The weekend was here and I did not have the slightest idea what to cook for my girl when she came home. She loves pasta…and I had a packet of macaroni (elbows) in the pantry – I bought two packets when they were on offer sometime ago and I had used up one already. I remember there was a bottle of pasta sauce in the fridge but when I took it out to check, I saw this…
14 days? That must have been sitting in there for 140 days at least and although it did seem okay, I decided not to risk it and to come out with something else – on my own.
So I chopped up some garlic and one Bombay onion…
…and seeing that there was no olive oil in the house or not that I know of, the olive oil margarine would have to do – just melt it in the pan. As they say, desperation calls for desperate measures! Hehehehehehe!!!! There wasn’t any (minced) beef as well in the freezer but never mind! I just took the chorizo sausages that I brought back from NZ…and minced two of them. There was also the parmesan cheese, also from NZ, so I grated a bit of that…and I spotted a canned of chopped tomatoes in the pantry. Ahhhh!!! That would be nice! It was good till the end of the year so I could use that instead of tomato sauce/ketchup…and I decided to add a bit of the mixed herbs too (also from NZ) and since I did not have any milk, I decided to use evaporated milk instead.
I melted the olive oil in a pan and fried the garlic and onions before I put in the chopped tomatoes, mixed spice, cheese and a bit of the milk. Oops! The milk changed the colour of the sauce to something creamy orange…so I added some tomato sauce/ketchup to redeem it and restore it to a nice shade of red. It tasted sour so I added a bit of sugar and some pepper as well and that was it! Ummmm…not bad, not bad at all…
Having got the sauce ready, I cooked the pasta and served it on a plate and then I poured a bit of the sauce that I had cooked over it and grated some more parmesan cheese on top of that. Finally, I garnished it with some mint leaves and there you have it!!! My own macaroni dish with my original pasta sauce…
At least, I did not use some bits of lettuce like this Italian restaurant in town, eh?
And of course, the acid test would be in the eating. Was it any good?
Well, I thought it was great – to be honest, maybe it was even better than some places in town and my girl loved it! That was all that mattered! Wink! Wink! LOL!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
the longer u cook it, the nicer it will turn out… try aglio olio next time… easy peasy… olive oil, garlic, chili kering, some spinach, some prawns…
1st time cooking. Usually, Melissa will do this kind of cuisine. Spinach, prawns? Never seen that in aglio olio – in fact, I’ve never tried, so jakun. Had carbonara though – I like!
kus semangat mak oi!!! looked super duper jumbo mumbo delicious!! and the garnishing and presentation also looked professional.. i will give this 100 like’s!!! awesome~~ slurrrrrp!!!
Thank you, thank you!!! *takes a bow* Compliments from someone who’s into this kind of cuisine – honestly, I’m so so flattered… π
cooked with creativity and love! and it sure looks better than versions at many cafes. in another life, you could have been an amazing professional chef π
Thanks for your kind words – for all those awesome things I see in your blog, this must have looked quite amateurish to you, I’m sure. π¦
i will still use it even if it’s after 14 days but not more than 3 months la! Looks delicious to me! π
This one was….end of last year, perhaps. Too long ago – we can’t even remember.
What can I say? U are master of improvise! Fantastic!
As they say, just follow your nose…or tongue and instincts. Can’t go wrong once you have the feel for it.
The last 2 photos look very classy! I am sure it tasted great and you are certainly very resourceful π
Just follow one’s instincts – with enough experience, one can’t go wrong, I guess. No need to follow recipes one. π
I bet your sauce was way better the jarred variety. π
Goes without saying. Very nice indeed! π
1st time cooking this? Looks good though. Anything cook with love will taste awesome even it is from scratch. School holiday is just round the corner, more cooking spree. Cheers!!!
I second the motion. Ya, the holidays will soon be here – maybe Melissa will want to cook – she hasn’t had time to do much of that, always buried in her work. π¦
The pasta looks yummy, oh Master of Improvisation! I look forward to seeing Melissa’s cooking.
She’s baked this before- my favourite cake: https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/keep-on-trying/
among all the other nice things – loved her baked macaroni cheese with bacon.
Wow, suituapui, u’re a good cook…
Thank you. I try to be… π
So when i go Sibu, hint hint… wkakakaka…
What? What? Good thing you did not wink…wink…or I’d ask you if you need EYEMO. Muahahahahaha!!!!
Looks amazing!! π well done. and nice shot too
Thanks. It was good – would do it again if my girl would like some more. Still half a pack of macaroni left…
normally i will add in some canned tomatoes and chili flakes for the extra kick, and capsicum π π
Well, I had canned tomatoes in mine…and I wouldn’t mind chili flakes but I don’t know when or how I developed this dislike for capsicum. Used to eat them in the 80’s. These days, even in Chinese sweet and sour dishes, I would pick them out and leave them by the side. π¦
Your daughter so lucky. She comes back home and gets home cooked meals.
