Tuesday, March 30, 2010

What to do with Spaghetti Sauce?

A while back, our grocery story had spaghetti sauce on sale for ridiculously cheap prices.  Being half Italian, I never pass up a sale on anything to do with tomatoes, so I stocked up!  The other day I was looking in my pantry and I realized I haven't used any of my sauces yet.  This really surprised me.  I immediately set to remedy this situation.  Since I was on Spring Break and my kids were at the sitter, I wanted to make something fast so I could clean our house a bit between my appointments that day.  In these situations, our slow cooker is my best friend.  It was rainy and cold that day, I made a Tomato Basil Soup.  The aroma was delicious and it was so simple to make.  Our friends Erin and Drew came over for dinner that night.  We served it with roasted chicken, cantaloupe and cheesy garlic bread.  It was a perfectly simple dinner that was delicious.


Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients:
1 Can Northern Beans
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
4 Cups Milk
1/2 Jar of Spaghetti Sauce
1/2 Pack Frozen Peas
3 TBSP Creme Fraiche (or sour cream)
2 Pinches of Salt
1 Tsp Onion Powder
1 Tsp Dried Basil (Use fresh if available, I didn't have any)
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1. Pour all ingredients into your slow cooker, cook on high for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally so it won't bubble up and burn.
2. Before serving, pull out about 1/4 cup of liquid.  Mix together with 1 Tbsp of flour until a paste forms.  Mix paste into soup and put lid on until soup comes to a boil.  Continue cooking until soup is at desired thickness.
3. Serve with cheesy garlic bread.

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