Saturday Night Spaghetti
By Nadjah
It just has to be Italian tonight! Did you ever say that to yourself?
On our last holiday I made the Italian Tortoni for dessert and it was simply a delight.
Try it, you’ll love it, all that ice cream and toasted almonds, plus some.
Here I am talking about the dessert already, well, that’s ok. It is an important part of it after all.
Back to the Italian dinner. Even the good doctor would agree that a little pasta now and then is good for ya. Of course he or she would most likely say, cook the whole wheat pasta!
Oh my gosh, I was just remembering one of my former bosses gave us a homemade olive oil one holiday. It was wonderful, and the oil contained the fresh herb sprigs, it was so good!
I think I used it for everything I could one season. It was a wonderful gift and it was very much enjoyed.
If you were to ask your children, would you like spaghetti for dinner, they would jump up and down and say YES! Actually, I say Yes too! Spaghetti, I said to myself, as I looked in the fridge after being out all day and discovered I had just 2 ground round beef patties.
I discovered though that I did have on hand some fresh tomatoes, some canned diced tomatoes, and some tomato sauce. So what does that mean? Homemade Spaghetti! Let’s call it………
SATURDAY NIGHT SPAGHETTI
Ingredients:
10 ounces ground beef
1 can 14.5 ounce diced tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
3/4 cup chopped onion
I cup chopped pasilla chile pepper
1 to 2 chopped fresh tomatoes
3 fresh springs of sweet oregano
1 cup water
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Crumble the ground beef and brown. As it is almost completly cooked through, add the chopped onion and the chopped pasilla chile pepper. Now drain the fat. Add the salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, and the diced tomatoes, undrained. Simmer and stir and add the mushrooms.
Add 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer. As it thickens, slowly add another 1/2 cup of water. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add some granulated garlic, and more salt if needed. Taste! Now you may want to add some more water or red wine, fresh spinach leaves, pinch of sugar, and fresh parsley. Taste! Continue to simmer while you are cooking the pasta. Be sure you have your sauce the way you like it.
Now you are ready for the Saturday night meal. Well, almost, what about the salad and the garlic bread?
If I am really in a hurry, I will steam some fresh asparagus spears and or broccoli florets and serve the veggies instead of the salad.
The garlic bread of your choice of course. Personally, I like the fresh sliced Italian bread and proceed to load it up with butter, parsley flakes, granulated garlic and sesame seeds. Very good indeed! Just broil the slices and you are all ready now for the Saturday evening meal!
Enjoy, it is so wonderful!