A Few Simple Pasta Sauce Recipes

I have a new challenge post coming up soon (finally). In the meantime, I want to share with you a list of simple recipes for pasta that you can throw together, usually in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Many of these recipes are particularly suitable for this time of year, when you (a) don’t want to spend a lot of time in a hot kitchen, and (b) have access to abundant fresh produce and herbs.

Pasta, Risotto-Style: I like this with orzo but it will work with almost any pasta shape. Saute diced onion in butter over medium-high. Add 1-1/2 cups orzo or other cut pasta. To make a complete meal, you can add other vegetables or pre-cooked meat. Stir and season with salt and pepper. Add 3 cups stock. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir every few minutes until tender, about 15 minutes, adding more stock if needed. Garnish with grated Parmesan and minced herbs.

Quick Vegetable Sauce: Puree cooked vegetables. Thin with cream or stock and heat gently. Top with grated cheese, as appropriate.

Pesto: Puree 2 cups basil or other herbs, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or other nuts and 1/2 cup Parmesan until smooth.

Raw Tomato Sauce: Chop 1 garlic clove with a handful of basil. Combine with 2-3 diced tomatoes. Toss with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Canned Tomato Sauce: Saute 1/2 minced onion or 2 minced garlic cloves in olive oil or butter over medium-low until golden. Add 1 14-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes, or the equivalent in fresh tomatoes, cored and chopped. Stir in 1 tablespoon tomato paste, if a thicker sauce is desired. Cook about 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper. You can eat it now or simmer up to an hour. This sauce takes well to all kinds of additions so experiment by adding any cooked veggies or meats, pesto or fresh herbs, some soft cheese, a little wine, etc.

This list was first posted on Quora.

A Down-Home Meal: Barbecued Chicken and Coleslaw

This week’s challenge was to make barbecued chicken and coleslaw: a summer meal in the middle of winter. I really enjoyed this meal. It was comfort food with a down-home feel, and it brought a little sunshine to all this winter weather we’ve been having. I think everyone else at the table liked it too. Even my toddler asked for a little of everything on his plate, and though he didn’t eat very much, that is still an improvement.

I have made the coleslaw recipe many times before, but this was an opportunity to really perfect it, and I think this was the best batch I have ever made. I’ll post that recipe tomorrow. (How come it is impossible to make coleslaw except in prodigious batches? I have some ideas for what to do with the leftovers, which I’ll also post.)

But let’s talk about the barbecue. I have never made barbecue sauce before, and I didn’t really know how to start. So I picked up How to Cook Everything, of course. Mark Bittman’s recipe for barbecue sauce begins with 2 cups of ketchup, which I thought might be overwhelmingly sweet. I consulted a few other recipes and Bittman’s long list of variations, and finally decided on a base combination of 1 part ketchup, 1 part tomato paste, 1 part hoisin sauce and 1 part stock to thin it out some. To this I added apple cider vinegar and bourbon (although I think dark beer would also work well).

All of the recipes I looked at called for chili powder as the main seasoning, but I decided to use Penzey’s BBQ 3000 mix instead, since I have a large bottle of it in my pantry (given to me as a gift). Chili powder can be substituted but will make the sauce a bit hotter, I think. To that I added salt, pepper, toasted onion powder and garlic powder.

The sauce tasted good, but it was still very sweet and lacked a certain depth. I consulted all the recipes again and decided to throw in a couple of spoonfuls of mustard (I used Coleman’s yellow) and Worcestershire sauce. That was better, but one last finishing touch was required. A few dashes of Tabasco did the job nicely. I let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes to meld the flavors.

My husband really liked this sauce, so I consider it a big success for my first attempt. He wants me to make it the standard for barbecue sauce in our house.

I dug up some old instructions for oven-barbecuing chicken, which basically consists of browning the chicken first, then slathering it with sauce and baking it until done. A quick broil at the end adds some “char.” I used bone-in, skin-on breasts, so if you add thighs or legs, your cooking time may be longer.

To serve, I pulled chicken off the bone and plated alongside the coleslaw and the traditional white roll. I reserved about half the sauce for dipping.

Oven-Barbecued Chicken

Serves: 2 but this recipe probably makes enough sauce for 4 large pieces of chicken

For the sauce, combine:

• ½ cup ketchup
• ½ cup tomato paste
• ½ cup hoisin sauce
• ½ cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
• ½ cup bourbon (or substitute dark beer)
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Penzey’s BBQ 3000 mix (or substitute 1 tablespoon chili powder or to taste)
• ½ teaspoon toasted onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 1-2 dashes Tabasco

Bring to a simmer. Let simmer over low, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large, oven-proof skillet, drizzle 2 bone-in chicken breasts with a little olive oil, and sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper. Brown both sides over medium-high and remove from the heat.

