I always try my best to minimize food waste. One of the best ways to do this without eating the same thing over and over again is to make a new meal with the partial amounts of already-cooked food and odd ingredients I have on hand. I like calling these “Makeshift Meals” because they are new meals but don’t require too much planning, effort or time. They can also be easily tweaked and changed depending on what you have on hand.
For this meal, I had leftover pasta, an open jar of Marinara sauce and a couple of mini bell peppers and chopped onion that I wanted to use up. I had a package of Aidells chicken sausage but this would feel complete without the chicken as well.
General Ingredients:
- pasta
- sausage
- onion or garlic
- tomato sauce
- olive oil
- herbs, fresh or dried
- peppers or any vegetables
My Specific Ingredients:
- About half a box of cooked Garafalo Gemelli pasta I had in the fridge already
- One new package of Aidells chicken sausage
- red onion, about one quarter of it
- Rao’s tomato sauce, a few spoonfuls
- 2 mini red bell peppers that were getting wrinkly
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- handful of fresh parsley
The chicken sausage is already fully cooked but I like to brown it a little bit so put it in the pan with the oil first for about about 5 minutes on medium-high heat. Then I added in onion and pepper and turned the heat down to medium. If you don’t want the carbs, you can simply just sauté the chicken sausage and veggies and stop there.
But if you do, add in your cooked pasta.
Next, add in spoonfuls of your red sauce to your liking. If you don’t have any or want to skip, I recommend drizzling on a little more olive oil and a couple of squeezes of lemon for brightness.
Sprinkle some parsley or fresh herbs to make it feel fancier.
And you’re done. Enjoy!
