Tomato paste

[zakity]

I thought I had two #10 cans of marinara sauce and one #10 can of tomato paste. I was going to use the tomato paste as an experiment and try to make spaghetti sauce out of it.

**big sigh**

I have two cans of tomato paste and one can of marinara sauce.

So, spaghetti is planned for tomorrow night. I was going to throw it in the crockpot, but I have a feeling that my 5 quart one is going to be way too small. I was going to just dump the can in the crockpot and add in some water and spices. I am just not thinking that it will fit. I am thinking that I need to use my soup pot (5 gallon, stainless steel) because I either have a 5 quart dutch oven, a 5 quart crockpot, or my soup pot and nothing in between.


So, to get to my questions:

It won't fit in my 5 quart things, right?

How do I turn the tomato paste into spaghetti sauce? Will the adding water and spices work out ok?

What about adding in some cans of diced tomatoes?

You can cook spaghetti sauce in stainless steel, right?


Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

[Momto2Boyz]

Herei s what I would do:

Put the tomato paste into your pot.
Add a small amount of water (it'll get runny pretty quickly)
Add some diced onion
Some tomatoes (diced or stewed)
Some basil, oregano and either garlic or garlic powder

You can also add some mushrooms and ground beef too!

Good luck! Check out allrecipes.com, they should have some good, never-fail recipes.

[Darlene]

Wow that's a big can! If it helps any you can freeze tomato paste so then you won't have to deal with such a large amount. Sorry, I'm not much help with your original question, I don't make mega batches of things.
Here is my sauce recipe that does use paste but only 12 oz of it.
This is the sauce I use for my lasagna but it makes an awesome sauce for plain pasta too.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tsp white sugar

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook sausage & onion, drain. In a large saucepan put tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, water,(I took these 3 ingredients for a whirl in the blender to combine) add meat & onion, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour.
~~~Bonus recipe~~~
To make lasagna you also need:

16 ounces cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg

9 lasagna noodles
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 3/4lb)

While sauce is simmering, blend cottage cheese, Parmesan and egg together. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spread 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover sauce with 3 noodles. Cover noodles with one-third of remaining sauce. Top with half the mozzarella. Place another layer of noodles and one of sauce over the mozzarella; top that with the cottage cheese mixture. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining sauce.
Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top and bake 15 minutes more, until golden and bubbly. Cook longer if made ahead and stored in fridge.
It likes some time to "set up" after it's cooked so give yourself an extra 10-15 before you cut & serve it.
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