Pour about half of the sauce into a bowl. Reserve the remainder and keep warm on low heat, covered. Slather the chicken thickly on both sides with the sauce. Bake until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning and re-basting as needed. This can take 20 minutes or more, depending on the size of the chicken pieces.

When the chicken is almost done, turn on the broiler and cook a further 5 minutes, turning once. Serve with the reserved sauce on the side.

Fresh Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Last night, I made an absolutely delicious pasta sauce using fresh roma tomatoes from my garden. Like all quick tomato sauces, this one is just a variant of my super simple tomato sauce recipe, but it was so good that I wanted to give it its own entry.

This sauce celebrates the bright, sweet flavor of summer tomatoes at their peak. The tomatoes are cooked down until they thicken and practically dissolve. Adding a healthy amount of garlic and some bacon cuts the sweetness and builds richness. Finish with a handful of basil for that last summery touch.

Fresh Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Yields: 2 servings
Time to make: ~30 minutes

• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 slice bacon, fried and crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb. roma tomatoes, chopped
• handful basil leaves, sliced
• grated Parmesan
• ½ lb. penne or other cut pasta

Start heating a pot of salted water for the pasta. Heat the oil and garlic over medium until the garlic just starts to color. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the crumbled bacon and tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Let cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes start to break down and thicken. Lower the heat if the tomatoes are cooking too quickly.

When the water boils, cook the pasta. By this time, the sauce should be very thick. If the mixture gets too thick, add a spoonful of pasta cooking water to loosen it up some. When the pasta is ready, drain and mix it with the sauce. Top with the basil and Parmesan to serve.

Blueberry Popsicles and Syrup

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It seems that blueberry season is upon us. We haven’t even been blueberry picking yet, but my fridge still overflows with fresh, cheap berries, or as my son calls them, “boobrees.” As in “mo boobrees. Peeeeze?” Here are a couple of ideas of what to do with excess blueberries.

Popsicles are always a tasty treat and super-easy to make, if you have the molds. Here is my master recipe, but it’s as simple as pureeing the fruit, mixing in enough water to thin and sugar to taste, and freezing. A food mill works well for pureeing berries as it strains out most of the seeds and stems for you.

As a special Sunday morning treat, make blueberry syrup for pancakes. You can use fresh or frozen berries for this syrup. Not only does it taste good on pancakes, but you can stir leftovers into yogurt or oatmeal to liven up your breakfasts all week. I expect it’s also very nice on top of ice cream or pound cake. (The recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything.)

Blueberry Syrup

Serves: 4 or more
Time to make: ~15 minutes

• 2 cups blueberries, fresh or thawed
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp. water
• additional water as needed to thin (about ½ cup)
• sugar and lemon juice to taste

Combine the blueberries, cornstarch, water and a tablespoon or two of sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens.  This takes about 10-15 minutes. Add more water as needed to thin, if necessary. Stir in lemon juice to taste and more sugar if needed. Refrigerate up to 1 week.

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A Super-Simple Anchovy-Garlic Dipping Sauce for Chicken Wings (and Other Things)

I recently was moved to make chicken and dumplings, I think by the onset of fall and the fact that my husband was sick. When I make homemade chicken stock, I usually use chicken wings, and this recipe also called for using wings for the soup base. I usually cook stock until the wings practically dissolve (except for the bones). I simmered the chicken and dumplings stock for a much shorter time, and I had a plateful of intact, cooked wings when I was done.

Of course, I saved them. I put them under the broiler for a few minutes to brown and crisp up the skin. I don’t usually like chicken wings because I think they’re too greasy, but these were moist and flavorful. I think simmering them in the stock cooked most of the fat out of them.

I needed something to serve them with, and I found a recipe for anchovy-garlic sauce in one of Mark Bittman’s cookbooks that seemed to fit the bill. It reminds me of the dipping sauce we get with chicken wings at a local restaurant, a lighter, tastier alternative to the traditional buffalo-style sauce. I think this sauce is related to the traditional bagna cauda, but this one comes together in minutes.  I think this would also make a tasty dip for crudites.

Note: I used anchovy paste, but if you have real anchovies, by all means, substitute them. You have to guesstimate amounts, depending on your tolerance for anchovies. Taste frequently and adjust as necessary.

Anchovy-Garlic Dipping Sauce

Yields: ~4 servings

• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp. anchovy paste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter and olive oil with the garlic over low until the butter melts. Stir in the anchovy paste until it is mixed well. Season to taste. Keep warm until serving.