I go back to my hometown and I cook for my parents π
So lucky your parents… No such luck in my case and guess whose fault that is – always saying this, saying that…be careful this, be careful that…and in the end, take over. Tsk! Tsk! But I do enjoy cooking for my little girl though – always my little girl to me. Hehehehehe!!!! For one thing, she’s too busy with her work, even on weekends – preparing for the following week.
looks really good to me! I always use sausage in my red sauce cos I think they taste better… the only thing is sausages are expensive! π
You can even make this and have Melissa freeze to bring this back for her as they do last quite well frozen.
Ya, will do that next time – cook more sauce and freeze…and she can cook her own pasta there and eat with the sauce.
Normally I will use the whole bottle of pasta sauce to prevent wastage because I will normally forget what I put in the fridge. The macaroni was beautifully done, and it was filled with love.
But it was such a huge bottle!!!! Would have to eat pasta every day for a month to finish that. If I had been me, I would not have bought – can’t possibly finish that big bottle and such a waste…and can’t keep for more than 14 days. π¦
Olive oil goes so well with spaghetti/macaroni right? π
This plate of macaroni is very presentable!
I haven’t the slightest idea. I seem to have the impression that they cook everything with olive oil, so olive oil it had to be…and no oil, margarine also can lah!!! Same same! Hehehehehe!!!!!
Pasta, spaghetti…. western food, they are my kids’ favourite too.. guess the young people have almost the same taste buds.. π What a wonderful daddy you are! I don’t really know how to cook these… π
Just cincai, cincai lah! I also did not know. Good thing it turned out great – otherwise, I would just quietly throw it away. π
I love anything with pasta…
Then you can be my daughter’s good friend.
Kalah restaurant. Presentation 100%
Blush! Blush! π
*clap clap clap* very very nice presentation, look very atas. And love your “creative-ness” , transform sausages to minced beef and olive margarine to olive oil!!
Thank you, thank you. Not bad, eh? This old man. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Hehehehehehe!!!!
Some of the nicest meals can occur when you improvise. That looks great and I love the added touch of the mint leaves. We have mint growing in our garden. I use it in a variety of foods and it makes a great tea also!
We’ve got lots in our garden too, mint leaves. They grow very well…and our rosemary is doing ok, and I’ve Thai basil and our local favourites – curry leaves, lemon grass, screwpine leaves, tumeric. Our dill didn’t survive though and not successful in our attempts to plant chili – whichever variety. So much more convenient to just go and pluck in the garden when needed instead of having to head to the shops or supermarts to buy.
Not bad, Arthur! You can open an Italian restaurant. hehehe!
Like your case, I also used up my pasta sauce after 14 days expiration period, because I also did not notice the little label on the cap. But if you notice your sauce has a white mold like what I discovered once, you better don’t used it. :p
The bottle in the fridge looks ok, smells ok…but I don’t think I would want to use it – too long already. Maybe will just throw it away.
OMG 14 days!? I have a bottle too! Opened but haven’t use before >__<
I think I'll still use it… sigh
Hope it is still good. Make it a habit to read labels and all.
That is a wonderful food photo!
Thanks. It did look great and it tasted great too.
it seems great! i also love pasta dishes and i must say what you did
seems really yummy and i give you A++ for the presentation as well hahaha
Thank you! It was yummy! Very yummy! π
Well done, Arthur! Bravo for being such a quick-witted chef! The pasta looks delicious although I’m not a fan of macaroni… Prefer long pasta π
All the same to me. It was nice…but of course, not as nice as anything you dish out – so real pro one. π
Wooaahh.. anything in the kitchen you can make dishes out of them. I am sure I’ll end up with instant noodles instead of thinking what to cook.. hahaha…
Must be creative and innovative mah! I don’t follow recipes one, just see what I have in the fridge and the pantry and make do with what’s available.
Waahhh…ur pasta looks so beautiful. When you posted it on FB, I thought you were trying out new restaurant’s food π
LOL!!! That’s soooo flattering! It’s really so easy to cook – not like our Malaysian or nyonya dishes. Such a chore.
Looked like a restaurant presentation! Bravo!
Thank you. Not bad for an amateur, eh? π
it seems like you are really creative in the kitchen making use of whatever you have and you are good at doing that. well done!
Thanks. For one thing, I’m very lazy even to go out and buy some of the ingredients so I would make do with what I’ve got.
Haha. I remembered that lettuce! So weird of them to even use that as deco!
Ya, at least I’ve a little bit more class than that hor? Hehehehehe!!!!
Omg!!! This reminds me my uni life!!! I always love to cook this!!! =]
My daughter loves this – pasta’s her favourite.