Chef Boy, RD

If my initials were RD that title would be a lot more sensical. As it happens, they aren’t, but in any direction, I used to be a massive fan of Chef Boyardee. I particularly enjoyed the Mini Ravioli variety. In recent years my zeal for that product has waned. I think it is a similar situation to my disregard for hot dogs. The culprit in both cases is extreme over exposure. At one point I was coming home from work and firing four dogs into the micro while I laid out four Kraft Singles on four pieces of white bread with one thin strip of mustard on one edge of each. After weeks of chortling down the same dinner I couldn’t do dogs anymore. For the Chef it was years earlier but I think excessive frequency was behind my move toward other canned goods then later on to other things. Now that I’m knocking the dust of my culinary spurs, I figured I’d mention that I inadvertently prepared a dish that was reminiscent of a can from the Chef. This was some weeks ago but since it was while we were quarantined I felt it worthy to include as a post. I made some rotini on one side of the stove and browned off some ground pork on the other. When both were cooked and drained I combined them in a pot with some spicy pasta sauce from a can. I added some dried basil and some red pepper flakes in an attempt to improve the sauce.

I had some immediately and it was a tasty treat. The sauce was the bottleneck to excellence in the equation but overall there weren’t any major holes. The one drawback is that I ate too much that first round. Because I took the leftovers to a whole ‘nother level. I dumped everything into an oven safe dish and sprinkled some shredded cheese over the top. Then I inserted it into a waiting 350F oven for ten minutes. That seemed to re-ignite everything and with the added gooey goodness of cheese this time. I ate it piping hot from the oven with no regrets. I’m slowly starting to remember the little steps that one can take to truly heighten a dish, rather than trying to cram it into my face the second it’s consumable.