Spaghetti Sauce

This spaghetti sauce is our family’s longtime favorite.  It is rich and delicious.  The flavor is unique, but we have never managed to make a good batch without the single jar of pasta sauce as the base.  It does not seem to matter what brand of pasta sauce is used.

This recipe makes what is usually labeled “Traditional” sauce with the exception

Quick Tip #3 - Reheat Plain Pasta

This is a simple method to reheat plain pasta (that has not been mixed with sauce or toppings).  Bring a pot of water to a full rolling boil.  Pour in the leftover pasta and stir.  When the water comes back to a full boil, drain through a colander and serve.  Your pasta should taste as fresh as when it was first served and should be thoroughly heated.  It helps if you used a couple tablespoons of oil in the water when you originally boil the pasta because this keeps it from sticking together when it is reheated.

Lasagna Style Pasta Bake

Lasagna Style Pasta Bake is a recipe which uses all of the traditional lasagna ingredients: sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, but with smaller pasta.  This recipe arose out of my mother’s love of Italian food.  She really likes Lasagna, and one day she wanted it and I did not have time to make “real” Lasagna, so I improvised.  I used all the same ingredients as Lasagna, but used a smaller pasta which would cook faster.  I could also stir the ingredients together around 

Quick Tip #1 - Keep Pasta from Boiling Over

If your Pasta or Noodles are boiling over, take the lid off and blow on the foam/bubbles.  This will pop the bubbles and lower the level of the boiling water in order to give you time to lower the heat or take the pan off the burner without making a huge mess.