The Lainey Blog

We’ve all been there.

Not at all arsed to drag such arses to Aldi for the weekly torture (shop). Convincing ourselves “Ah, there’s enough in to scrape a dinner together this week” (No need for the valium…)

But then inevitibly (because we’re moms, not magicians) we go to the press on a Thursday afternoon in the hopes of finding the makings of an ‘easy dinner’, and guess what? Nada. We look in the freezer and there’s nothing but berries (see previous post…) Not a fish finger or goujon in sight.

Great.

I do like to keep an emergency pasta sauce (or two) in the cupboard to whip up a tuna-pasta dinner in a flash if ever I’m stuck, but of course this day I find none. So, rather than feed my children toast for dinner (which I totally would but of course – no bread), I decide to make a pasta sauce from scratch, with what I have in the cupboard. Turns out there’s quite a lot you can whip up with some chopped tomatoes, a jar of red peppers and a dash of smoked paprika. And the results are not too shabby.

Ingredients:

• Red Onion chopped
• Clove of Garlic crushed
• Roasted red pepper chopped
• Teaspoon of Tomato Purée
• Dash of Smoked Paprika
• 1 tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• 150ml Boullion (veg stock will work too)
• Handful of Basil leaves chopped
• Salt and pepper to season

Method

With a dash of olive oil, fry onions and garlic in a pot on a low heat until onions become translucent. Add a dash of paprika and stir before adding tomato purée. Toss in the Red pepper and stir for a moment before adding chopped tomatoes and boullion. Give a good stir and then add the Basil. Bring to the boil and then simmer until liquid thickens into a sauce. Add a little salt and pepper to taste.

Just add pasta!

Cooked obviously.

Et violà! Easy peasy (super tasty!) homemade pasta sauce. The kids love this because the jar peppers – which can easily be bought in any supermarket give the sauce a lovely sweet & sour taste. The sauce can also be used as a pizza base, although I recommend cooking it slightly longer to boil any excess liquid that could turn the dough soggy.

There might even be some leftover for adults!

Let me know if you have any quick and easy school day recipes, I’d love to try!

Lainey 😉