Pasta is one of those dishes that can be quick and pretty good, or slow and Mama Mia good. I offer a weeknight compromise: Quick pasta, slow rest-of-the-ingredients, and dinner is served on time!
1lb Italian sausage
1 red onion
4tbs olive oil
1 jar red sauce
2tbs basil
1tbs oregano
1tsp black pepper
1/2 package angle hair pasta
Serves: 4+
Time: 35min
Directions:
1) Start boiling the water. You will need about 4 cups. Feel free to add a little salt and olive oil as well, as discussed in prior posts :)2)Add the olive oil to the pan and turn onto medium heat. Give extra time to warm up if using an electric oven.
3) Add all the sausage, pre-chopped or separated in the pan. I prefer to separate in the pan, personally. Also add your sliced onions at this time. 4) If you choose to use all the spices listed, add them now, so they have time to soften and mellow. If you are using less spices than listed above, you may want to add them later on so they will taste more potent. Yes, spices are always optional. Well... usually.
5) While you are cooking the meat thoroughly, and keeping a close eye on it, add the pasta to the boiling water.6) Add most of the the jar of red sauce to the pan.*
*The reason for "most of the jar" is you may want to save a little out for making pizza! Its super easy to do with pasta left overs. Just save a little of the sliced onion, and a little of the meat too-- all in separate baggies of course. We will come back to this at a later post ;)
7) Angle hair pasta cooks quickly, making it both elegant and time efficient. After about 5 to 7 minutes, you should be prepared to drain the pasta and add it directly to the pan of yummy stuff.
8) Mix everything well and serve hot!
Cost:Italian sausage $3.56
red onion $0.50
olive oil $0.20
red sauce $2.00
spices $0.35
pasta $0.50
Total $7.11
Per serving $1.77
