3 Ingredient Marinara Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: 3 Ingredient Recipes

Dish: Marinara Sauce

As I was wondering what to make for Day 2 of '3-ingredient recipes', I got the recipe for this marinara sauce in my inbox from Everyday Food. Knowing my kids love for pasta, I knew I had to try this recipe right away.

I always keep store bought pasta sauce in the pantry, but there are occasions when I run out of my stock and this recipe is comes in very handy.

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Pasta with Curried Vegetable Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: Different Pasta Sauces

Dish: Pasta with Curried Vegetable Sauce

Final day of this week's 'Pasta Sauces'  is an Indian-Italian fusion dish. I was wondering what to make for the 3rd day and then saw this recipe in Tarla Dalal's newsletter in my inbox, so curried vegetable sauce was served for dinner that day.

I think curry powder works well in a lot of dishes, so it's not out of place in this pasta sauce. Also adding lot of veggies makes it colorful and filling too. I used peppers, broccoli and corn along with tomato puree in this dish. A splash of cream or half-n-half is added to make the pasta just a little bit creamy.

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Red Pepper & Almonds Pasta Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: Different Pasta Sauces

Dish: Red Pepper & Almonds Pasta Sauce

I consider myself at least 5 years behind technology especially social media. The only one that I use is Facebook and that is mainly for the blog and sometimes to share pics of the family. I have no clue where to play and how to play on Facebook. So there you have it -- now you know there is no point in sending me that Farmville request because you got it -- I don't know how to play -- Thank you. But if I compare myself with my husband, I am at least 10 years ahead because he has no Facebook account and he thinks I'm snooping around and violating someone's privacy by reading their status update, hehehe :-)
I digress, coming back to the case in point. I recently started using Instagram, even though I've had the account for almost 2~3 years now. What I'm stumped is the hashtags used in Instagram. Most of the time I'm #totallystuck #havenoclue #howtousehashtags. Any tips, tricks and inputs into expanding my #hashtagknowledge would be highly #appreciated :-) Please leave them in the #comments section below. Thank you.

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Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Different Pasta Sauces

Dish: Roasted Cauliflower Sauce

My theme for this week's Blogging marathon is 'Different Pasta Sauces'. Like most kids, my kids love pasta and I make it at least once a week. I'm always looking for new pasta sauces, so this week I've tried 3 new pasta sauces that I enjoyed quite a bit and have been added to my weekly repetition already.
First up is this creamy and yummy roasted cauliflower pasta. Couple of years ago, cauliflower was the hottest veggie in town (just like kale) and chefs and food bloggers have cooked and posted many many interesting recipes. This roasted cauliflower pasta sauce is inspired from some of those recipes.

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Creamy Tomato Pasta Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 47: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Kid's Delight Event -- Pizza & Pasta
Dish: Creamy Tomato Pasta Sauce

Like I said in my yesterday's post, my kids love pasta and I'm always in the look out for interesting sauce recipes. Today's creamy tomato pasta sauce comes from Pioneer woman's site. I love Ree Drummond and her recipes are always easy to follow and have been a big hit in my house.

This pasta sauce could not be simpler because it uses canned tomato sauce as the base. I always have all kinds of canned tomatoes (chopped, puree, paste and so on) in my pantry, so this would be something I can see myself making quite often. Creaminess comes from the addition of heavy cream and since this dish is for kids, I was liberal in adding it to the sauce :-) If you are concerned about the calorie intake then reduce the quantity of heavy cream or use half-n-half or even milk for a lighter version.

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Caramelized Onion & Leek Pasta Sauce

Onions are delicious, but they taste divine once caramelized. The pungent and almost spicy taste of raw onions transforms into silky sweetness once onions are slowly cooked until golden and caramelized. Slow cooking is the key to get the right taste and not end up with burnt onions. 

Caramelized onions are great as topping on pizzas, tarts or even on crackers. Stir some softened cream cheese and sour cream into caramelized onions for an instant dip for chips. 

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Easy Pasta Sauce

Today is Day 3 of our Blogging Marathon and I have a simple pasta sauce recipe for you.This is a very quick and easy pasta sauce that I make for my son. Actually this isn’t even an actual recipe; this is the way I jazz up store bought pasta sauce to make it taste fresh. Using store bought pasta sauce cuts down on the cooking time and is very convenient. But I try to make sure that I don’t buy sauces that are loaded with sodium or other additives. I like Trader Joes basic marinara sauce as is for pasta and pizza, but like to doctor it up a little bit once in a while. I also make it from scratch and I’m giving that variation as well in the recipe below.

I use Cashew or Almond butter to add creaminess to the sauce, you can also use light or heavy cream to get the same effect.

Ingredients:
Pasta Sauce – 1 cup (I use Trader Joe’s brand). Use 2tbsp tomato paste with ¾th cup tomato puree instead of the store-bought pasta sauce
Red onion – 3tbsp, finely chopped
Carrot – 2tbsp, very finely diced
Garlic – 1 clove, minced (optional)
Pepper – to taste
Sugar – pinch (optional)

Cashew Butter - 2tsp

Method:

• Heat 1tsp olive oil in a small sauce pan. Add onions, carrots and garlic with a sprinkle of salt and cook on medium-low flame until the veggies are tender, about 8 minutes.
• Stir in pasta sauce, sugar (if using) and pepper. Taste and season with salt if required, which is highly unlikely because pasta sauces are usually heavily seasoned already.
• Simmer for 5-6 minutes on medium-low flame. This sauce sputters and spits out a lot, so be aware and don't where your best white clothes while making this :-).
• Slowly stir in cashew butter and simmer for another minute.
• Mix the sauce with pasta of your choice and enjoy.

Don't forget to check out what the other Marathoners are cooking up in their kitchens.

Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Sowmya, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Mina, Meena, Padma, PJ, Priya Mahadevan, PriyaSuresh, PriyaVaasu, Rujuta, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Srivalli, Suma,Usha,Veena.