Pasta Sauce. The Secret is...Green Pepper?

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I'm sorry to say, I love Doritos. I know they're laden with all sorts of goodness, like neurotoxin MSG, artificial colors, etc. So, what's a girl to do, but scour the ingredient list for what makes them so darn good (well, you know, besides chemicals).

I was surprised to discover green bell peppers on the ingredient list. It's one of those veggies that I've always placed in the no-flavor-just-crunchy category. Like cucumber.

Well, wouldn't you know, after reading that list, I've started to become more aware of the nuances of green pepper and I when I was at Aldi, I picked some up with the express purpose of adding it to things.

Tonight's dinner includes homemade pasta sauce. I had 1/2 lb leftover browned ground beef (grass fed, 'cause you know, snobbery) that I dumped in my trusty dutch oven along with finely diced 1/2 green pepper and 1/2 onion and 2 minced cloves of garlic. A bit of sautéing later and I added:

- 2 more cloves of minced garlic (for a total of 4)
- 1 pint crushed tomatoes
- a tsp or so of Italian herbs
- a dash of cayenne pepper
- a pinch of baking soda (cuts the acidity of the tomato)
- a pinch of sugar
- quite a bit (1 tsp?) of salt [to taste]

After all these additions, I pulled out my handy stick-blender and pureed the whole lot. I have a child with texture issues, and this is one small way to make dinner more pleasant.

I had a taste and let's just say, it's not doritos (good thing!) but the green pepper and garlic provide the flavor that I love!

Comments

Fernanda said…
Thanks for the tip about green peppers. I've known about garlic for a while, and it's one of my best kitchen friends. It's a great immune booster too :)
March 19, 2015 at 11:56 AM
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