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Are you already bored with eating pasta even as that extra large jar of sauce continues to guiltily haunt your dreams? That marinara or white sauce sitting in your fridge is good for a whole heap of other dishes than just pasta. All it takes is a little bit of spice and a little bit of creativity. Here’s a list of ten quick, yet fancy dishes that can be made with that plain old jar of pasta sauce.
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1. Tomato Soup: Dilute one cup of red pasta sauce with water and bring it to a boil. Add cream, pepper and serve with cruoutons.
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2. Pasta par Eedu: The parsi breakfast egg dish, Tamota par Eedu, gets a continental quick fix here. Heat 1 cup of pasta sauce, diluted with 1/4 cup of water, some ginger garlic paste and chilli powder. Pour the heated sauce onto a serving dish and crack two eggs on it. Garnish with crumbled potato chips (instead of salli) or grated cheese.
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3. Quick Egg Muffins: This makes for a yummy weekend breakfast dish. And quick too. Break eggs and toss them with white pasta sauce (bechamel, alfredo or ragu) and some chopped spinach. Add in grated cheese and pour into pudding ramekins or muffin moulds. Top them with breadcrumbs and more grated cheese if need be and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes at 180 degrees until cooked through.
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4. Easy Paneer Kathi Rolls: Heat 1 cup of red pasta sauce with ginger garlic paste, add crumbled or chopped paneer, garam masala and chopped coriander until the paneer is well coated. Fill them in leftover chapattis along with chopped onions and roll them with foil paper for yummy paneer kathi rolls. And the entire process only takes 5 minutes.
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5. Stuffed Mushrooms: Remove mushroom stems and chop them. Add fine breadcrumbs, white pasta sauce, finely chopped garlic and chopped black olives. Stuff the mushroom caps each with half a teaspoon of this filling and top with grated mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees.
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6. Deviled Eggs with Pesto Sauce: This makes for a lovely party snack. Hard boil ten to 12 eggs, peel them, cut them into halves and scoop out the yolk. Mix the yolk with canned pesto sauce and a hint of cream if required. Spoon the mixture back into the egg halves or put it into a piping bag and squeeze them into the hollowed egg halves for better presentation. Serve them on a tray.
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7. Easy Baked Eggplant Parmesan: Slice a large eggplant (brinjal), coat it with egg and cover it with breadcrumbs. Cook the slices until crisp on a hot baking sheet or on a non-stick pan on stove top. Next take a baking dish, pour a thin layer of red pasta sauce, throw in the crisp eggplant slices and top with oodles of parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheese melts and is golden brown in spots.
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8. Quick Chicken Tikka: Cut 4 chicken breasts into cubes and toss them in yoghurt with turmeric powder, chilli powder, a little bit of salt and cumin powder and set aside for an hour to tenderise the meat. Next heat 1 cup of marinara sauce, add ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala and 4 tablespoons of cream. Throw in the chicken pieces and let it cook until the gravy is absorbed. If you want crust on the chicken like cooking in a tandoor, then throw in chicken pieces first in hot oil and allow the edges to get a little crisp before throwing in the marinara sauce and other spices. Garnish with coriander and serve.
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9. Pizza Omlette Margherita: Break four eggs and whisk it well with a little bit of salt, pepper and 2 teaspoons of milk. Pour it onto a non-stick omelette pan (with side walls), close the lid and allow it to cook for 2 minutes on a low flame until the omelette fluffs up. Meanwhile, mix one table spoon of red pasta sauce with fresh chopped basil and spoon the mixture onto the omelette while it’s still cooking on the pan and spread it thoroughly like you would spread pizza sauce. Top it with grated mozzarella cheese and close the lid and allow it to cook for 2 more minutes until the cheese melts. Slide it off the pan onto a serving plate and cut diagonally like pizza slices and serve.
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10. Easy Pesto Rice Bake: Toss boiled basmati rice with pesto sauce, boiled sweet corn, some sun dried tomatoes and red bell peppers. Empty it onto a greased baking tray or a non-stick pan. Top with grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese and bake for 15 minutes in an oven until melted and golden brown or cook it covered on stove top until the cheese is just melted. Serve in the same pan.
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