Man oh man does it seem like more and more people are finding ways to use underutilized ingredients in their cooking. Well, I definitely am an advocate of just that. I hate wasting anything; especially food.
A few weeks ago we had some guests in town and I ran down to the local bakery to get some bagels and cream cheese for them to have for breakfast. Yes, I should have gotten my lazy self out of bed and made pancakes, but we are not a big breakfast family here. Usually it is just cereal and coffee (except my daughter --- she gets whatever she wants).
Anyway... back to my story...
Today I was making my usual Monday spaghetti sauce recipe for dinner tonight. I came across the cream cheese in the fridge and I remembered my wife telling me something about how she liked the creaminess of a sauce I had made for her recently. So, I thought, "Why not?"
I took 1 tablespoon of cream cheese and finished my already outstanding spaghetti sauce with it. I just tasted it and cannot wait until dinner time! Here is the recipe:
Quick and Creamy Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb ground beef (I use ground sirloin)
1/2 white onion
1 green bell pepper
Salt to taste
1 clove of garlic
1 jar pasta sauce (any kind will do, I use Prego)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp cream cheese
Start by browning the ground beef until it is 3/4 cooked through. Add the onions and green bell pepper and season with salt. Cook until they are soft (around 3-4 minutes). Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in the pasta sauce, chicken stock and brown sugar. Cook on low for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cream cheese until well incorporated throughout the sauce.
To serve, cook pasta however you would like or according to package directions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and poor the pasta into the sauce (never poor sauce over pasta... it works better the other way around). Enjoy!
Note: if you want to kick up the sauce, add about 1/4 cup of red wine after the onions and peppers cook and reduce for about 5 minutes. It adds a lot of body to the sauce.
A few weeks ago we had some guests in town and I ran down to the local bakery to get some bagels and cream cheese for them to have for breakfast. Yes, I should have gotten my lazy self out of bed and made pancakes, but we are not a big breakfast family here. Usually it is just cereal and coffee (except my daughter --- she gets whatever she wants).
Anyway... back to my story...
Today I was making my usual Monday spaghetti sauce recipe for dinner tonight. I came across the cream cheese in the fridge and I remembered my wife telling me something about how she liked the creaminess of a sauce I had made for her recently. So, I thought, "Why not?"
I took 1 tablespoon of cream cheese and finished my already outstanding spaghetti sauce with it. I just tasted it and cannot wait until dinner time! Here is the recipe:
Quick and Creamy Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb ground beef (I use ground sirloin)
1/2 white onion
1 green bell pepper
Salt to taste
1 clove of garlic
1 jar pasta sauce (any kind will do, I use Prego)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp cream cheese
Start by browning the ground beef until it is 3/4 cooked through. Add the onions and green bell pepper and season with salt. Cook until they are soft (around 3-4 minutes). Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in the pasta sauce, chicken stock and brown sugar. Cook on low for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cream cheese until well incorporated throughout the sauce.
To serve, cook pasta however you would like or according to package directions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and poor the pasta into the sauce (never poor sauce over pasta... it works better the other way around). Enjoy!
Note: if you want to kick up the sauce, add about 1/4 cup of red wine after the onions and peppers cook and reduce for about 5 minutes. It adds a lot of body to the sauce.
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