Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Rotini Pasta With Basil and Margherita Sauce

Rotini Pasta is cork shaped Pasta and has lots of twists thats how it derives its name. In my house you can eat Pasta everyday. There's never too much Pasta. I always stock up my pantry with different kinds of Pasta.

Ingredients:
1) 1 pound Rotini Pasta uncooked (1 box )
2) 1 Bottle Pasta Sauce -1 pound 10 oz (Old World style Ragu Margherita Sauce).
3) 1 teaspoon dry crushed Basil
4) 2-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
5) 1 Jalapeno pepper finely chopped
6) 1 small piece of ginger finely chopped
7) Salt to taste
8) 2 tablespoon Olive oil
* The Margherita Sauce contains Tomatoes, Pizza Seasonings and Mozzarella Cheese.

Preparation:
1) Cook pasta according to package directions. Just add basil and salt to the water when you boil the Pasta. The Pasta gets a very good flavor when cooked with it. You could cook it Al dente but I like mine a bit tender so I cook the pasta for another couple minutes.

2) In a large Pan heat the oil. Add the garlic and ginger. Fry till you no longer get the raw smell of garlic . The olive oil will get infused with the garlic flavor. Now add the chopped jalapeno pepper. Fry just for about a minute.
3) Add the entire bottle of the Pasta Sauce. Keep it on slow flame. Stir for a minute and Cover. Let it cook for about 5 minutes.
***Caution - Cover the pan with the lid soon after you add the pasta sauce. It will splitter and splatter all over the place. Believe me..I've been there.

4) Now add the drained and cooked Rotini to the sauce. Cover and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. Ready to serve. I serve it as is. You could garnish it with more cheese of your choice.
This recipe serves 4-6 people. In my house just serves 4 as we all love lots of pasta.