Quick Meal

 Sometimes there is a time crunch for dinner. We all rush home and then we all have to be out of the house for evening activities. Recently I made “Pizza Pasta” from the Half Baked Harvest Every Day Cookbook.

Serves six people as a main course. Served with a salad and a green vegetable.

Ingredients 

1 pound of pasta (ziti, rigatoni, etc)

4 T XVOO

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 

1 T dried basil

3 t dried oregano

2 t dried thyme

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 t fig preserves (yes, you read that correctly)

Salt and pepper

3/4 c panko

3 oz pepperoni (I used vegetarian pepperoni)

3/4 c grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 c fresh basil leaves choppped

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to the package. Reserve 1/2 c of the pasta cooking water. Drain pasta and keep in colander.

Meanwhile, heat 2 T of the XVOO in a large skillet over medium heat. Then add garlic, dried basil, 2 t oregano and thyme. Cook and stir for 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, fig preserves and salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium high and simmer for 10 minutes.

Heat another skillet (medium sized) over medium heat. Add 2 T XVOO, panko, 1 t oregano and pepperoni. Cook until bread crumbs are toasted, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1/4 c Parmesan cheese and cook til golden. Move off heat and add salt and stir.

Add cooked pasta to sauce. Add 1/2 c Parmesan cheese and basil. Stir to combine. Add a bit of water if you needed to loosen the sauce.

Put into large pasta bowl and top with bread crumbs.

Add additional chopped fresh basil and Parmesan cheese if desired.