"Spicy" Spaghetti

A favorite in our house.
But it doesn't photograph well . . . ;)
So here it is, picture-less.


Spaghetti All'Arrabiata
Jamie Oliver-Style
Serves 4

(Lucky for all you Non-American readers, there were European measurements with this recipe! ;)

7 tablespoons / 100 ml olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 dried red chilies
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 14-ounce / 400-gram cans of plum tomatoes, sieved, or 3 1/2 cups / 800 ml passata
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
18 ounce / 500 grams spaghetti
1 teaspoon / 5 ml red wine vinegar

Pangrattato
3 tablespoons / 45 grams stale bread crumbs
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (optional)
Fried sage leaves (optional)

Heat about 5 tablespoons / 75 ml of the oil in a large sauté pan over low heat. Add the chilies, garlic. and onion, and cook gently for around 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let them cook until the sauce is quite thick, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti in the salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup / 60 ml of the cooking water. Once the sauce has thickened, add the red vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To make the pangrattato, heat the remaining oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs and thyme, if desired, and fry until the bread crumbs are crispy, about 3 minutes. Add the drained pasta and the reserved pasta water to the sauce, and toss to coat. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and serve with the pangrattato over the top. if you like, you can garnish with fried sage leaves.

Mom's Carbonara

Today is my husband's 33rd birthday ! Our lives are so crazy busy this week that we celebrated with a birthday dinner last night ! Every other night this week ... we will be out ! Including tonight ! CRAZY. BUSY ! but I said that already ! Anyway ... he always requests lasagna but this year, to be kind to me and my current crazy business, he chose Mom's carbonara instead. I went to the blog to get the recipe and discovered that it wasn't here !?!? WHAT? !?! This recipe NEEDS to be here ! And in about 3 minutes ... it will be !

Ingredients:
1/2 (250g) lb bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup heavy (thickened) cream
4 eggs
1 & 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (I prefer the processed stuff for this ... not fresh)
3 or 4 tablespoons butter
spaghetti (I use vermicelli)

Method:
I usually put the water on for the pasta about the time I add the onion ...

Cook the bacon about 1/2 way then add the onion. Continue to cook until bacon is well cooked. If you need to pour out some of the oil, do, but you need about 3 tbls oil left in the bacon. Pour the cream in. Simmer until the bacon is 'coated' with the cream.

In the mean time, beat the eggs and add the parmesan cheese. Whip it and then leave it alone. The cheese sucks up the egg. The mixture shouldn't look 'eggy' ...

Put your pasta into the now boiling water.

(Make salad if you are serving that as well ....)

When the pasta is nearly ready, melt the butter in the microwave.

Drain pasta. Put back into hot pan. Stir in butter. Stir in egg mixture. Stir in bacon/onion/cream mixture. A sprinkle of garlic powder on top is amazing ! We just put the garlic powder on the table and let everyone do their own !

Last night (and usually) I served this with ...

Chunky Spanish Garlic Bread

Black Olive Salad

and my new favorite wine ...

Spaghetti Bolognaise in the Crock Pot

I've been making my spaghetti sauce like this for years ... but this is the first time I've let it simmer all day in the crock pot. I'll do it that way EVERYTIME now ... it was sooo good. So much more flavor infusion !!

I don't use exact measurements. I add how much I like and then adjust for taste !
500g (1lb) mince (ground beef)
1 onion, diced
garlic to your taste preference, chopped to your size preference
button mushrooms, sliced
kalamata olives
dry white sherry
brown sugar, maybe 1/2 a tablespoon
fresh oregano
fresh parsley
fresh basil
fresh chives
2 dried bay leaves
a few big cans of tomatoes
tomato paste
tomato puree
1 jar of Five Brothers Roasted Garlic Sauce (optional)

Start by sauteeing all the garlic and onions together. Add the mince (ground beef) and brown. throw the mushrooms in for the last couple of minutes. Put in crock pot and add all your cans of tomatoes, you sauce (if using) some tomato puree, and tomato paste. I just do it to a nice thick consistency ... Add herbs. I only chop the chives. The rest, I just pick off the stalks and throw 'em in. As you can see, I like it herby !! Add your kalamata olives. A bit of a weird ingredient but if you like olives you will probably love this ! It gives the sauce such a nice flavor !! Add your sherry and the brown sugar. (to take the edge of the acidity of all those tomatoes !! ) Cook on low all day !!

I filled my crock pot when I made this and it fed us for dinner, lunches the next day and I still have two big dinner with a lunch the next day portions that I froze for later !! I figure, if you're making it ... make lots ! It's minimal extra effort now for a great pull out of the freezer on a 'for whatever reason I can't cook tonight' night !!

What's for Lunch ?

My kids like a bit of Spaghetti with their Parmesan Cheese for lunch ...