Garden/Storage Pasta Sauce

[Army Girl]

Pasta is a great item to keep in your long term storage supplies.

There are many ways of making delicious sauces just by getting something out of the garden (spinach, tomato, sage ect.), or using other powdered dairy storage foods. What about those mixes in the envelopes?

Perhaps some of you have some ideas for dressing pasta for a yummy meal when TStuffHTF. Please share your ideas.

Here is a simple tomato sauce

Fry some garlic (garden) in olive oil (storage) add a chopped tomato (garden) and some oregano (storage or garden) I always "grind the dry oregano between my fingers when I add it to release more flavor. Cook it for a bit and add to cooked pasta.

 

[Salal Sue]

Good thread idea!

I always have chives going; plant them once and they are there forever. I just harvest several stems from each plant. Think tonight I'll try dandelion leaves with lots of chives, stirred around in olive oil and add chopped fresh tomatos (could use sundried tomatos in olive oil from prep shelf).

Noticed that my oregano is up from last year. Wasn't sure it would be a perennial in my climate. Nice to know it is an early riser. Won't talk about the mint--

I think keeping a garden journal would be a good idea-- so when depending on home grown food we would know when it is available. I have yet to know when to expect the first tomato as I didn't keep record last year.

 

[summerthyme]

Cold pasta salads are a favorite around here on hot summer days. I start with cooked pasta, cooled quickly under cold running water (could probably just dunk it in a pan of cold water and stir it around a bit). This holds the firm texture a bit, because the pasta doesn't keep cooking after you take it off the stove.

Add enough Miracle Whip (or other salad dressing.. a blue cheese dressing is a nice change, Thousand Island is good.. a rich flavored vinegar dressing would totally change the character of the salad) to coat the pasta well. Add in.. whatever you've got!!

I use canned tuna, or chicken or turkey. Or leftover cooked meat cubes.. chicken, ham.. whatever. Then I chop up fresh veggies from the garden.. a sweet onion is always good, fresh peas are wonderful, radish chunks, cucumbers, sweet green peppers... and add them. A bit of chopped sweet or dill pickle is a nice flavor boost.

I usually have a bowl of one variety of this or another in the fridge during the summer. It can make a quick meal in itself, or with grilled meat or a green salad on the side...

Summerthyme

 

[Hermit]

I love pasta salads also, there are so many possible variations. Mayonnaise, tuna, mustard, and vinegar store well, and you can use some wild greens like dandelion in case you don't have much from the garden.

A hot pasta dish can have a white sauce if you get sick of tomato sauces. Make it by heating up any fat or oil in a pot enough to get rid of any water in it, and stir in flour to make a roux. Stir briefly on medium (low on a propane stove with poor controls) until only very slightly darkened. Add in water (this can be combined with white wine or chicken stock if you happen to have any, but plain water works ok). Stir until smooth. Add canned chickpeas or beans with the liquid, clams, oysters, or chicken .... tuna only if that's all you have. Cook about half an hour. At the end of cooking add a little evaporated milk if available.

You can leave this unspiced, but curry works in it, as do fresh rosemary or parsley if some is in your neighborhood.

 

[Laurie the Mom]

If you grow garlic there's always oil and garlic on your pasta. Yummy!

Fettuccine with Zucchini

1 lb. fettuccine
1/3 C. butter (olive oil would work I bet)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lb. zucchini, grated
3/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese

While pasta is cooking, heat butter until foaming. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add to pasta. Add Parmesan cheese and toss well.

I have a pasta cookbook with lots of neat recipes but even if you don't follow the recipes exactly you can get some good ideas: saute shredded Swiss chard or spinach, scallions and mushrooms; one recipe has asparagus in a cream sauce; many of them have carrots in the tomato sauce; a couple have winter squash cubes or eggplant.

I figure anything is good in an alfredo sauce.

Laurie

 

[Army Girl]

Here is a garden/storage stir fry idea.

Cut some garlic, carrot and sweet pepper (garden) in small strips , stir fry in fat of some kind (storage), throw in either a handful or two of fresh peas (garden), or some sprouted mung beans (storage) add a teaspoon of corn starch and some soy sauce (storage) then some chopped greens or green onions (garden). Add cooked spagetti and mix and serve. Might want to start with some chopped up spam too for more protein. Lo Mein.

 

[Pearl]

Add enough Miracle Whip (or other salad dressing.. a blue cheese dressing is a nice change, Thousand Island is good.. a rich flavored vinegar dressing would totally change the character of the salad) to coat the pasta well. Add in.. whatever you've got!!

I use canned tuna, or chicken or turkey. Or leftover cooked meat cubes.. chicken, ham.. whatever. Then I chop up fresh veggies from the garden.. a sweet onion is always good, fresh peas are wonderful, radish chunks, cucumbers, sweet green peppers... and add them. A bit of chopped sweet or dill pickle is a nice flavor boost.

Never thought of pasta salad that way - I may try that next - thanks! I'm used to more of a Mediterranean style - using a whole bottle of Italian dressing on macaroni or linguini (1# dry) or the equivalent amount of olive oil. Then whatever is available goes in the mix: fresh tomatoes, snips of rosemary or oregano, pine nuts, black olives, garlic, onion, sweet pepper, and even sliced salami if available.

It tastes better the second day, after all the tastes have blended.

Pearl

 

[Butterfly]

BASIL!!! BASIL!!! BASIL!!!! You just can't have pasta without basil. Oh what a wonderful herb. I have 20+ basil plants in the garden right now. I can my tomato sauce, with added BASIL, of course! I mix my hamburger, italian sausage and BASIL!!! Oh, I love my BASIL!!!!! Hubby and I just sniff it, we love it so much!!!

 

[TerriHaute]

Here's an easy one that's one of our favorites ( and it uses BASIL):

Chop two or three big tomatoes and several cloves of garlic and place in a bowl. Add enough olive oil to coat, sprinkle generously with salt. Let sit unrefrigerated for an hour or two to "juice up", stirring once or twice.

Cook up a batch of your favorite pasta, I like to use bowtie or penne pasta. While pasta is cooking, chop 5 or 6 large basil leaves and stir into the tomato mixture. When the pasta is cooked as much as you like it, drain and put portions of pasta on plates, top with the tomato-basil mixture. We also like to grill a chicken breast or two, slice into strips, and put that as the top layer. The different textures and mix of hot pasta and uncooked tomatoes is nice, the taste is great, and it's a good way to use up produce from the garden.

Terri in Indiana