Little Family Spaghetti

Hi everyone, Sarah here:

Last weekend, DC had a freak October snowstorm, and it looked like this outside:

Which wasn't such a bad thing, because it was the perfect day for making spaghetti!  My family's spaghetti recipe has been my favorite food for as long as I can remember.  There's nothing better than coming home to a house that smells like this spaghetti sauce.  There's nothing better than eating a larger-than-acceptable serving of spaghetti covered in this spaghetti sauce.  There's nothing better than leftover spaghetti the next day.  Basically, in my opinion, there is nothing better than this spaghetti.  It is essential that you make it as soon as humanly possible.

Start by making the meatballs.  In a large bowl, combine a pound of ground beef

With 3 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese

And 1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt

And a tablespoon of dried parsley

And a teaspoon of salt.

Combine all of the ingredients together with your hands.

And form into meatballs, however large you want them to be.

Spray a large pot with Pam cooking spray and brown the meatballs.

Leave the meatballs in the pot and fill up with four quarts of water.

I know it doesn't look very appetizing right now.  But trust me, it will be amazing.

Put the pot back on the burner and add in a 12-oz can of tomato paste.

And a tablespoon of sugar.

And a teaspoon of salt.

And a quarter teaspoon of garlic salt.

And a tablespoon of dried minced onion.

And a quarter cup of grated parmesan cheese.

And a tablespoon of parsley.

And a good-sized pinch of red pepper flakes.

So now, it should look like this:

Bring the sauce to a boil and then lower the heat.  Simmer the sauce until it is thick and amazing, approximately 3 hours.

After 1 hour, it should look kind of like this:

After two hours, it should look somewhat like this:

And after three hours, it'll look like this:

Serve on top of hot spaghetti, and wait for your life to change.  It will, I promise.

Yum.  Just looking at the pictures makes me want some more.

Spaghetti with Meatballs:
Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
3 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
Black pepper, to taste

Sauce
4 quarts water
12 oz tomato paste
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. parsley
1 tbsp. dried minced onions
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Start by making the meatballs.  Combine the ground beef, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, black pepper, and garlic salt until well-mixed and form into meatballs.  Spray a large pot with Pam cooking spray, and brown the meatballs over medium-high heat.

Leave the meatballs in the pan, and add in four quarts of water.  Stir in tomato paste, parmesan cheese, sugar, parsley, minced onions, salt, garlic salt, and red pepper flakes, and mix together.  Bring to a boil and then lower the heat.  Simmer the sauce until thick, approximately 3 hours.  Serve over hot cooked spaghetti.

Enjoy!

Fusilli with Meat Sauce

Hi everyone, Sarah here:

It's been a beautiful weekend, so Becca and I decided to go hiking at Great Falls National Park today.  While hiking, I got a little hungry and invented tonight's dinner in my head.  I completely invented this recipe, although there are many similar recipes out there, and it really hit the spot.  Absolutely delicious. 

Happy cooking, and enjoy!

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pot.

Dice up one large onion and add it to the pot.

Get out a pound of ground beef.

Add it to the pot with the onion.

Mince a few cloves of garlic and add them to the pot with the onions and ground beef.

Cook until the ground beef is browned and the onions are soft, and drain off the extra fat.

 

While the ground beef is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add in a pound of fusilli pasta.

Open a 28-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes.

Use your hands to tear apart the tomatoes into small pieces and add them to the pot with the ground beef.

Add in a quarter cup of red wine.

Add in a couple of tablespoons of diced sun-dried tomatoes.

Open a 28-oz can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes and add them to the pot.

Mix in a tablespoon of Italian seasoning.

And a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Bring the mixture to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

 

Once the pasta is al dente, drain it and set aside.

After about 15 minutes, the sauce should have simmered and thickened somewhat.

Add the pasta to the pot with the sauce and mix together.

Pour the pasta into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Cover with 2 cups of shredded cheese.  I used an Italian 6-cheese blend, but you could just use mozzarella if that's all you have around.

Put the pasta under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Yummmm.

Enjoy!

Fusilli with Meat Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1 lb ground beef
28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
3 tbsp. chopped sun-dried tomatoes
28-oz can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 lb fusilli pasta
2 cups Italian 5-cheese blend

Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.   Chop a large onion and 3 cloves of garlic.  Add ground beef, onion and garlic to the pot and cook until beef is browned and onion is soft.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add in a pound of fusilli pasta.  Cook until al dente, drain and set aside.

Once the beef is browned, drain the excess fat.  Open the can of whole peeled tomatoes and crush with your hands into bite-size pieces.  Add them to the pot with the ground beef.

Add in the wine, sundried tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and spices and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until sauce has thickened.

Mix the pasta and the sauce together in the pot, and pour into a 9x13 inch pan.  Cover the pasta with shredded cheese, and place under the broiler.  Broil for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden brown.  Serve with garlic bread and salad.

Pasta with Spinach and Sundried Tomato Alfredo Sauce

In case any of you were worried, Becca and I survived the hurricane.  We lost power for about 1/2 an hour in the early AM hours.  Mostly, we used the natural disaster as an excuse to eat insane amounts of junk food and drink.

So tonight, we were looking for a simple, delicious dinner that would use up some of the veggies that we had in our apartment.  This recipe is basically just a starting point for a delicious pasta dish with almost unlimited possibilities.  You can add mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, grilled chicken, salmon, steak, whatever you have on hand.  Spinach and grape tomatoes are what I happened to have on hand.

So here goes:

Start with some pasta.  I used linguine.  This recipe would probably work equally good if not better with penne pasta or rotini.  But I only had linguine.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the linguine.

In the meantime, chop up some garlic.

Heat up some olive oil in a pan.

Saute the garlic in the olive oil until its golden brown.  Be careful not to let it burn.

Next, grab a bag of spinach.

Add the entire bag of spinach to the pan.  It's going to look like a lot, but it will wilt down to nothing.  Do not be fooled by the quantity of raw spinach.  Cook the spinach until it is all wilted, stirring often to keep it from burning.  Burnt spinach = blechhh.

Next, get some cherry or grape tomatoes.

Slice the tomatoes in half and add them to the pan with the spinach.  See how much the spinach has wilted down already?

Now for the sauce.  I used a jar of Classico Sundried Tomato Alfredo sauce.  I'm sure the Barefoot Contessa would have made her own sauce.  On other days, I might have made my own sauce.  Today was not one of those days.

Pour the sauce into the spinach/tomato mixture.  I only used about 3/4 of the jar.

Stir it all together.

If you like a little bit of spice to your food (and I like a bit of spice in my food), add some red pepper flakes.

Add in the cooked linguine and mix it all together.

Serve and enjoy!

It was super good, and FAST.  Ok, that's about all from me tonight.  Have a good week everybody!

Sarah

Pasta with Spinach and Sundried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
1 lb pasta (I used linguine)
1 tbsp. olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
1 bag spinach
1/2 container grape tomatoes
1 jar Sundried Tomato Alfredo sauce
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Peel and mince garlic and add to pan.   Saute until golden brown.  Add spinach to skillet and and cook until wilted.  Cut tomatoes in half length-wise and add to pan with the spinach.  Stir in alfredo sauce, and add a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Add cooked pasta to the pan and stir to combine.  Enjoy!