Chef Boyardee?

A Bit Too Salty Pasta

Sometimes you wonder if you're really having a disconnect with kids.

My nieces are here and they're hungry. They want pasta and I'm thinking about whipping up an incredible concoction that they're going to love. What kind of pasta do you want?, I ask them while nurturing visions of fresh Marvesta shrimp sauteed in oil, butter, garlic, onion and capers.

But they want a tomato based sauce, like spaghetti. The problem is that I don't have anything like that lying around the house at the moment. Undaunted, I decide that if a tomato-based sauce is what they want, that's what they're gonna get.

Into the saute pan goes some olive oil, some macerated garlic, Springfield Farm ground pork, locally grown tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, fresh basil, pepper and perhaps a bit too much salt. Saute the pork, onions and garlic, add the rest and simmer. It's simple and classic. Not to mention relatively easy to whip up.

For a brief moment, I think about adding some sugar to sweeten the pot and dumping it all in the blender to puree - since that's kinda how Chef Boyaree looks like: pureed. I decide against it thinking that the girls will love it. They are, afterall, my nieces.

They hate it. After a combination of overly salted pasta water and a bit of a heavy hand, the sauce is a bit on the salty side. Even for me. Damn, I should have used the sugar and blender.

For a brief moment, I consider stocking a can of Chef Boyardee for the next time they come to visit. But I can't...