Kitchen Sink Pasta Sauce With Orzo And Croutons

I have lots of posts to catch up on. Please bear with me!

Remember how I told you that I was trying to do at least one vegetarian and one fish/seafood meal per week? Last Tuesday after yoga (which totally kicked my butt by the way - I started a new class that is just a little more intense...as in, I was sore for 3 days after. Some peoples bodies just don't bend that way!), I was craving pasta but had a completely random mix of ingredients on hand...canned tomatoes, a red bell pepper and jalapeno that needed to be used up, a huge container of orzo, onion, etc. I hadn't taken any meat out of the freezer, so I decided to whip up a tomato based pasta sauce with the addition of my random fresh veggies (vegetarian!). I didn't have any french bread to accompany it, so I grated some Parmesan cheese in there and tossed in some croutons! Delicious addition! I would recommend them as a substitute for garlic bread any time - especially for soups and chunky pasta sauces. My sauce was probably a little too chunky for the orzo, but I love orzo so it worked for me...you can use whatever pasta your little heart desires!

Kitchen Sink Pasta Sauce with Orzo and Croutons

• 2 14.5 oz cans of tomatoes (I used one diced and one stewed)
• 1 whole red bell pepper (or whatever color), seeded and chopped
• 1 whole jalapeno pepper, chopped (I didn't remove the seeds)
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• pinch or two of sugar
• salt and pepper
• Italian seasoning (you know I love my Pizza and Pasta Magic)
• Orzo, cooked to package directions
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Handful of croutons (I used cheese and garlic ones)

I pretty much used the same technique for this as I did my Super Fast Tomato Pasta Deliciousness:

Saute the onion and garlic in butter until very tender, add wine and let it reduce down by half, add peppers and let them simmer in the wine/butter mixture for a few minutes or until they are getting tender. Add the tomatoes and seasonings and let it all cook for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, cook the orzo and drain it. Check the seasonings on the pasta sauce and add more salt/pepper/sugar/etc as necessary. Pour the pasta sauce over some orzo in a bowl, then toss with parm cheese and croutons! Enjoy!

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