Pasta a la Imagination!

I love pasta. Fuzzy loves pasta. Most people love pasta. This is a fact. It's simple, basic, easy to make with just a few ingredients and even folk who are kitchen-challenged can usually pull off some form of pasta dish.

I am not Italian. I am a New Orleans Creole girl with a gumbo of heritage but so far in our family tree and even DNA confirmations, we haven't found any significant link to claim with Italy. This is to say, I am not remotely close to being any kind of authority on Italian cuisine. What I've learned has come from following recipes, making my own versions of recipes and creating some things on my own.

Today is Sunday and in Norway shops are closed. I have a nicely stocked freezer and a shopping trip on Thursday means I do have some nice fresh seasoning and a few veggies to work with. Both Fuzzy and I are in the mood for pasta. I usually have a few boxes of crushed tomatoes on hand but alas, none in the pantry....sigh...

One thing I do know I can pull off is making a sauce of fresh veggies tossed into my food processor!

I have in the fridge, zucchini, carrots, celery, spinach, red bell pepper, some yellow and red cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. In addition, I have onions, garlic and really good Kalamata olive oil that I got while I was in Kardamyli, Greece.

I used half of the zucchini, half of one onion, 1 stalk celery, 3 cloves of garlic, tomatoes (I had 8 of each yellow & red), tomato paste, fresh basil, oregano and parsley, red pepper flakes, olive oil, 2 tsps sugar, 2 medium carrots and salt to taste. Pulse until it makes a smooth sauce. Slowly add about 2 large hand fulls of spinach and pulse until well blended.

I coarsely chop the other half onion, bell pepper and mushrooms, add to sauce in a large saucepan and simmer on medium heat. Adjust your spices as desired. You can add meat or sausage to your sauce or just use the veggie sauce onto any pasta you like.

I have some amazing deer meat cakes that were homemade by my in-laws in my freezer. I took those out, thawed them and simmered them in the sauce. I served over some spaghetti.

Super delicious, fresh and easy! Use your IMAGINATION!!!

Now, go cook, eat and start a revolution!

Teedy Cooks!