No Fuss No Muss Pasta Sauce
From this no-cook sauce, you can make endless versions of pasta dishes.
Ingredients
15 oz Jar Roasted Bell Peppers (drained)
3 oz Sun-dried Tomato packed in olive oil
1 cup dry roasted pine nuts (heated in skillet for a few minutes)
5 cloves of garlic (more if you love garlic)
2 oz Shallot
2-3 scallions (green onions rough chopped)
2/3 cup of parsley (to make a Greek version add mint)
6 very large Basil leaves
3 oz Tomato Paste
2/3 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano or Pecorino Romano Cheese. If you're into Greek food, add Feta Cheese and Olives.
2/3 cup Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste and Cayenne if you like HOT
Put everything in a food processor (or blender….may have to add more olive oil
for it to puree if using a blender) and process until smooth. This should only
take a minute or less. Place all contents in a container and refrigerate until
ready to use. Sometimes I will freeze some too.
Optional to toss in- I like to roast Garlic, Shallots, and green onion for extra flavor. I place everything on BBQ-grill for a few minutes.
Basic instructions- Boil your favorite pasta (I prefer to use high-end pasta). Before you drain the pasta, reserve 2-4 cups of the pasta water to help build the sauce. Meanwhile, have a colander standing by to drain pasta.
The reserved pasta water helps us build a sauce because it contains starch. The timing of this is crucial because the inspiration behind this sauce was to make it quick with no FUSS.
From start to finish, the entire dish should only take 20-min to complete. Always have your Pasta water ready to go. No one likes sitting around waiting for water to boil.
Drain cooked pasta and put it back
in the cooking pot. Add some of your
no-fuss no-muss sauce with some of the reserved pasta water in a huge saute pan or fry pan. Sometimes I will add either Ricotta or Mascarpone Cheese.
For every pound of pasta, I use anywhere from a ½ cup to 1 cup of sauce, depending on
what else I might add. Add some reserved pasta water so you can adjust the
thickness and consistency of the sauce. If you want to toss sauce and pasta
water into the pot, just cook your pasta in and save a pot.
My personal favorite is mascarpone cheese. Add some
more cheese, or combinations of cheeses and some chives, parsley and or basil, etc....... and meat if you like and serve. Only limited to
your imagination.
Kicking it up a notch and
adding some more ingredients. Below are my suggested ingredients. The list
of ingredients and recipes is continually evolving because every time I go to
the store, I find something novel, exciting, and creative
to experiment with. If I were to write down every idea I had, it would
fill several books.
Suggestions- Sauté meat and set aside.
Add more olive oil if the pan needs it. Toss in Shallots, sweat for a
minute or two or until you can smell them ("Sweat" is a fancy cooking term that
means to cook without imparting color), then toss in the garlic and do the same
thing. Toss in the rest of your veggies and cook for a couple of minutes.
Deglaze with something I suggested below (I love Port for this
dish) and cook down for 2-3 minutes. If you want to enrich the dish, add
cream and or butter. Add some reserved pasta water if need be……………..
After pasta is cooked, toss it to a large sauté pan and combine everything. Maybe
add some fresh Italian parsley or basil to the pasta and serve with
quality Parmesan cheese. In the above dish, I used
Deglazing liquids
Your favorite Port, Chicken
stock, water, wine, beef broth, beef consumption, or a combination of alcohol and
or stock.
Enriching your sauce
Cream, butter, and cheeses
…………….do I have to say anything more.
Vegetables to consider- Asparagus, Broccoli Rabe, Greens beans, and Brussels sprouts.
Other good stuff
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