Pasta is one of the most popular weeknight dishes out there, and for good reason. It is it to make, filling and delicious, and most people have all the ingredients you need to prepare it in their pantries at all times.
Even though pasta is an all-time favourite dish of many people, I know firsthand that it can become a little boring, especially if you make it on a regular basis. Here, I’ve come up with 4 easy ways of spicing up your regular tomato sauce pasta.
Spinach
One easy and healthy of spicing up your pasta is by adding vegetables to it. My go to vegetable to add pasta is spinach. Not only is it high in protein and fibres, but it’s also got an email earthy, complex aroma that pairs really well with things like mushrooms and onions, so you can add those to your pasta as well.
One thing that I love about cooking spinach is that it wilts down immediately, so it leaves plenty of room for other ingredients to be added to your dish.
Sour cream
Another way of improving your jarred pasta sauce by adding sour cream to it. Not only does sour cream leave you with a beautiful rose sauce for your pasta but it also makes it incredibly creamy and filling as well, not to mention giving it an incredibly smooth delicious flavour.
Bacon
In my opinion, adding diced bacon to food is an improvement to just about any dish. Asides from being a source of protein, fried bacon also gives pasta a more complex and smoky flavour. If you want to take it up a notch, I’d also opt for adding some chicken to it as well, especially if you have some leftovers that are already cooked laying around.
Bake your pasta
I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of lasagna. However, the reason I don’t make it as often as I’d like to is that it takes quite a bit of time to prepare. So, when I’m craving lasagna but I don’t have the time or the energy to make it, I just prepare some tomato sauce pasta the regular way and then layer it in a baking dish with mozzarella cheese.
I usually alternate between 2 and 3 layers of pasta and 2 and 3 layers of cheese, making sure the cheese it the final layer of my dosh so that I’ll get a melty top. Afterwards, I place it in the over on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, until the cheese melts. It’s important to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t overcook.
