I have discovered the wild world of opportunity with pasta and its toppings. The best noodles to cook with a flavored sauce like this are penne, bowties, spirals, shells, and other short pastas that catch sauce. Here are some of my favorite experiments:
Apple Cider Vinegar & Olive oil
- exactly as it sounds. butter noodles but fancy.
- add olive oil, toss pasta, then apple cider vinegar.
- add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parmesan.
Cream of mushroom soup
- strain your pasta and put it back into the pot, then add 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup for every 4 servings.
- carefully thin with water or milk as needed. season heavily.
Cream of broccoli, clam chowder, any cream-based ready soup
- heat up soup, add pasta, cook (it will take longer than normal) while thinning with water as the noodles soak it up.
Squash Soup
- this is the best one and one of my favorite stupid easy meals, you can figure out your own recipe but I'm also writing mine below!
Tomato Balsamic Salami Pasta
- slice up salami and saute until carmelized, add veg or onion if fancy
- add 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
- add cooked pasta, season
The best result of my alternative pasta sauce testing, those cartons of puree soup! It's perfect for a rainy fall day, with warm spices and a satisfying thick sauce. This recipe is for the full, all-out gimme-the-works version of this dish, but you can easily remove the meat and veggies if you like, and make vegetarian or vegan replacements. I have included different spice mix options, since I love to experiment with the flavors.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 2 tbs olive or vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic (fresh or jarlic)
- 1/2 lb italian sausage
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cups of chopped vegetable of your choice (I recommend broccoli, green beans, or bell pepper)
- 4 cups butternut squash puree soup (1 carton)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 16 oz pasta (penne, bowties, macaroni, or shells recommended)
Spice Mix 1: (standard)
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbs basil or rosemary
Spice Mix 2: (fall anise)
- 1 1/2 tsp anise seed
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 3/4 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbs seasoned salt
Replacements:
- similar ready-made puree soups, such as carrot, work too
- you can replace the italian sausage with any meat, if the meat is unseasoned you will need to add more seasoning to taste
- it's also just as good without meat!
- sub chicken broth for veggie broth
- sub milk for coconut milk or more broth
For serving:
- sour cream
- chopped parsley or green onions
Instructions:
- Heat up oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and add your garlic to toast for 1 minute. Add meat and vegetables, stir until browned.
- Add in puree and other liquids, and scrape the bottom of the pot. Raise temperature to high. Add spices and lemon juice.
- Once the soup is bubbling, add in your pasta and stir. Heat until simmering and reduce the temp to medium.
- Cook for 10 minutes while covered, stirring occasionally.
- The pasta should be al dente. If it's still too tough to eat, simmer uncovered while keeping an eye on the level of liquid. If the sauce starts to thicken to the point that it completely clings to the contents and dries on the bottom, add water 1/4 c at a time and stir.
- The sauce will look a little thin when you take it off the heat, it will thicken as it cools. Cool for at least five minutes, the sauce traps heat like lava!
- Serve with toppings.
Vegetarian Indian curry with all your nutrients, blended up so you don't get all the bean and veggie textures if you don't like those! Also one-pot, and very easy to make in a slow cooker. Requires an immersion blender or standing blender.
Ingredients:
- 1 can chopped tomato
- 1 can tomato sauce or pumpkin puree
- 1 can or 1 cup milk, coconut milk, or milk substitute
- 2 cans garbanzo beans, white beans, or fava beans
- 2 cups vegetable of your choice (I like frozen spinach)
- 2 tsp bullion
- cooking oil
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 2 tbs garlic
- curry powder or tandoori seasoning mix
- salt
- pepper
- cayenne or spice of your choice
- dill
For Serving:
- yogurt
- more dill
- lime juice
Instructions:
- With cooking oil, sautee onion, garlic, and vegetables.
- Add 2 tbs curry powder and toast, stirring constantly, for a few seconds
- Add the tomatoes and scrape the bottom
- Add the rest of the ingredients and heat until bubbling and combined
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, dill, cayenne, and more curry
- Allow to simmer for 30 minutes
- With an immersion blender, or pouring the mix into a standing blender, blend the shit out of it until there are no more lumps
Congratulations you now have a flavorful goo with all your vegetable and protein needs! Serve it over:
- rice
- tater tots
- french fries
- toast
- pasta
- chicken nuggets
- baked potato
The best part of this recipe that I'm surprised no one else has thought of is that you can serve it over "junk food". Serve it over tater tots and french fries and chicken strips! Especially if you have texture aversions with food, making a really dense and nutritious sauce and putting it over something you really like is a great way to provide the important stuff to your body. Remember, adding "unhealthy" stuff to "healthy" food doesn't make those nutrients dissapear. A salad with ranch is still a salad. Spinach curry on top of tater tots is still spinach curry.
Be kind to yourself.