Pasta Hodgepodge

When it comes to easy comfort food, one of my favorite things is pasta. Last night, I kept it simple and dressed up whole wheat penne and shells with a hodgepodge of ingredients I had on hand.

In a skillet, I sautéed green bell peppers and mushrooms in olive oil. Once the penne was cooked, I poured it into the mixture, along with a few tablespoons of Ragu’s traditional sauce. I probably could have used a spice or two (and definitely a little more sauce), but the mushrooms and olive oil stood out to my taste buds.

Not bad for only 20 minutes in the kitchen!

First-Ever Spaghetti Bolognese

This was by far one of my proudest accomplishments since being bitten, so to speak, by the cooking bug. Using a hearty recipe from Perfect Pasta (part of the Love Food cookbook series), I made my first-ever spaghetti Bolognese.

Ingredients included the usual staples for this beloved dish -- olive oil, chopped onions, carrots, celery, red wine, diced bacon and, of course, lean ground beef.

Little did I know when I posted my accomplishment on Facebook that it would ignite a firestorm of debate. Several of my good friends went back and forth about whether cream is or is not part of an authentic Bolognese sauce. Two of Italian descent said no way, though one managed to unearth a Wikipedia recipe that included….milk.

“Cream is for carbonara or penne in vodka sauce,” opined my friend Liz. “It doesn't belong anywhere near a Bolognese!”

Cream or not, I love me some Bolognese.