Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Crazy Cooking Challenge : Spaghetti & Red Sauce

Photobucket

All Right!  What an interesting challenge.  Who knew that the simplest food combination would be so hard to find??  I mean...I've never tried making another Red Spaghetti Sauce before.  I usually just open up a can.

So when the assignment was given, I went looking.  I stumbled up The Recipe Diaries "Roasted Red Pepper Sauce".  Perfect.  I had all the ingredients.  I was especially intrigued by the addition of Red Wine Vinegar; I had never used that before in a sauce.

I also decided to kick it up a notch.  I wanted to make this a fun meal for my family.  While looking for a Red Sauce, I came across Center Cut Cook's "Italian Love Nests".  Perfect!

Fun !

So here's how it went down:

The sauce was delicious!  But then again, I love the combination of Roasted Red Bell Peppers & Tomatoes.  And the tiniest bit of the crushed red pepper flakes was perfect for the sauce.


It was super easy making up the cups, and I made exactly 12 cups.  I think the only thing that I did differently was add the sauce to the tops of the cups.  If you look at the above picture, I had so much sauce leftover after taking all the noodles out.  So I took my tablespoon, and scooped a spoonful onto each of them, because extra sauce doesn't hurt.


Adding the extra seasonings & cheese to combine these noodles together, was a superb idea!  My kids had the best time trying to figure out how to eat these fun cups.


And as you can see, they liked using their fingers for this meal...

Two of these babies, plus fresh French Bread & some veggies made my tummy very happy!
Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce
Ingredients:
  • 1 Tbl Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Pepper
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 1 (14.5 oz) Can of Tomatoes-undrained
  • 1 (7 oz) Bottle of Roasted Red Bell Peppers-undrained {I drained mine because they seemed to be packed in oil}
  • 1/8 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
Directions:
  1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor, and blend until smooth.
Italian Love Nests
Ingredients :
  • 8 ounces of Angel hair pasta {I used regular Spaghetti Noodles}
  • 8 ounces of meat-cooked {I didn't add any to mine}
  • 1 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 Cups of Sauce {The sauce that I made up above was the perfect amount}
  • 1 tsp Oregano
  • 1 tsp Basil
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Pepper
  • 1 tsp Hot Sauce (Optional) {I didn't add}
  • 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flake (Optional) {I didn't add}
Directions:
  1. Cook your pasta according to the package.
  2. Preheat you oven to 350 degrees & lightly grease 12 muffin tins.
  3. In a bowl, combine the following ingredients: Parmesan Cheese, Eggs, Oregano, Basil, Salt, Pepper (and the optional ingredients).
  4. In a sauce pan, add the cooked noodles, meat, and sauce.  Heat for a couple of minutes.  Take off the heat & stir in the Parmesan Cheese mixture.
  5. Using tongs, portion out the noodles into the muffin tin.
  6. Add any extra sauce to the tops of your cups.
  7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops & sides start to brown.
  8. Allow the cups to cool for 5 minutes.
  9. Using a knife, slide around the entire cup to pop out.
  10. Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by!

Photobucket
You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties:


19 comments:

  1. I featured your Leprechaun Cookies on this weeks famous linkz party!!! Come on over and grab a "I was featured button."

    I love the idea and how cute your cookies came out!!

    -Heather
    @ www.made-famous-by.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those little cups are so cute! I can just imagine how fun they'd be for kids to eat (and big kids, too!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Excellent recipe selections - love that your red sauce is red pepper based. Will be pinning this one for sure!

    I hope you'll stop by and visit my CCC - Spaghetti Pie

    :)
    ButterYum

    ReplyDelete
  4. The sauce sounds delicious!
    #29

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a great idea for the kids. I bet my grandsons would love these little "love nests". How fun. These would be great for a buffet table. Everyone loves spaghetti.

    Please stop by when you have a chance http://wineladycooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/spaghetti-with-red-sauce-easy-light.html #30.

    Mangia!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the red pepper in the sauce and making the love nests, just perfect!

    If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my CCC entry: Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter.

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yum, Yum and FUN! Love this entire recipe! new follower here!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What an awesome way to serve spaghetti! It's perfect for kids :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love that this is perfectly portioned to take to work the next day, and to change up noodle eating with kids!

    Amanda Joy #73 CCC
    Joy in the Jumble

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have made a lot of pasta in my days of cooking and never have seen these adorable bundles. My kids would have loved them when they were younger. great for entertaining kids at a party!!

    Saying hi from CCC #80

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cute! I can only imagine how much fun the individual cups were for the kiddos! Thanks for sharing the recipe with us. (Stopping by from CCC #20)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love love love this! So cute and I think I would like this sauce too! Adding it to my "to make" list!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love your sauce and those cups are a wonderful idea. Your kids looked like they were really enjoying themselves! Nettie

    Moore or Less Cooking

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm featuring these on my Fab Friday Finds! Love them
    http://littlemommybigappetite.blogspot.com/2012/03/fab-friday-finds-6-pasta.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. How cute! I love things cooked in muffin tins!

    Jen #19

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love how you made these in the muffin tins, they turned out so cute.
    I love the pictures of your kids.

    ReplyDelete
  17. These are too cute and I know your little ones had fun eating them! Thank you for sharing at Uncommon! Bonnie ;)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments!
I really appreciate them :)