the strategic shopper, wk 2/pt 2

spaghetti sauce FTW ~ not photogenic in any sense of the word, but soooo NOM!

i *LOVE* pasta and red sauce...  i never get tired of it AND it stretches like crazy; however, the stuff in jars is just too damned expensive (and heavy ~ i walk to and from the grocery store), even when it IS on sale.  i especially like to make my sauce w/ the meatless crumbles because it makes the whole process quicker, healthier, and leaves my apartment smoke-less.

i used a lot of ingredients that i had leftover from last week's shopping, as well as an item or two picked up when i bought the boca meatless crumbles.  here's the recipe:

~  1 whole white onion, chopped

~  4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

~  2 T olive oil

~  1 bag (8 oz) frozen mushrooms

~  1/2 bag (4 oz) frozen green peppers

~  1 12-oz can tomato paste + 2 cans hot water

~  2 T oregano

~  2 bay leaves

~  1 T porcini flour

~  mrs. dash, kosher salt, black pepper

~  1/2 bag (6 oz) boca meatless crumbles

1.  heat the oil on medium high and saute the onion and garlic until browned.

2.  add the frozen veggies and cook until all the water is evaporated ~ 7-10 minutes.

3.  while the veggies are cooking, mix the water into the tomato paste whisking out any lumps.  will be the approximate consistency of tomato sauce.

4.  when the water is completely evaporated from the frozen veggies, add the tomato sauce and all the spices.  turn heat to low and cook, covered, for 20-30 min.

5.  add the meatless crumbles and cook for a further 10 min or until the crumbles are heated throughly.

look, i'll level w/ you...  i know i am supposed to be all cheffy and say that "only the freshest tomatoes" or "high-quality canned, whole tomatoes" are the only proper base for red sauce, but let me tell you:  they don't work.  i have tried many, endless variations in the quest for the perfect marinara; tomato sauce gives me the best texture as well as proper sauce-to-pasta adherence.  i use diluted tomato paste instead of canned tomato sauce only b/c one can of tomato paste is a lighter load on my mile-long trek than 3-4 cans of tomato sauce.  also, tomato paste is more of a kitchen multi-tasker than tomato sauce, imho.

i didn't post this yesterday b/c of blogger's date blunder on the outage announcement, so i apologize.  i will be back tomorrow w/ the last ~ and less phoned-in ~ boca meatless crumbles entry.

thanks for reading, bbs!  ^_^