Not-Sagna Pasta Toss

I really like pasta. I mean REALLY. I could eat pasta every day. If I had to pick four foods that I could not live without, they would be cheese, pasta, bread and potatoes. Healthy huh? Ryan loves red meat sauce, and that pretty much only goes with pasta so it works well in this household.

Rachel Ray came through for me once again. Her Not-Sagna Pasta Toss from the Express Lane Meals book is fantastic. As with many of her recipes, there are lots of ingredients and doing the prep work first is the key to making it all work right and actually be a 30 minute meal. This is one thing I have learned about RR recipes. You must chop/prepare all the ingredients before you start to cook. It's also a really good idea to read through the whole recipe at least once. There are always a couple of twists and turns that you might miss if you aren't ready for them.

I like this one because it fixes up easy like spaghetti but it has a different flavor, a different twist, so I feel like I am cooking something different. Not that there is anything wrong with spaghetti, its still the household favorite. And it has all the ingredients of Lasagna but its not, so I can say that I cook Spaghetti, Lasagna (by Stouffer's of course) and Not-Sagna Pasta Toss!

I am just copying the recipe from the Food Network as I don't really change anything on this recipe. It's "yumm-o" (in the words of RR herself) just like it is.

Not-sagna Pasta Toss
Easier than lasagna, because it's not, this pasta, meat sauce and ricotta toss-up is just as hearty and comforting as the layered Italian fave, but it's ready in a fraction of the time and with much less effort.

1 pound curly short cut pasta (recommended: campanelle by Barilla, fusilli or cavatappi Coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 pound ground sirloin (I use Ground Turkey)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, eyeball it in your palm
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice, eyeball it in your palm
1 teaspoon, several drops, Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine, a couple of glugs
1/2 cup beef stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh basil, about 20 leaves (i use a couple of shakes of dried basil)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls, plus some to pass at table

Heat a large pot of water to boil for pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Heads up: you will need a ladle of the starchy cooking water to help form sauce before draining.

Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the meat and break it up into small bits as it caramelizes. Once meat has good color to it, 4 to 5 minutes, add garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and season with salt, pepper, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 5 minutes, deglaze the meat and onions with red wine, cook off a minute, then combine about 1/2 cup of stock into the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.

Place ricotta cheese in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Add a ladleful of boiling, starchy pasta water to the ricotta and stir to combine. Add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan to the ricotta and mix it in.

Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with cheeses. Add half the thick meat sauce to the pasta bowl and combine. Tear or shred the basil and add to the meat and pasta, toss again. Taste to adjust salt and pepper.

Serve bowlfuls of Not-sagna with extra sauce on top and more grated Parmesan to pass at the table.

Mom's "Easy Spaghetti"

I love my Mom and Dad. They are the best parents James and I could have ever asked for.

Growing up, mom didn't cook too many new or different things (probably because Dad, James and I were pretty picky). Dad did most of the grilling. We ate dinner together almost every night but neither of my parents were what you would call gourmet chefs! We had a our favorite meals and we ate them often. They were pretty much the basics -- Crock Pot Roast (typically served on Sunday afternoon), Chicken Pie (this was not my fav, but James LOVES it), Spaghetti, Poppy Seed Chicken, Salmon Croquets (gross, again, James liked these, not me), Burgers, Pork Chops and Steaks. Pizza Hut and KFC were pretty regular parts of the "rotation"!

I think that--hands-down--Mom's Spaghetti was everyone's favorite. And by everyone, I am referring to Mom and Dad, James and Me, every youth group to come through Briarwood Presbyterian Church since 1980-something, every one of James and my friends (including my friends from Millsaps)... really, I mean everyone that ever tasted it. It was a favorite at Wednesday Night Pot Luck suppers and was made at almost every family get together on both the Davis and Johnson sides.

When it was the Davis's turn to bring dinner for Sunday night youth group, she really didn't have to think about what to bring. I remember a specific Sunday when Mom and Dad prepared the spaghetti for the youth group. One of the girls came through the line and only asked for the noodles... she "didn't like spaghetti sauce". Mom gave her a little grief -- "Are you sure?? This is really good sauce?" The other youth gave her the same riot act. She refused and sat down to eat her noodles. Several minutes later, she returned to the counter and asked for some sauce. She had tasted one of her friends and was convinced. It really is the best spaghetti sauce!

The reason this recipe is so popular with so many is that it doesn't have "chunks" of vegetables in it. For picky kids and teens, seeing "chunks" of things in their food is sometimes a turn off. Mom uses all dried spices for flavor making the recipe really easy to prepare and also very easy to double, triple (or cut in half for the newlyweds and empty nesters).

Mom's Easy Spaghetti was probably the first thing I learned to cook and was probably the first thing I ever cooked for Ryan. I am pretty sure it was this meal that made him ask me to marry him... okay, maybe not, but I like to think it played a big part!

Mom's Easy Spaghetti

2-3lbs ground beef or turkey
4 8oz cans Hunt's Tomato Sauce
2 6oz cans Hunt's Tomato Paste
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Onion Salt
1/2 tsp crushed Oregano
4 whole Bay Leaves (She used to be able to find crushed bay leaves. If you can, use 1/2 tsp)

Angel hair pasta (we think this is one of the keys... using Angel Hair and not spaghetti or other thinker pasta)

Brown the meat and drain grease. In large pot (or crock pot), mix all ingredients and warm over medium heat. When it starts to bubble, cover and reduce heat. Let simmer at least 15 minutes. The longer it simmers the better. When using a crock pot, don't let it cook all day. I have found its better letting it simmer max 4 hours.

Prepare Angel Hair using package directions.

Remove Bay Leaves from sauce (especially if you are serving kids that will wonder why a leaf is in their food...)

Serve with your favorite garlic bread and top with your favorite cheese (we prefer grated cheddar or parmesan).

As previously said, this recipe divides and multiplies easily. It also warms up wonderfully as let overs. This spaghetti sauce also freezes well. It is a great meal to take to a family after a birth, surgery, illness, etc because it can go in the freezer and be brought out at any time.

I had a long, hard couple of weeks at work and Friday, I needed some "comfort food". Since getting a Pita Mozz with Feta Dressing from Keifers wasn't really an option, I whipped up some spaghetti. It definitely made me feel better!

Ryan's Plate (it probably weighs 5lbs)

My Plate