Monday, February 27, 2006

How Far Can I Push The Pantry (HFCIPTP) # 3: Pasta sauce

Here is another in the series of using up stuff in my pantry to whip up balanced meals. A few thoughtful opening and closing of pantry and refrigerator doors later, I had my mind made up. It was going to be pasta that day with ready made sauce. Then as I put the pot of water on the stove and waited for it to boil, I remembered Indira's recipe of pasta sauce which used peanuts. That got my mind scheming on how I can adapt that recipe to my limited pantry. After a few seconds, the answer seemed obvious.

This is why I love blogging and blog hopping. I find myself spending less and less time pondering about whats for dinner. Thank to all fellow food bloggers for sharing the seemingly mundane details of what you had for dinner/lunch!

On to the sauce... lets give it a name "Roasted Pepper sauce with peanuts and soy burgers". I don't have a picture of this yet, but it was delicious (for now you have to just take my word for it)! Will update with the pic soon.
Roasted Pepper sauce with peanuts and soy
2 cups roughly chopped bell peppers
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
1 frozen veggie burger, thawed and chopped
2 tsp olive oil
Heat oil in a skillet, add the chopped peppers and roast well untill browned. You may also use onions in this step if you have some in your pantry. Add roasted peanuts and chopped burger and cook till the the burger is slightly browned as well. Cool and process in a blender to desired smoothness/chunkiness.
2 cups Ragu pasta sauce (Optionally, use canned or fresh tomatoes)
2 tsp sugar
grated parmesan/romano cheese to taste
Return the blended pepper mixture to the skillet and add the tomato sauce and sugar. Stir until heated though.Serve over cooked pasta,topped with grated cheese and crushed pepper.

The sauce was ready with the pasta and tasted great for a last minute meal.

11 comments:

BDSN said...

You are indeed very crafty...Chopping a veggie burger into pieces..Hmm Interesting..and cooking them with peppers ..Cool ... Gotta try that one...

BDSN said...

One more thing I did buy "Honey bunches of oats" as per ur recommendation and they turned out pretty good in taste but not like the very first cereal which I tasted "Kellogs Fruit and Yogurt".I still couldnt find something beating the taste of it..

Kay said...

Pasta - yummm yummmmm! I understand that veggie burger part. I occasionally, thaw a boca burger in microwave for a mintue and chop it and add it in stir fries and quick friend rice. So yummy! Dear husband buys boca burger for 'burger-ing' and I use them all in non-burger foods. ;)

Anonymous said...

How interesting! must try it sometime.

btw, I have moved from holyjalapeno to http://saffronhut.blogspot.com. Stop by sometime!

cheers!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the mention, GM.

Don't you love that sauce with pasta? I prepare it often and I like it more than the plain tomato sauce.
Boca burger... that I've never tried before.:) Sounds yummy!

Anonymous said...

sounds lovely... me gets me thinking..when do i try

GourmayMasala said...

Thanks, bdsn! I must try the Kellogs Fruit and Yogurt cereal sometime!

Kay - I'm glad we both think alike. How often can someone have veggie burgers just the plain 'burger' way?

Saffron Hut - I'm glad you like the recipe. It is a great 15 minute dish!

Indira - Don't mention it :) I'll be preparing this often too!

Tony - Thanks. This dish could very well fall under the 'bachleor' or 'arrived-at-home-to-late' category!

Meenal Mehta said...

hey GM ,


great .will try this too ..

I was jsut curious

what do these mean

HFCIPTP #1:
ARF/5-a-Day#8 and HFCIPTP #2

Oh wait I think I got it ..HFCIPTP is how far can i push the pantry ..nice and very nifty

what does ARF mean?

GourmayMasala said...

Meenal -

You got it, HFCIPTP is "How Far Can I Push the Pantry" (for the lack for creativity). ARF/5-day (Antioxidant Rich Foods) is a weekly event hosted by the enthusiastic sweetnicks. visit sweetnicks.blogspot.com for loads of info on that!

Aspiring Annapoorna said...

Thanks for stopping by GM.I consider myself no authority on the sev-tameta nu shaak...just a lover of its wonderful tangy taste. And the stress in my blog name is on the "aspiring" :)

sailu said...

This one is interesting..:)