Today’s pasta sauce happened by chance. While making my usual Bolognese sauce I found a small amount of leftover plain Greek yoghurt, which I had combined with herbs and spices the day before, in the fridge. On a whim, I added the yoghurt to the meat sauce and out came a new variation of my pasta sauce repertoire.

The day before, I had made something resembling “Kräuterquark,” made with Greek yoghurt and dried herbs I had bought on my recent trip to Germany. Quark, by the way, isn’t sold here in local supermarkets, unfortunately. But I love all kinds of quark, the fruity desert version , the plain kind for cooking, and the aforementioned herbed version to put on bread or as a topping for baked potatoes. A while ago, Greek yoghurt with its firm texture and low calories (?) became quite popular here and is being sold in plain, sweet and fruity variations. I noticed that the plain and sweet versions resemble Quark, so I tried to make a herbed, spicy kind, a bit like Tzatziki without the cucumbers. The combination of herbs I got from the Viktualienmarkt in Munich is intended for herbed butter, or Kräuterbutter, consisting of many different herbs, peppers and garlic. Adding some salt and paprika, the yoghurt came out quite nice, almost like the real thing, and was very tasty spread on dark bread.

Anyway, the leftover yoghurt went extremely well with my meat sauce. The sauce was made of onions, garlic, ground meat, canned tomatoes, red wine and Italian herbs, spices and a bouillon cube-pretty basic, easy and quick. The Greek yoghurt added mildness to the taste and a creamy texture. Since it was spiced and had all these herbs mixed in, it added the the aroma and taste of the sauce. It also made the meat more flavorful, I think…

Today’s sauce was served with penne, and it turned out to be a delicious and satisfying meal.