You know it’s coming:
Tuesday, 7:07 pm
Susannah to me
So I’m still at work – will be here probably for another hour.
When I get home, I still have no food. What can I make? Some items that I have include:
Dried pasta Canned tomatoes Canned & frozen artichoke hearts ½ a lemon Frozen green beans Jarred tomato sauce Random dried herbs & spices Clementine oranges 1 apple Maple syrup Ketchup Parmesan cheese (ground & in a block) Ginger ale Life cereal Pita chips Olive oil, balsamic & red wine vinegar, soy sauce, etc.Go!
Inner dialogue: First of all, I love that Sus included items like Life cereal and pita chips and ketchup in the mix. I like to think that she thinks so highly of me that I could magically MacGyver together some kind of haute cuisine casserole, with a Life cereal/pita/ketchup crust. Gross.
It’s almost too easy, dude.
Get a big pot of water on the stove and boil it. Season it really well with salt. Make sure the pot is big enough so that when you dump in your pasta, it can move about freely.
Drain one can of artichokes and rinse them in a colander if need be. (or eyeball however much you want in the pasta…figure like 4-5 hearts if it’s just you, more if you’re making some for your roommate). If the artichokes are whole, you can quarter them for easier consumption later.
Open the can of tomatoes and drain all but 1/2 of the liquid out. If they’re whole tomatoes, give them a rough chop. If they’re diced, leave them as is.
In a big skillet, heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil. If you have any onion and/or garlic, chop that up and throw it into the oil once it’s warm. If using onion, allow to cook until almost translucent (about 5 min over medium to medium high heat?). If just using garlic, heat it up slowly in the oil, so that the flavors infuse.
If you don’t have any onion or garlic on hand, that’s okay, just heat up the oil, then throw in the artichoke hearts. Season them really well and let them cook for a minute or two. Dump in the tomatoes and the residual juice. If you have any white wine laying around, now would be a good time for a splash of that too. Season with some of the dried herbs. Oregano, thyme, basil would be good here. Taste the sauce after it’s been simmering for a few minutes. Too acidic? Add a pinch of sugar, if you have it. If it needs to be brightened up a bit, squeeze a little lemon in there.
While this is going, cook the pasta. Cook it 2 minutes less than package directions suggest. Then, using tongs or a spider (if you have one), transfer the noodles into your sauce. Don’t worry about any pasta water getting into your sauce — this will help bring it together. Let this cook for a couple of minutes. Grate parmesan all over the top. Don’t be shy. Toss together again. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top, and toss again.
Bowl up, add more parm. Eat.
How about this – I can’t find my can opener! The water is on, the artichokes came in a pull tab can so they are ready, but I can’t open my tomatoes. Looking for something else to use…
Inner dialogue: Man, that girl eats way too late! How does she stay skinny?
10:08 pm Susannah to meUse a bit of the jarred tomato sauce. Saute the artichokes in the hot olive oil. Season them with s&p. Pour in like 1 cups worth of the tomato sauce. It might splatter a little when it hits the oil. Put in the dried herbs, just a few pinches. Let this cook. No lemon juice will be needed.
Use the spaghetti, not the rotini. Cook until 2 minutes under time, then add to the pan, toss it together with tongs and lots of cheese. This is still totally salvageable.
10:09 pm Me to SusannahOk I’m not going to lie. This is WAY better than when I usually just make pasta with the jarred sauce.
10:16 pm Me to SusannahIt’s the extra olive oil. Plus, pasta is always better when you allow it to cook in the sauce, rather than glop it on top. If you just put sauce on top of wet noodles, the water from the pasta just thins out the sauce, rather than incorporating into it. A little cheese mixed in helps too. :)
P.S., i’m totally blogging about this.
NOTE: Should MacGyver Me This be a new feature on the site? Interesting…. Leave your thoughts in the comment box. This could be really fun!
ANOTHER NOTE: Yes, gentle reader, in case you had already been guessing that the ‘V’ in ‘VMAC + Cheese’ was for ‘Veronica’ or ‘Virginia’ or some other ‘V’ name that people always accidentally call me — it actually stands for Victoria. You heard it here first.
Filed under: Food, MacGyver Me This, Pasta/Grains, Recipes Tagged: | last minute cooking, MacGyver, pantry, pasta, recipe substitutes, Recipes
this is amazing! i mean if you want someone to throw you more MacGyver challenges, watch out. I haven’t even started yet!
And who knows, I thought maybe there was some sort or crunchy topping that could be made on something from life cereal or pita chips. i also should have included fig jam, pickles, & chicken noodle soup mix.
please check your inbox – i have a lemon-parsley-butter sauce challenge! thank you