Dinner Deception

OK then, this is how to put dinner on the table with no work at all, really. It needs half an hour in the oven, but only five minutes to put it together and get it into the oven can't be bad! James and I had a busy afternoon. We went for a pootle around town while Chris was in school; visiting the library and doing some bits and bobs of shopping, then after we'd collected Christopher we all went over to a friend's house for a drink and a piece of cake, lovely. All this social butterflying meant, however, that it was nearly six by the time we got home. No matter, with some bought filled pasta, plus homemade tomato sauce and cheese, a supper catastophe was averted, and no-one was any the wiser!

I think it's well worth keeping some of these so-called 'fresh' pastas in the freezer; they can be cooked from frozen as easily as from fresh and make a great lunch for the children with a little butter and parmesan. I already had some homemade tomato sauce in the fridge, but if you can plan ahead at all, take a carton out of the freezer in the morning or even the night before. To be honest, if you've got a favourite brand of tomato pasta sauce, you could just use a couple of jars of that.


Cheeky, Cheaty Pasta Bake

I had pesto & mozzarella sacchettini, but any filled pasta will do, I'm sure.

2 x 300g packs filled pasta
800ml homemade tomato sauce
2 balls mozzarella, sliced
40g parmesan, grated

Tip the pasta into an ovenproof dish. Mix 400ml water with the tomato sauce and pour over the pasta. Top with sliced mozzarella and grated parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes at 200°c.

Bada-bing, bada-boom. Dinner is served. If you can summon up the energy, bung some bread and a bit of salad on the table. I think you might even get away with this for 'friends-for-supper' emergencies...