Nothing Fancy Spaghetti
Enjoyed a pleasant evening visiting with Jim Gorman, a contributing editor for Backpacker magazine, and John Molloy, author of 33 books on the outdoors, at Rucker Canyon Forest Camp in the Coronado National Forest. This is the yummy pasta dish Jim made for all of us. It was fun watching him create and making do – a true camping experience.
First, Jim opened his cooler and started pull out a variety of vegetables, most were in halves and pieces. Than he put a big pot of water on to boil. While that came to a boil, he sliced, diced, and chopped the veggies. Some went into a ziplock bag and were served as the side salad. The remaining vegetables, onion, pepper, and zuchini, went into another pot to saute until soft. While the veggies cooked, Jim dumped a box of Penne pasta into the pot of boiling water. The cooked veggies were then removed to a platelike thing and a chunk of ground meat was added to the pot and fried.
After the meat was cooked through, two cans of seasoned tomatoes and one can of tomatoe paste were added, along with the cooked vegetables. The whole thing was stirred together and left to simmer for about 5 or 10 minutes. The pasta was drained and divided among the four of us and topped with the taste sauce. We ate by lantern light to the sounds of a Whip-poor-will.
Our thanks to Jim and John for a yummy dinner and an evening of good conversation. Good luck on the rest of your “Hardcore Tent Camping” adventure.
