Easy Peasy Pasta Sauce

Do you ever have those days where you want comfort food, but don't have the energy to put in to cooking it? Well I had this over the weekend and I had my Mom asking me to make dinner for the family too. I felt like I couldn't say no, yet I didn't want to put in hours cooking for the family. So, I went with an old standby - Spaghetti Sauce, pasta, crusty bread, salad and a nice bottle of wine!

First off, I got some fresh pasta - it cooks quickly (usually under 5 minutes) and is delicious. In this case, I used tortellini stuffed with chicken and cheese. Then I got a bag of salad - super easy and just enough for the family. I doctored up the salad with some carrots, mushrooms, cranberries and croutons and finished it with a blue cheese vinaigrette.When I was shopping for ingredients, I stopped to talk to the "Bakery Lady" at Safeway and she gave me a sample of their garlic-caramelized onion bread. It was crusty and delicious and I thought it would go well with pasta - so I bought a loaf. It also went very nicely with a bottle of Gnarly Head Zinfandel too!

So I normally make a meat sauce using ground beef, but I wanted to try something a little different and I used ground chicken instead. I thought that the chicken would also compliment the tortellini - I was right! So here is my very quick recipe for spaghetti sauce - please add or subtract whatever you like and remember, the longer it cooks the better it is!

Spaghetti Sauce
1.25 pounds ground chicken
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 cup Marsala wine (or water or chicken broth)
1, 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1, 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1, 14.5 ounce can tomato sauce
1, 6 ounce can tomato paste
6-8 mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon basil
salt & pepper to taste

• Over medium high heat, brown the meat and drain the excess fat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until the onions are translucent.
• Add all the other ingredients and turn the heat down to a simmer.
• Cover and cook for at least an hour (I like to cook this all day)

If you don't use Marsala wine, you might need to add some sugar (1/2 tablespoon) to sweeten up the sauce.

Everything turned out wonderfully and I got credit for a home cooked meal! We also had enough for leftovers, so the sauce got to cook a bit more and bring out more of the flavors. Another deliciously, yummy meal!

I Know It Sounds Weird, But TRY IT!

There are some meals that have always been in my life. I can't remember the first time I tried them, I'm not quite sure when I learned to cook them, but there they are: my culinary constants. One of these constants is Tuna Spaghetti. It's a quick family dinner that my mom's been making forever. As an adult, I've been making this meal for my husband for years and he loves it.

Tuna Spaghetti. Sounds gross, right? And if you ask Greta, she'd agree with you. She hates Tuna Spaghetti. Despite this, we've allowed her to stay in the family.

This is one of those recipes that has never been written down, that changes ever so slightly ever time we make it, and that really has to be tasted to appreciate. If you like pasta, bacon, and Parmesan cheese, you should check this out.

TUNA SPAGHETTI
serves 4 to 6 depending on how hungry you are

1 pound of spaghetti
Bacon (about 6 slices or so...however many you can fit in a single layer of a good sized fry pan like this one)
Crushed garlic--2 cloves (more or less if you'd like)
2 cans of water-packed tuna (7 oz. each--do NOT drain the water)
Dried oregano
Pepper to taste
2 T butter or margarine
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1. Fry bacon in a good sized skillet over medium heat. While the bacon is frying up, put a big pot of salted water on the stove and let it heat up to boiling.
2. When bacon is crispy, drain on paper towels. Crumble (or chop if you don't want to get your hands all greasy) and set aside. Pour off all but about 1 Tablespoon of the bacon drippings in the skillet.
3. When water boils, cook pasta according to directions on the box.
4. Meanwhile, return the skillet used to cook the bacon (with the 1 T of reserved fat) to the burner. Reduce the heat to low since the pan will probably still be a little hot. Add garlic and let it cook for a few seconds (don't let the garlic burn). Add the undrained cans of tuna to the pan. Scrape up the bacon-y residue on the bottom of the pan and stir to combine the tuna and garlic. Add a few good pinches of dried oregano (as much or as little as you like) and a few grinds of fresh cracked pepper.
5. Using tongs, grab a now empty tuna can and dip it in the boiling pasta water to fill it up. Pour the starchy pasta water into the skillet with the tuna. Increase heat to medium and stir to combine. You'll want to reduce the liquid down a bit in the pan. (Note: how far you reduce it is a matter of personal preference. I like my Tuna Spaghetti less watery than my mom cooks it. Try it a few ways to see what you like.) Adjust oregano and pepper, if necessary.
   
6. When spaghetti is done, drain and toss with 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add spaghetti to the skillet and toss with the tuna mixture.
7. Add crumbled bacon into the spaghetti and tuna mixture. Serve pasta immediately, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Sure to serve Tuna Spaghetti with lots of crunchy Italian or French bread and a salad.

If you try this one, let me know how it turns out for you.