During the summer months when the tomatoes are bountiful, I can and process my own red pasta sauce to use for a variety of dishes all year.  There is nothing like a homemade sauce that has the aroma of a tangy, warm summer tomato!  One of the easiest ways I love to use this sauce is to add a can of whole baby clams (drained) to the sauce and leave it simmering on the stove to serve over pasta for later.  You can also use any store-bought sauce for this as well and you have a nice little light and healthy change to your ordinary spaghetti.  Fusilli is a great pasta to use with this because the sauce clings to the inner curls and you get a nice big burst of flavor when you take a bite!

Now, my children would never touch a clam when they were growing up no matter how many times I tried to get them just to try it.  But I knew they would love this simple pasta dish so I told a little white lie…I called it “chicken spaghetti”.  They loved it!  I just had to always make sure they never saw me open the can and had to hide the evidence quickly.  Jarrod and Ashleigh are now in their early 20’s and are pretty open-minded when it comes to their food so a couple of years ago, I confessed.  They were pretty impressed with my trickery since they now love this dish and it brings a smile and a wink to everyone’s face now when I serve “chicken spaghetti”! 🙂