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One Pack of Tortillas Makes a Whole Lot of Meals

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When you think about it, there’s really not much difference between a burrito, an enchilada, a taco and a tostada. The main differences are presentation and heating method. But you can essentially use the same fillings for all of these (and other tasty Mexican-style dishes). That’s why I always keep a pack of tortillas in the fridge. Using them, I can put together a quick dinner with pretty much what I have on hand, and I can mix it up many different ways to keep things interesting.

Here are what I see as the essential building blocks:

• The tortillas: I prefer the small flour tortillas, which are the most versatile, but you might like the larger burrito size, corn tortillas or hard taco shells. If I buy a lot, I freeze the extras.
• The filling: You can choose something very simple, such as browned ground meat or chopped onion, or pile it on. I like to use up leftovers, such as rice, beans or bean dip, cooked meats and grilled or roasted vegetables. Fried or scrambled eggs also work nicely.
• The cheese: Always required. I usually have something appropriate on hand, such as cheddar, Monterey Jack or even goat cheese.
• The sauce: Salsa will work. So will bottled or homemade enchilada sauce or chili sauce. Even barbecue sauce will do in a pinch.
• The garnishes: These are the finishing touches. Lettuce, tomato and sour cream are naturals. Also think pickled jalapenos, guacamole, raw onion or whatever you like.

Now here’s how you put it all together, from simplest to more complex:

• Tacos: Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and warm them for 10 minutes or so in a 400-degree oven while you’re preparing the rest of the ingredients. Let everyone assemble their own at the table.
• Tostadas: Toast the tortillas individually in a dry nonstick skillet for a few minutes per side. Serve open-faced and just pile it on.
• Burritos: Spoon the filling in a thick line down the bottom of the tortilla. Top with cheese and sauce. Fold in the sides to partially cover the filling, then fold the bottom over part of the filling and roll up. Bake seam-side-down in an oiled casserole dish at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, until bubbly. Garnish after cooking.
• Enchiladas: Traditionally, enchiladas are made with fewer filling ingredients than burritos, so they are rolled thinner. Prepare as for burritos, except top with more sauce and cheese before baking.
• Chilaquiles: Cut the tortillas into wedges and fry in a small amount of hot oil until crisped and browned. Layer the wedges in a baking dish with the filling ingredients, cheese and sauce, like a Mexican lasagna. Make three layers, ending with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until bubbly. Garnish.
• Nachos: Spread tortilla chips on a baking sheet and top with the filling ingredients, sauce and cheese. Broil until the cheese melts. Garnish to serve.

Quick and Easy Enchilada Sauce

Time to make: 15 minutes
Yields: 2 cups

• 1 sm. onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1-2 chiles, chopped (optional)
• 1 tbsp. oregano
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tbsp. Mexican or Southwestern seasoning mix (optional)
• 2 cups crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil over medium until the onion turns translucent. (Also add the chiles, if using). Stir in all of the seasonings and cook another minute or so. Add the tomatoes. Simmer until the sauce is no longer liquidy. Let cool and puree before using.

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A Milder All-Purpose Pesto: Spinach-Walnut Pesto

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I actually made this pesto last fall with the last of the basil, but I froze it in ice cube trays and have found many uses for it since. Since this recipe replaces half the basil with spinach, it has a milder taste and can be used in greater quantities than classic pesto. Because the spinach flavor doesn’t overwhelm, this is a good recipe for sneaking a healthy vegetable in unexpectedly. I like this pesto best as a sauce for fresh tortellini or ravioli, but as we discovered last night, it makes a great pizza sauce, particularly if the pizza also features fresh spinach. (I also added crumbled bacon, fresh mozzarella and tomato to the pizza.)

Spinach-Walnut Pesto

Time to make: ~10 minutes
Yields: 2 cups

• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 cup fresh spinach, stems removed
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup walnuts, toasted
• ½ cup Parmesan, grated

Combine everything in a food processor and process until pureed.

This pesto freezes very well. Freeze 1 tablespoon portions in ice cube trays. Once the pesto is frozen, transfer the cubes to a large freezer bag. Then you can just remove and defrost what you need for the dish.

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My Husband Cooks Too: Cheesy Pasta Bake

My husband does cook, although not nearly as often as I do. He is a very different cook than I am. He maintains a small repertoire of dishes that he makes over and over again, improving each time, and I have hardly ever seen him consult a recipe. Rather, he cooks solely by memory and taste. When he takes to the kitchen, I can expect him to be in there the whole afternoon; he takes his time. The results are always worth it!

One of my husband’s mainstay dishes is an Italian red sauce. I am always glad to see him make this, because he makes a huge pot of it, most of which I can freeze and use not only as a pasta sauce but in any Italian recipe that calls for a tomato sauce. I couldn’t share the recipe even if I wanted to, because I have no idea what it is and I’m not even sure my husband does either, not consciously. I do know that the key ingredient is Bionaturae organic bottled, not canned, tomato puree, which we can only find in our local co-op (they also make a terrific bottled tomato paste, which is very handy to have because it can be resealed and stored in the refrigerator).

