Pork and salsa!

   Yeah, that's right... pork and salsa! Being more specific, a meat sauce with salsa used in stead of tomato puree/sauce. And, if salsa wasn't exciting enough, I also added fennel and mushrooms. Different textures and flavors all come together to create a hearty, meaty, and delicious sauce.
   You want to know a secret? I actually use salsa very often to make my tomato based sauces, and I use all different kinds: original, mango, peach, corn... you name it! It adds this light, "exotic" and fun taste to the sauce, and makes it different and exciting each time. No need to buy multiple ingredients to create an interesting flavor profile and everything comes in one jar! I'm sure this won't be the only time you see me using it in a recipe... it's kind of my new obsession.
   Anyways, here is the recipe for the salsa pork sauce:

Ingredients:

* 1 lb ground pork
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 garlic clove, chopped
* 1 fennel bulb, chopped
* 8oz baby portabella mushroom, chopped
* 16oz jar chunky salsa (spiciness of your liking)
* 1 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
* 2 tbsp ketchup
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* salt and pepper
* Parmesan cheese for garnish

* egg noodles

Directions:

1. In a deep pan, heat up the olive oil and saute onions, garlic and fennel until soft and translucent.
2. Add pork, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and cook for additional 5 minutes.
3. Add salsa, ketchup, and parsley, stir everything together and cook for 10-15 minutes.
4. Serve over egg noodles, garnished with Parmesan cheese.

   You can serve it with any kind of pasta you like, but I really think that egg noodles add some extra "bite" and texture to the dish. I guess another good option could be tagliatelle pasta which I like as well.

Enjoy,
Magda.