Nicklas Hira’s “The Sludge” Recipe

“College student” cuisine can be hard, especially when you’re living on a budget. You either spend lots on ingredients you don’t have the time to prepare, or you’re making instant foods who’s flavor is comparable to eating the cardboard box it came in. So what’s the solution?

This is a recipe of my own creation that came from experimenting with cheap foods that I had lying around, and it has become one of my favorite meals since its first creation. I have lovingly given it the name “The Sludge” after its texture and appearance. Don’t let its name ruin your appetite though, one bite and you’ll be clambering for more! Here’s how to create your own The Sludge too:

INGREDIENTS NEEDED:
> Pasta shape of your choosing (I use Ditali, but Macaroni or Shells work just as well. Spaghetti is fine if you break it in half, but the shape should be somewhat small.)
> 1 can of instant chili (I use Tim Hortons, but you can take some artistic liberties.)
> Salted Butter.
> Salt.
> Hot sauce (I use buffalo wing sauce, but again, artistic liberties.)
> Shredded mozzarella cheese.

PREPARATION STEPS:

1. Firstly, you’ll need to measure out how much pasta you want. I tend to fill a bowl with dry pasta, that way my pot will give me 2 servings. Its important you do this, because the water level is important. An easy way to measure how much water you need is to pour your dry pasta into the empty pot, make a note of how high it goes, and then fill your pot just a little above that mark. The idea is that we aren’t going to need to drain the water when we’re done cooking the pasta. Once you have the water, set it out to boil.
2. Once its boiling, add your salt to the water. This will give the pasta a less bland taste on its own that really brings the dish together. When your pasta is done cooking, you should only have a low amount of very starchy water left in the pot. Don’t drain it, we’re going to want to keep that starch.
3. Take the pot off of the heat and mix in a generous amount of salted butter. If you did it right, the butter and starchy water should melt and mix together into this semi-thick “sauce” that coats all the pasta as you stir.
4. Open your can of instant chili and mix it into the pot. Put the pot back on heat on low-medium. We want to keep the chili hot, but we don’t want to cause the pasta to overcook. Once the pasta and chili are thoroughly mixed together, you can add as much or as little hot sauce as you want.
5. Once everything else is freshly mixed in, you can start to mix in your shredded cheese a little bit at a time. It’s important not to add it all at once, as it will melt together and become a gross blob of cheese in the middle of your dish. Adding a little at a time as you mix ensures that it gets melted evenly within your dish.
6. When you’re satisfied with its cheesiness levels, you can put it in a bowl and eat up! You’ve successfully created a bowl of delicious The Sludge. It’s a very filling meal, so take it slow.

This meal is replicable ad nauseam so long as you have the basic ingredients to do so, and you can always change out the pasta shape or chili flavors for some added variety!

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