Sunday, May 10, 2009

Quick and Dirty S'ghetti

If you work for a living, you probably don't have all day to make a good pasta sauce. If you do both, you are probably making it on the weekends, or you know a helluva lot more than I do about making pasta sauce (which is entirely possible). I have a quick way to make pretty tasty spaghetti sauce within, truthfully, about 40 minutes. I have been making this for about 10 years or so now and learned some of the basics from my Mom.

The follow recipe was written while listening to the eponymously titled album by Graveyard and drinking Goose Island India Pale Ale. It serves three to four:

Ingredients:

1 medium white onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 oz black olives, chopped (or 1/2 of a 3.8oz can)
5 to 6oz of shitake mushrooms
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 29oz can of tomato sauce
6 to 7 cloves of garlic, minced
8 to 9 0z of Morningstar Farms sausage crumbles (about 2/3rds of the bag)
4 to 5 tablespoons oregano
1/4 to 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
8 to 10 quarts of water

In a skillet, add 1/2 of the oil and bring to medium heat. Once hot, add 1/2 of the minced garlic and stir occasionally for 5 to 10 minutes until the garlic starts to brown. Add the mushrooms and cook until the majority of the water has cooked out of them, about 20 minutes or so. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large sauce pan (3 quarts or larger), add the remainder of the olive oil and heat to medium. Add the chopped onions, black olives, and green peppers. Add the remainder of the garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and some oregano. Cook until the onions are wilted and brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the 'sausage' crumbles, and cook for about 10 minutes until hot. Add the tomato sauce. Stir for about 2 minutes to ensure that all ingredients have mixed together properly. Add the parmesan cheese and add more oregano to taste, if desired. Turn heat to low and cook for about 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the water to another stock pot with about 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the package.

Drain spaghetti. Add to plate, and cover with sauce. Server with warm garlic bread.

So tasty....

3 comments:

Amy said...

It's weird how your recipe is quite a bit different from ours. I think it takes about the same amount of time, though. Can't wait for the garden tomatoes this summer!

Mike said...

Thanks for the comment, Amy. Would you mind sharing your recipe? I am always in the market for something new.

I agree with you...I am anxiously awaiting the fresh tomatoes from my neighbor's garden (we don't have enough sunlight in our backyard).

Kevin said...

You should check out Earth House in Lockerbie. We ate there last night. I believe all 6 menu items were vegetarian. And it was very tasty as well. It's pretty laid back and chill.