Three ways to dress up jarred pasta sauce – Playing Dress-up

You know it’s happened to you: last minute dinner guests, no food in the house, what can you serve? Your pantry is always stocked with a jar of pasta sauce and this-and-that you can use to throw together a good meal — really! In fact, I’ll bet you can make three fit-for-company meals with what you’ve got in your freezer and pantry right this very minute.

Your pantry is uber-stocked like mine, right? Dig out that tube of polenta and those frozen sausages for Sausage Polenta Bake, crack open that can of garbanzo beans and break open the frozen spinach for Middle East Vegetarian Delight, or defrost that pound of ground beef or turkey for a Shortcut Pasta Bolognese.

Even if you don’t have all those ingredients handy, these are quick and easy recipes with few ingredients, so you’ll want to add them to your repertoire. These dishes would all work beautifully with a side salad.

Shortcut Pasta Bolognese

Ingredients:

1 jar pasta sauce
1 pound ground beef, ground turkey or meat substitute
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine
optional if you’ve got them: fresh, sliced mushrooms, fresh chopped basil, toasted pine nuts, feta orparmesan cheese
1 pound pasta

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until fragrant and tender, about three minutes. Add meat (and mushrooms if using) and brown well. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and scrape the brown bits off the pan. Stir in the pasta sauce, heat through, and toss with the pasta in a pretty pasta bowl. Sprinkle with basil, pine nuts and cheese. Serve.

If you use brown rice pasta and leave off the cheese, this meal is gluten-free and dairy-free.

Middle East Vegetarian Delight

Ingredients:

1 jar pasta sauce
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 10-oz package of frozen spinach
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/3 cup raisins, golden raisins or currants
cooked brown rice, quinoa or couscous, about 1 cup per person
optional if you’ve got them: pine nuts or cashews, fresh cilantro or parsley

Saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until fragrant and tender, about three minutes.Add the spices and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add all other ingredients (not rice or optional) and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over rice, quinoa or couscous, sprinkled with the nuts and fresh herbs.

If you use rice or quinoa, this dish is gluten-free and dairy-free.

Sausage Polenta Bake

Ingredients:

1 package precooked sausage, about 4 sausages, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 tube polenta, cut into 3/4-inch slices
1 jar pasta sauce
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme
optional if you’ve got them: feta cheese crumbles, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh parsley

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange sausage chunks and polenta slices in a greased casserole dish. Pour pasta sauce over them and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15-30 minutes or until heated through. Arrance 2-3 slices of polenta and about 4 chunks of sausage on a plate, spoon some sauce over them and sprinkle with optional ingredients.

If you leave out the optional cheese, this dish is gluten-free and dairy-free.