Creamy Pasta And Shells

Creamier than it looks

On my last hike, despite being in part of the NOBO thru-hiker bubble on the AT, I somehow found myself the only person at the Thunder Hill Shelter one evening. There was a picnic table there under an old spruce tree that was shaded from the evening sun and turned out to make a perfect kitchen area for me.

Although the sauce for this dish looks like a regular old red pasta sauce, it actually is creamy as you’ll see in the ingredients list below. One thing I would do differently next time is use smaller and thinner pasta, like maybe mini shells. The regular-sized shells I used took a long time to cook, and fuel is precious. And heavy.

Here’s what the packed ingredients looked like before I cooked them, minus the tube of Amore paste that always seems to be forgotten when I take these photos.

What’s in the picture weighed around 13 oz. Add another 4 oz. for the tomato paste. The resultant meal was enough to feed two hikers. If they’re real hungry, just make a little more pasta. There was PLENTY of sauce to go around. Also be forewarned this dish takes 2 pots to cook, one for the pasta and one for the sauce. I normally use 0.6 and 0.9L Evernew pots. The 0.9L pot BARELY contained the finished product.

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. pasta of choice

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 packet of olive oil

4 oz. freeze-dried ground beef

3/4 tsp Italian seasoning in mini ziploc

1 TB all-purpose flour in mini ziploc

3 TB heavy cream powder (such as Hoosier Hill)

4 oz. Amore tomato paste (pretty much the whole tube)

3/4 freeze-dried cheddar cheese

1 packet of beef broth (Packit Gourmet) or equivalent for making one cup of broth

DIRECTIONS:

1. Splash water in the bags with the ground beef and cheddar cheese a few minutes prior.
2. Cook pasta in one pot, set aside when done.
3. Saute onion and garlic in other pot in olive oil until onion is translucent.
4. Add Italian seasoning, stir for a few seconds.
5. Whisk in flour as best you can with your spoon over low heat until lightly browned. This won’t take long.
6. Add tomato paste, beef broth packet and 12 oz. of water. Bring to boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Stir in ground beef for 1-2 more minutes.
8. Add heavy cream powder and 2-3 more ounces of water. Stir, continue to simmer for another minute or so.
9. Remove from heat. Combine pasta and sauce in the larger pot. Stir in cheddar cheese.
10. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The sauce will look like this before you add the pasta and cheese: