Eight creative ways to use Slyly Simple spicy tomato sauce

Our spicy tomato sauce with olives is a smashing hit, and nobody seems to be getting enough of it. We all know that we only need to toss it with some fresh Slyly Simple pasta to make ourselves a fabulous home cooked meal. Having said that, Slyly Simple is all about getting creative, so here are eight other ways you could use your jar of Slyly Simple spicy tomato sauce!

Pizza

Whether you prefer making the dough from scratch or use ready pizza bases - the spicy sauce makes an excellent base sauce for pizza. A layer of sauce and a generous sprinkling of cheese is all you need to make an excellent pizaa - and this could only get better as you add more toppings to it!

Lasagna

A lasagna is certainly an elaborate meal - but once you have a sauce to hold it all together, the rest is pretty easy. Layer the lasagna sheets with Slyly Simple spicy tomato sauce, cheese, vegetables (and meat) and all you need to do is bake it!

Sandwiches

Whether it is for a quick meal on the go, or as part of a picnic lunch - sandwiches are a hot favourite. The sauce keeps the bread from getting dry - and you could always jazz it up further with lettuce leaves, a slice of cheese or some shredded chicken.

Scrambled eggs

Add some zing to your Sunday breakfast. Add a dollop of Slyly Simple sauce into the pan as your scramble the eggs and your breakfast is suddenly an exotic weekend highlight!

Dip

Whether its chips, crackers or salad sticks - Slyly Simple spicy tomato sauce can make them all a lot more interesting!

Tomato rice

A great solution for a quick dinner - warm up some sauce, add the rice and enough water to cook - you may need to season with some extra salt - and you'll have an exotic herbed tomato rice for dinner. Serve alongside yoghurt, and your meal is complete.

Bruschetta

Toasted bread topped off with spicy sauce and all your other favourite toppings - olives, capers, sundried tomatoes, cheese - the list is endless.

Potato skins

Add a spoonful of spicy tomato sauce to your potato skins before you bake them, and get a wonderful flavour to complement the potatoes and cheese.

Pasta for your party? Make it live!

It takes more than a great recipe to serve pasta to a large group of people. Pasta that has been mixed with the sauce and left to rest becomes soggy or rubbery, depending on how much it has been cooked. Delicate sauces dry up easily, and all together it can be a rather unpleasant experience. Besides, with each person digging around the serving dish with a serving spoon can result in wasting a lot of food, since the pasta gets mashed together and looks rather unpalatable after a few serves.

One option is to bake it in a large tray, so you can cut neat portions while serving - but that may not necessarily be the way on prefers to eat pasta.

Another option is to make a delicious pasta salad - but then again, thats the trick. Its got to be delicious, or it wont be popular!

I think that there are two ways to serve a delicious plate of pasta. One is to toss the hot pasta with warm sauce and serve immediately into portions, and the other is to serve the hot pasta onto the plate, and ladle some sauce onto it. I would personally choose my technique depending on the pasta shape. Method one works with short, robust shapes like penne, fusilli, macaroni and the likes - while the second method works well with long or delicate shapes like fettuccine, spaghetti, ravioli. Keep some parmesan to sprinkle on top and you can have a picture perfect plate for every guest.

Obviously this means that pasta needs to be cooked just before it is served - and when the crowd gets bigger, that can get pretty complicated.

An ideal option is to set up a live counter. It could then be an interactive activity, where either you serve each person yourself and have a nice conversation with them while their plate gets ready, or if you are well staffed, have someone man the counter while each person specifies their preferences. With a couple of options for pasta sauce, and a few add-ons that people could jazz up their dish with, you could actually create an activity as part of your meal. However, to make this function smoothly, without making your guests have to wait indefinitely for their food, this does take a little planning and practice. Its also wise to choose pasta and sauces that cook quickly - Slyly Simple fresh pasta and pasta sauces would do the job for you!

So the next time you have a party - there is no reason why pasta couldn't be on your menu! Additionally, you could always call us in to help you man the pasta counter, and that way you dont need to worry about it at all!

A Slyly Simple Pizza

Slyly Simple sauces have been a big hit among our Gourmet Club members, and we have been digging around to find out how they have been using our sauces creatively. One big hit is to make a Slyly Simple pizza, and this is how it is done!

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pizza base (you get this at gourmet grocery stores - and if you feel like making the base yourself, try out one of the numerous recipes you can find on the Internet)
Grated mixed cheese - the perfect blend would be mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan. One could also add some feta or blue cheese to make this truly amazing!
Slyly Simple spicy sauce with olives OR Slyly Simple basil walnut pesto for the pesto lovers
Any other toppings you love - olives, capers, sundried tomatoes, shredded chicken, shredded basil... this is the fun part!

And how to do it:

Pre heat the oven to about 160 degrees Celcius
While the oven heats, spread your preferred Slyly Simple sauce over the pizza base. Too much sauce makes a soggy pizza, so a nice thin layer is all you need here.
Add all your favourite toppings
Drizzle generously with cheese

Pop your assembled pizza onto a baking sheet or greased oven tray, and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Cut the pizza into wegdes using a pizza cutter and serve!

