Spaghetti - My Way

So as simple as spaghetti can be... I seriously think that it can also taste simple, too simple even. The noodle, beef, and tomato sauce of my past has always left me with a "where in the world is the flavor?!" feeling while also reminding me of soup... that you-can-put-the-entire-contents-of-your-leftovers-in-me appeal that soup has, spaghetti has. So tonight, without further ado, I'm introducing my whole wheat spaghetti with roasted red pepper, sauteed onion, and mushroom garlic beef sauce, topped with mozzarella.


I won't go into cooking detail, but some things I like to do that haven't been explicitly pointed out to me:

When sauteing the vegetables, cook them slowly, so that you can pull them off while they have some crunch in them (don't worry, the warm sauce will soften them up, too). Add the onions a little bit after any other vegetables you have, because it's likely they'll need more time than the onions. When done with the veggies - move them into the sauce and immediately replace them with your beef. You can lean down your beef by doing a 1/2 ground beef - 1/2 ground turkey combo. The result is still juicy, flavorful, and actually does a better job of soaking up the sauce. The very last thing to go into the mix... is the garlic. I like to add it to the beef right after draining, and letting it sit for a minute or two before putting it in the sauce. Garlic loses flavor fast, so cooking it too long makes it a nearly pointless ingredient.

This is also a great time to use that "cooking wine" (the stuff you never got around to drinking, but can't seem to throw out of the refrigerator) you've been waiting to impress with. Throw it in with the veggies, or if you have a stockpile of white, be risky and throw it in your pasta boiling water, the results might surprise you. 


So the end result, as you blend the meat, sauce, and veggies together, should be a thick sauce with lots of texture and some different colors. Every-now-and-then I like to toss a large spoonful of cut up olives (I like green, many like black) on top as I serve, and I rarely let the plate go without a piece of garlic toast.