Saucy!

I don't know if I gave you these or not, but Jon's twin brother went on his mission to Rome and learned these recipes. The red sauce is AWESOME! He puts it on spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, etc. And the taco pasta is surprisingly good.

Did you know that you can cook Pillsbury biscuits in a dutch oven? Just spray the bottom with cooking spray, put the biscuits in, cover, cook for 5-8 minutes and turn over, cook for 5-8 minutes more, and eat. Cooking time will vary depending on how hot you dutch oven is. They are very good in the morning when camping. And easy! And if you have forgotten your spatula, you can turn them with a hot dog roasting stick... Pretty convenient.

RED SAUCE

3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 lb sausage
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, crushed or diced
1 can (15 oz?) diced tomatoes or 2 cups of fresh diced tomatoes
1-2 cans of tomato sauce
salt, pepper, and basil to taste
NO WATER!!!

Brown the sausage.
Add crushed garlic when meat is half-cooked.
Add tomatoes and tomato sauce when meat is cooked.
Add salt, pepper, and basil to taste after sauce is hot.
Allow to simmer until desired thickness is obtained.

Use 1 can of tomato sauce for 1 lb of pasta.
Use 2 cans of tomato sauce for 2 lb of pasta.

Allowable substitutions:

hamburger for sausage (other meats can be used also)
1/2 of a sauteed onion for garlic (sautee the onion in the olive oil before adding meat)

I like onion with hamburger and garlic with sausage, but you can mix and match based on your taste or what you have on hand.

PINK SAUCE

To make a pink sauce, add a little bit of half and half or canned milk to a red sauce. Use bacon for the meat with onions.

TACO PASTA

Sautee 1/2 of an onion until tender
Add 1 lb of hamburger, and brown.
Add 1 packet of taco seasoning (3 Tablespoons)and some water
Let simmer until it looks like taco meat

In another pan, melt two tablespoons of butter or margarine
Add two tablespoons of flour and mix in.
Cook for a minute or two
Add a can of evaporated milk or half and half
Cook on low heat until thickened
Add a can of drained corn, and cook until warm

Dump everything onto 1 lb of cooked pasta and mix it up.

This can be doubled without increasing the meat if desired--just double everything else, including the taco seasoning.

Buon appetito.

Jeff