Hearty Italian Herbed Tomato & Meat Sauce w/ Semo Conchiglie ((Part 2 of 3 “Tasty Meals for Tired Travelers”))
Before you run for the hills, muttering things about how “Semo Conchiglie” is not among the list of things you consider making when you are tired, just take out those words and replace them with “Macaroni”. Thanks to T.J. Maxx, I have access to “fancy” noodles — and oh how I LOVE fancy noodles.
But now that you know Semo Conchiglie is nothing to be intimidated by, let’s talk about how this meal is PERFECT for a herd of tired travelers.
This meal is another classic case of dump, cover & walk away. But when traveling, there is a little planning that goes into getting this meal “table-ready”. That little bit of planning only involves a little pre-cooking & bringing along a few pantry staples.
A few days before we left for our trip, David kindly browned 2 pounds of ground beef and a pound of Italian sausage. After the meats were browned and drained, we packaged them up and froze them. Next, I pilfered my pantry for the remaining ingredients & packed them to tag along with us for the trip ::
- canned stewed & diced tomatoes
- jarred pasta sauce
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- my favorite Italian Seasoning blend ((ignore the ’09 – I reused the lid))
- dried pasta
After spraying the crock, I simply dumped all of the ingredients in, added some water, covered and cooked on low for 8 hours.
And this is what we came home to. Just the thing to revive our severely sore & under-conditioned bodies ((ho hum)).
Topped with a little grated mozzarella and served with a side of crusty cheesy bread & we are well one our way to being ready for another day in the mountains & snow. ((HOW easy is that?!?!)) Perfect for tired travelers needing a tasty meal.
2
- 2 lb lean ground beef, browned ((frozen))
- 1 lb ground sweet Italian sausage, browned ((frozen))
- 26 oz jarred pasta sauce
- (2) 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 1 28 oz can Italian style whole tomatoes
- 10 oz cabernet sauvignon
- 2 t herbed Italian seasoning/sea salt blend*
- 1 t finely ground black pepper
- 4-5 c water
- 1 lb bag of your favorite dried pasta, cooked according to package instructions
- 4 oz grated mozzarella or parmesan cheese
- Spray your crock with non-stick cooking spray & add first 9 ingredients to the pot. Stir to combine and cook for 8-9 hours on low, if cooked meat is frozen. If cooked meat is thawed, cut cooking time to 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, prepare packaged pasta according to directions. Serve sauce over pasta & top with grated mozzarella or parmesan cheese.
- * If you don't have access to a sea salt/Italian herb seasoning blend, simply add 1 t sea salt and 2 t dried Italian herb blend.