Lazy Tomato Sauce

Lazy doesn't mean bad. Also, I'm realizing how much my definition of lazy has changed. A couple of years or so ago, lazy tomato sauce would have been me opening a jar of Bertolli. Fancy tomato sauce would have been me dumping a few spices into that jar. Classy.
This sauce is definitely going into frequent rotation though. It is so simple and sweet, and extremely easy. I could see myself eating it on our balcony in the summer. Mmm... summer.
The hardest part was letting it simmer for 45 minutes. I was hungry.

Note: The quality of the tomatoes you use makes all the difference. This is not the time to get the cheap brand. Also, make sure that they don't contain basil, which was much more prevalent than I would have thought.

Lazy Tomato Sauce

1 28 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes
5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt to taste (I barely added a pinch, and only at the very end)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then throw in the contents of the can and the onion halves. Bring to a boil over medium, then reduce and let it simmer for about 45 minutes. Every so often I would stir it around and smash the tomatoes. Which was fun. When the time is up, remove the onion and discard. Serve with your favorite pasta and salad. Oh, and wine and garlic bread too, of course.

Cheesy Spaghetti Bake

When La and I became roommates, and discovered our shared love of food, I soon came to learn that she had something that I didn't: loads of family recipe comfort foods. I'm in the process of tasting as many of these as possible, since I seem to have missed a certain part of my southern heritage in this department. Like the fact that, until a few months ago, I had never had the classic green bean casserole. GASP.
This is one of our absolute favorites. So much so that we had it for Roommate Christmas this year (along with St. Germaine and vodka gimlets. Heavenly). It's the perfect comfort food, and we think that it might even be better the next day. Always a good thing.
Since I finally got a copy of the recipe, I thought it best to post it here, so I'll never have to worry about accidentally deleting the email.

Cheesy Spaghetti Bake
Bake at 350
30 minutes

INGREDIENTS
½ lb. lean ground beef
15 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce
8 oz. spaghetti broken into thirds

Cheese Sauce
1 C milk
2 T flour
2 T butter
1 C grated cheddar
1/3 C grated Parmesan (Or Italian Blend, as we normally do)
Pinch of salt & pepper

- Over medium heat melt butter, stir in flour until smooth paste 
-Slowly add milk while stirring out all lumps
-Continue to cook over medium heat until boiling
-Turn on low heat for 1 minute until sauce coats spoon
-Stir in ½ cup cheddar and all Parmesan
-Stir until melted

-Brown meat, drain, return to pan
-Add spaghetti sauce to meat, cover, let simmer
-Cook spaghetti, drain, return to pan and add meat/sauce mixture
-Stir until mixed well
-Pour half of the spaghetti/meat/sauce mixture into clear 9x13 dish
-Cover with white cheese sauce
-Pour the remaining spaghetti/meat/sauce mixture into dish and cover with remaining grated cheddar
-Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly

Serve with lots of garlic bread and red wine. 

Friday Night Improv

We (roommate (La) and I) had a slight change in plans for dinner tonight, involving mixed up addresses among other things. Long story short: I had to come up with some sort of dinner, without much to work with. The result was delicious, if I do say so myself, and more than enough for us and our friend Mimi.

Spicy Chicken Rotini
3 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar Bertolli tomato and basil sauce
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sugar
1 lb rotini pasta

Pour half of the sauce into the bottom of a crockpot, then stir in the pepper flakes and sugar. Place the chicken breasts in, then pour the remaining sauce on top. I stirred it all around as much as I could, placed the cover on, and set it high for about 4-5 hours. When we were hungry, I shredded the chicken in the pot and mixed it together. Serve over rotini.

I also served creamed corn, which is called (creatively enough) Allyn's special corn.

1 package frozen corn
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp heavy cream
2 tsp salt
10 good shakes of Tony's, or to taste

Throw it all together in a saucepan with a lid, over medium low heat for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the corn is thoroughly heated, take the lid off and cook until the cream has thickened.

La's homemade lemon drops helped round the evening out.