Meatless Friday - Pasta with Red Sauce

Hello, and Happy Friday to all of you! Here is to another week of my Meatless Friday Linky Party. Last week I had one person link up to the party and share a great recipe that I will sure try very soon. I love to get inspired and I sure need help with my weekly menus - I don't want our meals to be always the same. Here is another one from me... Pasta with homemade red sauce. I hope you enjoy it! And please, share your link underneath my recipe! The more the merrier!

Here is what you will need:

Pasta 

1 Tablespoon Oil

1 Can Tomato Paste

1/2 Cup Water (possibly more)

1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

1 Tablespoon Sugar

Basil

Parmesan Cheese

1/2 Cup Whipping Cream

Start boiling your pasta according to the package instructions.

Heat up the oil in your frying pan (I use cast iron pan) and add the whole can of tomato paste. Turn your stove to medium heat and stir the tomato sauce around.

Add 1/2 cup of water and keep mixing the paste and water together. 

Add more water if needed until you reach this consistency (kind of thick apple sauce-like consistency).

Add basil and parmesan cheese to your own taste. Every year I make this basil/parmesan cheese mixture and I use 2 handfuls of it for my sauce. You can click here for the recipe, it's wonderful to keep it in your freezer if you make lots of home made pasta sauce like me ;-)

Mix and keep stirring the sauce.

This is the time you add your garlic salt and sugar. You can also use fresh minced garlic and salt separate - in that case you use 1 clove of minced garlic and 1/2 of teaspoon salt.

Now add your whipping cream and keep stirring. At this point I look at the consistency again - does it need more water or maybe whipping cream? Add it. The mixture keeps on cooking itself down and that is why you need to keep stirring and adding liquids. This ends up being such a quick process, you  should be finished by the time your pasta is done boiling ;-)

This is my personal favorite pasta sauce! You can also make the regular red sauce version without adding the whipping cream. That would be the only ingredient you would leave out.

I serve pasta with this red sauce, accompanied by parmesan cheese, and Naan bread from Trader Joe's. Enjoy!