Pasta Creation

I really enjoy being in the kitchen.  Unfortunately, working three jobs does not allow a lot of time during the week for me to cook.  Ryan has luckily learned how to make grilled burritos from his father on our panini maker, and he is also successful at making himself macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and reheating leftovers.

That being said, Sundays are my time to cook and experiment in the kitchen.  Above all, I love experimenting with pastas.  Pasta can be a great blank canvas to have fun with.  Yesterday, Ryan and I were planning to head downtown for the evening, but needed some lunch quick before we left.  So, I threw together a dish with what I had.

And it turned out delicious.  Ryan said that it tasted like something you'd get in a restaurant (probably because I usually don't cook with butter!), and I have to agree that this recipe is pretty fantastic.

Today, I recreated the dish but made it so I had leftovers for the week.  I also wrote down how I made it so I could share it with all of you!

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta (I prefer shells or rigatoni, but you can use whatever)
4-5 Tbsp butter (depending on how much you'd like to use)
4-6 cloves garlic, minced (depending on how much you like garlic! I like garlic, so I used 6)
Salt and pepper
18-24 oz of your favorite tomato sauce (The only sauce I ever use is Francesco Rinaldi's Sweet and Tasty Tomato)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan and Romano cheese
1/8 cup red wine (you can add more or less of this, depending on your preference)

Directions:

Cook pasta as directed on the package in salted water.

While the pasta is cooking, melt butter over low-medium heat in a large heavy-bottom skillet.  Once butter is melted, add garlic.  Watch garlic carefully; do not let it brown.  If necessary, turn head down a bit.  While garlic is cooking, add salt and pepper to season.  Cook garlic until it is tender.

Add in tomato sauce.  Stir until fully mixed with butter and garlic.  Add cheese and wine, stirring to blend it all together.

Strain water from cooked pasta in a colander.  Rinse pasta briefly with cold water.  Add pasta to tomato mixture.  Toss to coat.  Add additional pepper to season.

I used ziti today when I made it, only because that was the only pasta I had in the house, and I do not recommend using ziti.  Use a pasta that has the grooves in it.  That allows the sauce to stick to the pasta.  Today, my noodles were too slippery because ziti doesn't have lines on it to make the sauce stick.  Yesterday I used medium shells when I made it, and it was fabulous!

If any of you make this, please let me know how you like it so I can make any adjustment necessary to the recipe!