me before she added the enormous amount of ground beef. I really am not picky…it was just the amount of beef made all that juicy tomato taste disappear. Remember, this is my blog and my opinion (if you are reading, honey:) )
Anyway. Like I said, I make a great sauce and have learned the balance of meat and veggies to make everyone in my little family happy. Both my girls have always loved spaghetti & tomato sauce from the early stages of an extremely blended concoction.
So I decided to make Spaghetti & tomato sauce. The sauce was fabulous…until I got the notion that I was just like Rachael Ray because I watch her everyday! (Lil’ A now asks ‘watch cookin’? after nap everyday. Oops. And Ms Ray always mixes the pasta with the sauce before she serves it. I should never have done that.
For starters I used the really skinny spaghetti….spaghettini I think it’s called. And I didn’t put any olive oil in it to keep it from sticking right after I drained it and it sat in the bowl for a few minutes. So it all stuck together. Try mixing sauce into that? Yeah. It was very thick:) Good thing we had some salad to go with it.
Not to mention the fact that we had at least 2 pounds of this mixture left over. My Nana said, “Oh it’s delicious…” She was really trying to be nice….or maybe she got more sauce than my dad and my husband who just sat in silence and ate every time she continued to say it was good. I thought it was so thick….I desperately wanted to taste the sauce…and everytime I took I bite, I thought, “this is it. I’ll taste it this time.” Nope, not even close.
There was some waste that night. Thankfully I have a nice garbarator now and it didn’t all sit in the garbage can overnight. The leftovers, however, ended up sliding into a rubbermaid container and being thrown in the freezer at the suggestion of my adoring Nana that we’d, “eat it next week.” Nope. We never took it out.
Which leads me to the reason for this post. I saved the tasteless meal last night. I was tired and didn’t know what to cook. Lil’ A and I went down to check out what was in the freezer and that’s when I saw the lonely container in the corner. It now weighed about 6 pounds. 6 frozen pounds of pasta with a dressing of meat sauce.
Here’s what came out of it:
I basically made Spaghetti Casserole with Ham Sausage
Ingredients:
Ruined Spaghetti with Sauce:) or just Spaghetti cooked to package directions
1 large onion diced
4 cloves of garlic (or less depending on what you like)
Ham Sausage (I had frozen a ring after a BOGO sale at Sobey’s) Sliced thin
1 Can diced tomatoes-with juice
1 tablespoon Corn Starch (I used it to thicken up the sauce. It worked really well)
1 Can Crushed Tomatoes (use half a can if you don’t have ruined spaghetti & sauce like I did.)
Basil, Parsley, Oregano
Lots of Mozzarella Cheese- I sliced mine, but grated is better. More stringy I think.
Directions:
1. Prep Pasta according to package directions. Once drained, I started adding a bit of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking. I figure the oil is better than butter.
2. Fry up the onion with a little EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil). When it’s translucent add the ham sausage.
3. Cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the Diced Tomatos. Combine. Cook for about 5 minutes. If sauce isn’t thick enough, add a tablespoon of corn starch.
5. Cook for 2-4 minutes to thicken. Add spices. About 1-3 teaspoons each.
6. Stir the sauce often. Add the crushed tomatoes. I usually only add about 1/2 to 3/4 of the can of crushed tomatoes to my pasta sauce.
7. Allow the ingredients to mix flavours.
8. Put pasta in a casserole dish. Pour the sauce on top. Add the Cheese ( I also added some parmesan cheese)
9. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes covered in foil. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
10. Serve with garlic toast:)
Now if I was really trying to be Rachael Ray, I’d say “That might be what’s for dinner tonight…” But I won’t. I’ll just say, “Whew, I am glad I didn’t ruin dinner twice!” Enjoy!
Krystle