Pulled Pork Pasta

We had a lot of pulled pork left over from making pulled pork sandwiches the other day. Instead of making more sandwiches, I thought we would try making some pulled pork pasta. I have to admit that the idea came from that Boston Pizza commercial where the guy eats their pulled pork penne and turns into a "foodie," which in the commercial, apparently isn't a good thing. Too bad for me, since I self-identify as one. The commercial actually drives me crazy (mostly because it gets played alllll the time) but the idea was interesting.

I was going to make some tomato sauce to mix with the pulled pork but didn't have time, so I just used jarred sauce. Since we had the leftover pork, all of the hard work was already done. This was super quick and easy, and pretty tasty. It's so simple that I kind of feel silly writing it out like you don't know how to boil pasta and heat some sauce, but I guess not everything I put on this blog is going to be complicated, so here it is in all its glory!

I wasn't sure if the pulled pork would go well with the tomato sauce, but I liked it. You could still taste the pork marinade through the tomato sauce, and the flavours were really nice and bright. It was a nice change from the traditional meat sauce that we usually have with pasta.

I'm enjoying trying new pork recipes. I don't cook with pork very often even though I really like it. I think if I could only have one kind of meat for the rest of my life, it would be pork. As much as I love chicken, and though I'm originally from Alberta and love a good steak, I wouldn't be able to give up bacon and sausages!

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 3 cups of pulled pork (see a recipe for it here)
• 1 jar of tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 and 1/2 cups of penne
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parsley for garnishing, chopped

In a large pot, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until they are softened. Add the pulled pork, tomato sauce, oregano, bay leaf and stir well. Heat the sauce through and allow to simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes.

Cook the penne in well-salted water. Drain.

Remove the sauce from the heat and take out the bay leaf. Season the pasta sauce to taste. Serve the pasta and sauce immediately, with chopped parsley sprinkled on top. Depending on how saucy you like your pasta, you may have some leftover sauce.

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I shared this on:

The Recipe Critic | Mandy's Recipe Box | Buns in My Oven

Craftberry Bush | Shaken Together | The Best Blog Recipes

Barns and Noodles | Nifty Thrifty Things | Addicted to Recipes

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