Why do we feel inclined to do things we clearly know we shouldn’t be doing?
Oh, just one more bite of that chocolate cake. One bite (depending on how wide your mouth goes aaahhh) times a thousand, that’s enough to stop your blood right on its tracks…literally… in your arteries. Not. Good.
One more episode of Homeland. The next thing you know, it’s dark out and you’ve just finished the entire season 1, you’re still in your pjs and somehow your fingers are already clicking to play Episode 1 from season 2. Not. Good.
Make a grocery list then tell yourself to put it somewhere SAFE so that you won’t forget it but you still end up with your list laying perfectly still on your shoe rack back home while you’re at the store during lunch time on the day you skipped breakfast. Then you bump into some friends and they go “hey what are you doing here?” and you’re just full of hunger induced annoyance thinking to yourself what a stupid question that is and mumbled something along the lines of “oh, nothing much.. just hunting for some purple hippos” and proceeded to apologize for being rude. Then you finally get back home only to be the proud owner of aisle 10 after some mind blowing back breaking repetitive car to house plus a two flights of stairs grocery bags carrying activity.
All of us were this stupid at least once.
Costco did it for me.
Stupidity multiply by Costco size products.
Four boxes of canned tomatoes. Not whole tomatoes. At least if they were whole, I could have thrown them at the mailman or that annoying bird that just has to wail at 2 am in the morning every single day.
I wasn’t even craving for tomatoes. No sane person would. Instead, while I lugged the cans into the cart, I was dreaming about pizza. I blame that at the subliminal pizza message Costco sends from their pizzas sold outside. But four boxes? That’s uncalled for, Ai Ping. It was the hunger, guys. Not me. As in, not my mind, but my tummy.
6 months later, the boxes were still in the pantry. Yup. All four of them. I stared hard at them hoping my invisible laser glare would wipe them out. It didn’t. But Oprah’s ah ha moment did appear. A pasta sauce recipe was staring right back at me.
After more stupidity in being the proud owner of the produce section, seared vegetables too became part of this sauce. Nicely done to naturally counteract the acidity! Pats self on back.
Four boxes of canned tomatoes later, an awesome, my go to pasta sauce came into being. Icky store bought jarred ones doesn’t even come close to this hearty, thick and creamy sauce with the perfect balance of acidity and need I say packed with flavor. Pair it up with your favorite pasta, some homemade meatballs and cheese, you’re pretty much set for life.
Great things do come out of stupidity. Now if I could just get chocolate cake to maintain blood flow.
My last post: Salted Baked Chicken
Which aisle from the grocery store have you ‘owned’?
Hearty Pasta Sauce Serves 8 – 10
1 zucchini, sliced
2 red bell peppers, sliced
10 mushrooms, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
4 cans 14.5 oz diced or stewed tomatoes
3 cans 6 oz tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tsp sugar or to taste
Salt and black pepper, to taste
directions:
1. Over medium high heat, drizzle some olive oil in a 6 or 8 qt stock pot or Dutch oven. Sear the zucchinis, peppers, mushrooms and carrots separately until browned beautifully and soft. Set them aside. (See notes 2).
2. In the same pot over medium high heat, drizzle some olive oil and brown the onions. When they are soft to your liking, add the garlic and fry until fragrant. Add all the seared vegetables, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and chicken stock. Combine well. Insert a hand blender or pour them into a blender and blend until the consistency is to your liking – chunky or smooth.
3. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the blended sauce and bring it to a boil. Once boiled, let simmer covered for 20 minutes. You can choose to add your protein now and simmer them together. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add more chicken stock if you like it a thinner consistency.
4. Serve with your favorite pasta and top with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.
Notes:
1. Tomatoes
a. If you prefer to use fresh tomatoes, you’ll need about 4 lb peeled and deseeded tomatoes (or 20 whole tomatoes). You’ll have to increase the cooking time to cook down the tomatoes.
b. You can also use tomato sauce. Replace the diced tomatoes and tomato paste with 3-4 15 oz cans tomato sauce. Or simply mix and match whatever you have in the pantry. There are no hard fast rules.
2. Vegetables:
a. Searing gives a depth in flavor. You can choose to skip it altogether, dump all the vegetables in a pot, cook them until they’re soft and then proceed to blending them. It’s still as delicious and nutritious.
b. You can even add extra diced browned vegetables to the sauce to get more veggies into your diet.
c. Add other vegetables that you prefer like celery, other bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower..etc.
3. This recipe makes a large batch. I portion and freeze the sauce. It makes for a super quick, delicious and healthy meal any day. Just add shrimp, chicken or meatballs.
4. Herbs: If you have or prefer fresh herbs, by all means add them instead of the dried ones. Adjust amount accordingly.
