La Pasta e Lo Pomodoro

Ciao,

Ho preperato una pasta per la mia cena con una salsa di pomodori e la carne.

(I made pasta for my dinner with tomato and meat sauce.)

Just brushing up on my Italian skills. A bit hazy after l'estate (the summer) but it comes back with a little bit of thinking.

Ah si, si, the dinner. Once again, I pulled out the crock-pot to prepare some meat sauce for spaghetti. I went the easy way about it, though. I picked out a nice jar of Ragu that sounded particularly good, and used that as a base. I also used up the rest of the browned meat that I had made for chili. I cooked too much of it yesterday, so I had put half away with the ruminations of a future Italian dinner.

Spaghetti Sauce

-Ragu (I used "Sweet Italian Sausage and Cheese" flavor.)

-Browned meat and a chopped onion

1. Brown meat and onion in a frying pan.

2. Pour sauce and meat into the crock-pot. Cook low and slow for a few hours.

I served this with Tinkyada penne pasta. The general consensus of my suite mates was that it tasted a little different, but basically the same as regular pasta. I really hate gummy noodles, so if this is you too, make sure to stir constantly, boil a little past "done", and strain well with the colander.

Also, I baked some chocolate Pamela's brownies, the "fudgy" version recommended on the package.

I fed this meal to my non-gluten-free suite mates, and they all loved it. I was even compared to Martha Stewart (ha! at this point, I'm striving for a faux-Rachael Ray). In any case, it smelled amazing in here today. If you like to cook and don't want to spend money on air fresheners, fix up some stew or something. You'll also be surprised how many friends you make when you have great smells coming from your place.