Trail Marinara and Pasta
Tomato powder, olive oil, and a lot of garlic. Sauce that used to need fresh tomatoes, rebuilt out of a bag.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 700 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Angel hair or thin spaghetti | 3 oz | broken in half so it fits the pot |
|---|---|---|
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | stands in for the fresh tomatoes |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp, chopped | the dry kind, not oil-packed |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | or 2 tsp dried garlic flakes |
| Olive oil | 1.5 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp |
Method
- At camp, drop the sun-dried tomatoes and minced onion into 700 ml of cold water and let them sit ten minutes if you have them. If you don't, skip it.
- Bring the water to a boil with the onion and tomatoes still in it. Add the pasta and cook it hard for four to five minutes, stirring so it doesn't weld to the bottom.
- When the pasta is nearly done, most of the water should be gone. Pour off the excess into your mug and drink it or save it.
- Kill the heat. Stir in the tomato powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. It will look thin for about thirty seconds, then thicken.
- Pour the olive oil over the top and stir. Let it stand two minutes before eating.
The original is a fresh-tomato sauce: dice, sauté, done in the time the pasta boils. None of that survives a pack. Tomato powder does the same job by weight — it is the same tomato with the water removed, and the water is the part you are carrying anyway. Sun-dried tomatoes go in early because they need real soaking time, and they give the sauce texture that powder alone can’t.
Cooking the pasta in just enough water is what makes this one pot instead of two. The starch that would normally go down the drain stays behind and thickens the sauce. Add the tomato powder off the heat — boiled hard it scorches on the pot bottom and turns bitter. The oil goes in last and stays whole, which is where about a third of the calories live.
Packing
Pasta in one bag, everything dry in a second. Oil rides in a leakproof dropper bottle, inside a third bag, because it will eventually leak.
Variations
- A tablespoon of nutritional yeast or a hard cheese wedge gives it body and another 100 calories.
- Dried mushrooms rehydrated with the onion make it taste like it simmered longer than it did.
- Chili flakes and dried oregano if you want it to stop being a four-ingredient sauce.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/homemade-spaghetti-sauce-a-15-minute-recipe