When my husband makes sauce, he likes to do a little something different with it each time. Sometimes he’ll use it for a chicken Parmesan, others for a hearty ragout with sausage, or whatever he feels like. This time, he was inspired to make a cheesy pasta bake with Italian sausage. Again, he didn’t follow a recipe, just his instincts.

It was every bit as good as it looks. If you want to try to re-create it, here is the process for assembly.

Cheesy Pasta Bake

Yields: 2-4 servings
What you need:

• 2 Italian sausages (we used chicken sausage)
• 2-3 cups of thick Italian-style tomato sauce (since I can’t share my husband’s recipe, try this marinara sauce instead, or use your own favorite recipe)
• ½ lb. penne pasta
• 4 oz. mozzarella, thinly sliced

1. Slice the sausages and bring to a simmer in the tomato sauce.
2. Bring salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until just about done.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
4. Spoon a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of a baking dish.
5. Top with the pasta.
6. Spoon over the remaining sauce and sausages.
7. Top with a layer of the mozzarella slices.
8. Bake 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned.

Notes: All measurements are approximate and based on memory — use your best judgment, and double as appropriate. Leftovers keep very well for reheating later, so feel free to make a lot.

Garden Destruction and Pesto Making

It hurt, but we tore out the garden this weekend. It has been a strange growing season. Up until Tuesday of this week, we were still experiencing temperatures in the 90s and humidity that felt more like July. Despite being in “exceptional” drought for the last two months, the tomatoes must have thought we were having a second summer, because they all put out new flowers, and we even had tiny green tomatoes on some plants, too small to save.

Then, the temperature plummeted overnight 20 degrees to more fall-like weather, and nighttime lows fell into the 30s. We knew the baby tomatoes wouldn’t survive, but it was still painful to pull up all those plants in flower and toss them into the compost pile.

Still, I did manage to harvest quite a lot of basil from my three plants, despite letting them all go to flower for the past six weeks since it was so brutally hot that nothing would get me working outside. I made two batches of pesto: one regular-style for freezing, and one batch of arugula-basil pesto with ricotta and walnuts for eating this week (see recipe below).

Reading through my Cook’s Illustrated Italian Classics‘ section on pestos, I discovered two new tips for making pesto. The first recommendation was that before processing the pesto, put the basil or other herbs in a plastic bag and pound them with a rolling pin. This has the effect of bruising the leaves, producing a more authentic taste, a la Italian ladies pounding pesto with their mortar and pestles.

I decided not to adopt this technique, though, mainly because it seemed like too much trouble, and I wasn’t sure the gain in flavor would be worth it. If anyone else has tried it, I’d love to know what your results were. I just settled for treating the basil extra roughly when I pulled it off the stems and washed it.

The second recommendation was to toast the garlic cloves whole and unpeeled until spotty brown before processing with the rest of the ingredients. This, on the other hand, seemed like a great idea, and it was easy enough to toast the garlic in the same pan as I toasted the nuts. Since toasted garlic isn’t as strong as raw, I was able to use more, always a good thing, in my book.

Arugula-Basil Pesto with Ricotta and Walnuts

Process together until smooth in a food processor:

• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1 cup arugula leaves
• ¼ cup walnuts, toasted
• 3 whole garlic cloves, toasted until spotty brown and peeled
• 1/3 cup ricotta
• ¼ cup Parmesan
• 7 tbsp. olive oil
• salt to taste

Toss with hot, cooked pasta and serve.

Notes: Adapted from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated’s Italian Classics. Pesto can be stored under a film of olive oil or with plastic wrap pressed against the surface in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Roasted Tomato Salsa (Salsa Ranchera)

Here is another salsa to add to the collection. This one is simply delicious on warm entrees like enchiladas and beans. It is also a good choice when the fresh tomatoes are not at their best, because roasting the tomatoes brings out all of their sweetness.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Time to make: ~15 minutes

What you need:

• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 serrano or jalapeno chile
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• ½ sm. onion, diced
• 1-2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup cilantro or to taste
• salt and pepper
• food processor

1. Preheat the broiler
2. On an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, broil the whole tomatoes, chile and garlic cloves until blackened on all sides, turning occasionally
3. Remove and let cool
4. Peel off the skins from the tomatoes, chile and garlic (it’s ok to leave some skin because it adds a nice smoky flavor)
5. If you don’t want your salsa too hot, cut the chile in half and remove some of the seeds and ribs
6. Process together the tomatoes, chile and garlic in a food processor until still relatively chunky
7. Mix in the remaining ingredients, tasting and adjusting to your tastes
8. Serve at room temperature