pasta

A Cookin' Teens Original

Quick and Yummy Spaghetti Sauce With Stuff from the Garden

If (sadly) you don't have access to this stuff from a garden or farmer's market or grocery store, you can eliminate the eggplant, bell pepper and zucchini and the sauce will still taste good!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 large eggplant, NOT peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
1 bell pepper (green, red, yellow or orange is fine), seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 zucchini or 1 yellow squash, seeded and grated
6 large tomatoes, chopped, or one 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 large handful of fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil
1 can black olives (pitted), drained and chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces shredded mozzarella (optional but tasty!)
1 ½ pounds of spaghetti
To Prepare
Before you start making the spaghetti sauce, fill a large pot about two-thirds full with water and turn the heat up high. This will help ensure that the pasta and the sauce are ready at around the same time).

In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the garlic and onion and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the eggplant and the pepper. Cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally, then cover and simmer for about five minutes more. If chunks ’o veggies turn you off, remove the eggplant and pepper now and either dice them or puree them in the food processor, then return to the pan. Next add the carrot, zucchini, tomatoes and tomato paste, salt and pepper. Stir, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This would be a good time to add the pasta to the boiling water in the other pot.) Add the olives and basil, then stir, cover and cook for about 10 minutes more.

Remove from heat and serve over drained spaghetti. Top with mozzarella and enjoy!

© Rising Moon Media, 2008

Tags: quick, easy, pasta, Italian, veggie, recipe, vegetarian

In the spirit of the Christian celebration of Lent, which begins today, Ash Wednesday, try out this easy and flavorful meat-free dish. The whole thing is done in about half an hour and its textures - doughy, buttery, crunchy, clean and green - make a great dinner combo. No pine nuts? No worries. Go for chopped and toasted walnuts instead. No spinach? No problem. See if you can get your hands on some winter greens with small leaves or chop up some broccoli. Serve it up with some stinky hard cheese, like provolone or asiago, and enjoy. Read the whole recipe on OregonLive.com.

Tags: quick, easy, pasta, veggie, recipe

All this talk of gardening today gave us at CT a hankering for the pesto. But, alas, with no basil in season here in Connecticut and our stash of frozen pesto from last summer dwindling we were forced to search for other alternatives - and viola - we found this interesting alternative from Good Housekeeping. We suggest tossing in another clove of garlic and a bit of the dried basil to give the pesto a deeper level of flavor. Read the whole recipe here in Good Housekeeping.

Tags: quick, easy, pasta, recipe, vegetarian