Using balsamic vinegar in a spaghetti and sausage entree

I'm moving. And I'm trying not to go to the grocery store. Emptying out the cupboards and the refrigerator, so I won't have so much to carry.

The spaghetti box is emptying out to, but I've got enough for a meal. The trouble is, I'm out of everything tomato. No fresh or canned tomatoes. No tomato pasta sauce in a jar. In fact, nothing obvious of any kind. I'm even out of onions. Time to improvise!

I do have fresh garlic, chop two cloves. There's a section of dried guajillo chili left, snip it into tiny squares. I have an unopened packet of Orale! azafran (a Mexican brand saffron). Sprinkle in about a tablespoon worth of azafran.

While the spaghetti boils, I heat up a saucepan and pour virgin olive oil across the bottom. Then I put in my garlic, guajillo and azafran into the hot oil. Stir a little, then get a bottle of balsamic vinegar and give it two hard shakes; don't use too much or the vinegar taste will overpower everything.

Pour in about a two-inch link of Pollok's sausage (really, any Polish sausage; Oh, I forgot to mention it's been sliced and diced to tiny bits first). Now stir, stir, stir, stir!

Burn off that balsamic vinegar, get it penetrating all of your ingredients. Stir, stir!

Take you saucepan off the heat as soon as the edges of the sausage get dark. And take the spaghetti off the heat as soon as it's al dente. Don't cook it until its all soft and fat!

Are we good? Everything's off the heat? Now, drain the spaghetti and toss it into the saucepan. Put the saucepan back on the heat and stir until everything is mixed uniformly.

This dish works as is. By that I mean you can eat it like this and it tastes pretty good (unless you had a heavy hand with that balsamic vinegar bottle! Yes, I've done that, too. Yuk.)

But you can also add a little something dairy, if you don't mind the extra calories.

Try one dollop of sour cream. Stir it in after it's on your plate. Then sprinkle all over with Parmesan cheese.

It looks like this, if you get your eyeball down in your plate.

The guajillo gives it just a little spice, but it's by no means too hot. And you add sour cream, you'll hardly notice the spicy, anyway.

My dish came out a little more oily than I expected, but I only used enough spaghetti for one modest-sized entree and I'm used to making enough for three meals.

At any rate, it's good!

Buen provecho!