Saturday, February 28, 2009

Use-Up-Your-Leftovers Pasta Sauce


This week I went to one of my old college standby recipes-- pasta sauce that uses up all the fridge leftovers. I always have a can of diced tomatoes on hand for just this purpose. Quick, easy, and healthy.

Ingredients

1 14 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 package of refrigerated cheese tortellini (or whatever pasta you have on hand)
1 cup of wine (I used some leftover red zin)
2 TB olive oil
And whatever veggies you want to use up. I used:
2 cups bagged spinach
1/2 green pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 medium yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 medium summer squash
Handful of basil
Dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Chop all vegetables into bite size pieces. Cook tortellini according to package directions.

While the pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; saute about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies (excluding spinach and basil) and saute until they start to get soft, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and allow mixture to simmer for several minutes until it starts to reduce. Add the can of tomatoes; simmer and stir occasionally until water evaporates, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in basil and spinach; cook until spinach wilts. Finally, add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and then stir in the cooked tortellini. Serve hot with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

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