Jerky Pasta – A Recipe for Adventurous Diners

Date Night Plans Equal Pasta

Just imagine. You had planned a date night with your special someone. You were going to make pasta, so you bought all the ingredients and brought them home. Everything was going to be perfect for your special night.

When the Unexpected Happens, What Will You Do?

You had all your ingredients sitting out on the counter and turned your back on them for one minute and when you turned back, the beef was gone! (We blame the dog.) Now it seems like there’s no meat for the pasta and date night will be ruined.

Desperate, you open up your fridge, but you haven’t been shopping since you picked up the ingredients for tonight’s meal. There is no other meat in there. Nothing in the freezer that could be thawed in time. You groan as you shut the freezer door. Two poor, sad puppy dog eyes look at you, but you’re not in a forgiving mood just yet. And you’re getting hungrier by the minute.

You start to open and shut your cabinets. You don’t keep fresh meat in there, and canned meat just won’t do for this special occasion. You really don’t have the funds to order out, and besides, if your partner gets home and doesn’t see your car in the driveway, they might get the wrong idea and everything will be ruined. You’re about to hang it up, hope you have enough credit on your card to call in an order for home delivery, and reach for your phone to make the call.

But then, just out of the corner of your eye, you see it.

Jerky to the Rescue!

Jerky. A bag of shelf-stable, tasty, delectable jerky. Maybe it’s a beef and bison combo, maybe it’s a more eclectic variety like venison, antelope, or duck.

You love jerky. So does your partner. Would you love it in a pasta dish? Well, why not? You scour the internet to see what sorts of substitutions you might need to make, and you happen to find a recipe (below).

• Ingredients:
  • ½ pound Pasta (penne, angel hair, or spaghetti) (for 2 people)
  • 1 clove Garlic (crushed or minced)
  • ½ small Onions (finely diced)
  • 1 pound Cherry tomatoes (halved) or 20 oz can of crushed tomatoes
  • ¼ pound Beef jerky (finely chopped)
  • Crushed Red Pepper (to taste)
  • Parmesan cheese (to taste)
• Instructions:
  • Cook pasta according to package instructions and set aside.
  • In a skillet, sauté garlic, onions. Add tomatoes and cook until they are softer or about 15 minutes.
  • Stir in the finely chopped beef jerky and crushed red pepper. Toss the mixture with the cooked pasta.
  • Serve hot. Garnish by sprinkling with parmesan cheese.

Hooray!

Hooray! Date night is saved and you have one more use for the delicious jerky that you know you can keep in your cabinet because it is shelf stable and the dog doesn’t have access to a step ladder.

For Even More Adventure…

Many people would experiment with beef jerky first, since beef is the most traditional meat used in pasta dishes. However, adventurous snackers should try alligator pasta, bison pasta, and any and all of our other wonderful Wild Game Jerky varieties! Which flavor would you like to try with pasta first? Let us know in the comments section.