Tomato Alfredo Penne

This is another easy and quick pasta meal - and a good compromise for my Alfredo-loving girls and my tomato-based-preferenced husband. I love to mix a marinara-type pasta sauce with my Alfredo sauce when I go out for pasta...and that's where the idea for this recipe came from.

I started with a few Alfredo sauce recipes and then veered off into my own direction...it has had some edits along the way. (For example, this originally had a lot more butter, but I've cut it as much as I can without sacrificing a good recipe - if you like your food rich, add more than the recipe call for. I also didn't measure anything when I originally made this, so in trying to figure out how much I used of everything to make the recipe worth sharing, I guessed wrong and over-peppered it  - just so you know, 1/4 tsp of pepper is too much!) :)

16 oz penne pasta

6 Tbsp butter (or 8 T = 1 stick if you like a richer flavor)
¾ cup evaporated milk (half 12 oz can)
8 oz can (short can) tomato sauce

1 cup Parmesan cheese (pantry kind)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp parsley (dried)
Pinch white pepper (or black) - to taste

Directions:

Cook the pasta ("according to package directions") - drain and leave in colander while you mix up the rest.

Combine all other ingredients in (same) pot over medium low heat. Stir. Stirring occasionally, heat until all is melted and mixed well (may thicken slightly - but may not be noticeable). Should take about 5-8 minutes.

Dump drained cooked noodles back into pot on top of sauce and stir until well mixed. Serve immediately.

Random fact: I don't like croutons. I only put them on the salad for the picture. Then I picked them off and gave them to my kids.

Ok Ok, I'll take it easy on the pasta for a while. :) I do have one more recipe that's "pasta-like" that I'll try to get to in the next month or so - it's probably my favorite of them all...but it's a lot of work - so it's a special occasional or guests kind of meal.