A strange but tasty combo

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I had a few leftovers in the fridge, with some Prego Mushroom pasta sauce (Gasp! He used a pre-made sauce! Not Goodweed. Say it ain't so!) Ok. Enough dramatics. I also had a bit of leftover lasagna, about 2 tbs. worth, leftover beef tamale filling, and chicken filling leftover freom chicken enchilladas. Finally, I had one, uncut, and fresh medium hot bananna pepper.

I combined all of these ingredients, with another 1/2 tbs. each of dried oregano and dried sweet basil. I let them simmer for a half-hour or so and cooked a batch of angel hair, whole-wheat pasta. I'm tellin' you true. If I'd set out to, I doubt that I could have made a better, more flavorful pasta sauce. The combination of Tex/Mex, and Itallian, with the freshly sliced pepper was incredible. I'm tellin' ya kids, you just have to try throwing those flavors together in one bite. That was possibly the best pasta sauce I have ever made. It was mostly Itallian in flavor, but with the Tex/Mex adding just something special, enhancing and complimenting the oregano, garlic, basil, thyme, and rosemary. The fresh pepper was the star. I have to say that. It was the star.
I'm going to bed tonight a happy man.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[David Cottrell]

Mr. Goodweed - your strange but tasty sauce thing sounds very interesting and to be proud of. I copy a bunch of recipes from DC, but? To do this do I have to make left over lasagna, beef tamale filling and chicken filling all at the same time?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Nah. I think that if you make your favorite tomato based pasta sauce, through in a bit of chili powder, a little cayenne pepper, some coriander, and a bannana pepper, you will still come up with the same flavor. The texture combination comes from added mozzerella, shredded chicken, and ground beef.

Put the elements of the various left-overs in and you should come up with same flavor and texture. In fact, I'm going to take a stab at quantifying the ingredients here. It should get you pretty close.

Tex/Mex/Itallian Pasta Sauce
Ingredients:
12 oz. can tomato sauce
4 oz. can tomato paste
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried sweet basil
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tbs. hot chili powder
2 dashes cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/2 onion, chopped
1 bannana pepper, sliced
1/8 cup shredded mozarella cheese
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbs. cooking oil
1/4 lb. ground beef
1 boneless chicken breast

Place the chicken breast into a heavy frying pan, with a 1 tbs. of cooking oil and brown on both sides. Cover and cook over low heat until the juices run clear. Remove to a plate and let cool. Add the ground beef to the same pan and brown with the lid on. Add the coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Cover and cook until the ground beef is completely cooked. Shred the chicken meat and stir into the ground beef. Set aside.

Place the cooking oil into a 2 quart sauce pan and heat until fragrant. Add the sliced pepper and chopped onion. Saute' until tender. Do not brown.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and correct the seasonings. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 10 minutes. Add the meat mixture and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Serve over your favorite pasta.

I used whole-wheat angel hair pasta and that worked out very well.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[David Cottrell]

Goodweed, thanks for the work and the Tex/Mex/Italian Pasta sauce. I've got it captured.

 

[shepherdgirl]

It sounds interesting to say the least!