Whole Wheat Macaroni in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Here's a quick fix recipe for an excellent creamy tomato sauce to go with your Slyly Simple whole wheat pasta. This is a hot favourite among kids - and is just as easy to make as any other instant meal.

Ingredients:
Slyly Simple spicy tomato sauce with olives - 150ml
Slyly Simple large macaroni - 1 box
Fresh cream - 50g
Grated cheese to garnish (parmesan tastes best, but use anything in the kitchen)

Procedure:
Cook the Slyly Simple large macaroni as per instructions on the box.
While the pasta cooks, mix together the sauce and cream to get a smooth consistency. Heat the mixture on a pan, or in the microwave (use a microwave friendly bowl and heat for about 1-1.5 minutes).
Once the pasta is cooked, toss it in with the sauce and make sure the pasta is coated well.
Serve into plates and top off with grated cheese.

You can be sure that this instant meal is going to be an instant hit with the kids, and considering that it is made from natural, fresh ingredients, your conscience will not have anything to worry about either!

The Monsoon Pasta Party!

Let your taste buds lead the way to Pagdandi this 5th and 6th July for the Monsoon Pasta Party conducted by Slyly Simple Gourmet Kitchen.
Slyly Simple specialises in artisan, hand crafted, fresh pasta and pasta sauces using only the finest of ingredients and whole wheat flour. Created by Surabhi Ganguly, Slyly Simple is a Bangalore based venture, making a short special appearance in Pune only this monsoon.
Join this party to EAT, for a variety of pasta dishes are available from salads to bakes. We will surprise you throughout the day with Slyly Simple signature dishes like spinach ricotta ravioli baked in a tomato parmesan sauce.Better still would be to join this party to TREAT - be the gourmet guru of the hour and go down on our wall of fame with your own signature pasta dish! Either way, enjoy this monsoon at Pagdandi on Baner-Pashan link road where wholesome food, books, activities, conversation and great company await you!

Event details:
The Monsoon Pasta Party
Pagdandi Books, Chai, Cafe
Shop No.6, Regent Plaza, Baner Pashan Link Road, Baner, Pune ? 411045
5th July 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
6th July 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM
Brought to you by Pagdandi and Slyly Simple Gourmet Kitchen
Contact - +91-99166-75959 for details.

Slyly Simple Gourmet Club

A day off can mean several things - a day to catch up on chores, a day to laze and soak in the extra time, a day to spend in idyllic bliss in front of the television with no reason to move or think, read a book, a movie marathon, long chat sessions on the phone or have friends and family over. All the wonderful things you always want to do when you're at home, but we normally end up dreaming about that perfect meal without having to cook it ourselves - which either means we spend a little too much money and time heading out to our favourite restaurant, or we give in to the easiest ready-to-eat meal from the supermarket and just sigh and make do...

Yes, Slyly Simple is a great solution - but one does need to remember to order it and stock it in the refrigerator, without which one couldn't simply enjoy the meal, right? Well, this is what made us create the Slyly Simple Gourmet Club - to make it equally Slyly Simple to stock the products, as it is to cook and serve them!

With three membership categories; Lime, Cream and Olive you can choose your preferred Slyly Simple combination which will be delivered to your doorstep every two weeks. No shopping lists, no extra coordination - your predefined Slyly Simple package will arrive just in time to suit your next gourmet meal craving. Not only that, you could always vary the specific combination of products, so that no two meals need be the same!

Besides the comfort and luxury of eating at home, you will find that you save more than half the cost of eating a comparable meal in a restaurant - spread this over three months, and you are looking at considerable savings (not to forget quality, taste and health benefits)!

So go on, sign up now and reclaim your Sunday, the Slyly Simple way!

Three... Two... One... Launch!

"You're going to have a BIG launch - Jayamahal palace as the backdrop, full stage covered with sponsor logos, a mike, two high resolution screens to project your presentation, hundreds sitting in front of you, listening to what you have to say, including successful entrepreneurs, restaurateurs and chefs, a live flea market, and a hot happening live concert after"... if somebody told me this a month ago, I'd probably have written them out of my life, for ridiculing my earnest attempt at starting a business.

Jaymahal palace - what location

And yet, here I am - after four days of celebrating at the Construkt Festival, and everything I wrote above actually came true!!

Construkt Festival is the second edition of the "Start Up Festival" in Bangalore, renamed and rebranded, but with the same intent of being amazing. By bringing together people from every background, different age groups, different skills and interests, the festival celebrates the building of creative communities. Its about fun and easy interaction, open discussions and a lively atmosphere.

Its official!

I've had a fabulous time personally - met great people, heard some very encouraging reactions from people when I told them what Slyly Simple was all about, made the first public presentation for my brand, came out of the shadows and introduced myself and my mascot to the crowd, partied with people I have only just met, heard some inspirational brand stories and started to have the real belief that I am about to make a great story of my own!

A special appearance

All it took for me to be a part of this, was a spur-of-the-moment decision to fill in a little form and apply for the Construkt launchpad. And just as I started wondering whether to wait for a response any longer - it came... The biggest take away is to never pass on a possibility, you never know how big it could have been!