Quick and Easy Deliciously Creamy Spaghetti Sauce

Aside from having the time to actually create a sauce from scratch, my biggest problem with most tomato sauces is that they just don't stick to the noodles.  I mean, you've got sauce and pasta - when you combine them, the sauce should coat the spaghetti and make for a delicious bite.  Alas, that usually isn't the case.

So last night, I decided to experiment.  I was thinking that the best way to have a sauce that sticks to the noodles would be to add a creamy element into the tomato sauce.  I was a little iffy about how a cream would react to the acidity of the tomatoes, so I nixed the idea of actual cream.  It might be fantastic that way, but I didn't want to ruin a whole pot of sauce just in case it wasn't.  Well, what about a ricotta cheese mixed in?  That would make it too heavy, and then the whole thing would probably be kind of gooey.  Gooey textures on top of cooked noodles?  Meh.

I brainstormed for a while and then, lightbulb!  Cream cheese.  It melts very smooth, it adds a rich creamy element without being too heavy, and it would definitely help a sauce coat pasta.  It was time to get into the kitchen!

If you're like me, making a sauce from scratch means a couple of hours that you probably don't have - what with the toddlers running around fighting and trying to "help"... So this is a pantry-friendly, meatless spaghetti sauce that can be made in under 30 minutes!

Start off by finely chopping half an onion and mincing one clove of garlic.  In a saute pan, over medium heat, add in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and let the onions cook until they are almost almost transparent (stirring frequently.)  Then add in the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.

Once the garlic is lightly browned, add in the juice from a can of diced petite tomatoes, salt and pepper.  Reduce that until it's about half the liquid you started with and add in about half the can of tomatoes. Cover, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now, open a jar of your favorite tomato sauce.  The smoother the better, so I prefer using something like Classico's Tomato and Basil.  Marinara sauces work ok, but will need a lot of playing with spices to find the right flavor, since they tend to be on the sweeter side.  Dump it into a saucepan and turn the heat to a medium-low.  Add in oregano, basil, salt, pepper - basically make the sauce taste how you like your sauce to taste.

Stir in the reduced sauce from your saute pan, and let the entire thing heat up just until a simmer. Then add in a half of a package of cream cheese, divided into cubes (more surface are= faster melting.)  Stir until the cream cheese is fully incorporated and then add salt and pepper to taste.

Toss with your pasta, and voila!  Deliciousness!

Ingredients
half of a small onion
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
sea salt and cracked black pepper
jar of favorite tomato sauce
1/2 package of cream cheese