Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread

On tonight’s menu in my house was a quick and easy Spaghetti with Meat Sauce.  This is a weeknight meal that can be prepared very quickly, but it’s also nice enough to serve to company.  This is actually one of my go-to dishes to serve to company that I maybe don’t cook for very often and want to impress.

The part of this meal that wasn’t so quick was the garlic bread.  I made Italian bread form scratch and then toasted it and made garlic bread.  The recipe I used can be found here at Great Chicago Italian Recipes.  I figure if you’re going to make Italian bread, you need to ask an Italian how to do it.  This recipe was actually great.  The only things I’d like to add are that before you bake the bread you should whisk an egg white and 1 Tblsp. of water and brush it over the dough, and to follow these little tricks that I wrote about here (that’s right, you smart-ass loyals from merrywifeofcanon….I’ve been cheating on you with another blog and I didn’t tell you about it!)  The thing is, bread can be really tricky but the reward of warm fresh bread is so worth the effort.  But it does take some practice.  I’ve made loaves that resembled bricks more than bread.

Anyhow, here’s the fresh Italian bread.  It turned out great.  Now to make it Garlic Bread Isplit it in half horizontally and cut slices.  I then drizzled extra virgin olive oil over the slices and placed them 3-inches away from the broiler and let them toast.  Keep an eye on them because it goes fast.  When the slices are toasted and golden, pull them out and, while the are still hot, rub a peeled garlic clove on the tops.

This is the best way to make garlic bread.  The garlic melts on the hot bread and the aroma and taste of garlic is fresh and much better than any prepared spread or garlic powder.  And it’s easy.  If you were to use store-bought Italian bread, you’ve got a quick garlic bread.

Now, let’s talk about the main dish.  The first thing to do is get out a dutch oven and fill it with water and set it to boil.  Always use a big pot to make pasta so it can swim around and cook better.

When the water starts to boil, add a good handful of salt to the water and a Tblsp. or two of olive oil.  The salt is to season the pasta and the olive oil keeps it from sticking together and clumping.  Get that water going before you start on your sauce.  Your sauce will be done before your pasta.

For tonight’s pasta I used ground turkey for the meat.  It’s heart healthy and contains less fat.  However, ground turkey can tend to taste very flat (not that it really matters in this case as it is simply a part of a flavorful sauce) and the best thing that I know of to give the meat a little extra taste is 1 Tblsp. of Worcestershire Sauce for every pound of meat.  It gives the meat a little depth of taste that otherwise wouldn’t be present.  Get that turkey in a skillet and start browning it.  Add the Worcestershire Sauce and salt and pepper to taste.

The base of this sauce is simple canned tomato sauce.  I used to use the brand name stuff in a jar until I realized the versatility of canned tomato sauce.  I use it in braising liquids, sauces and soups.  The best part is that I got these cans on sale for $0.88 a can.  You can’t beat that.  Just dump those two cans into the skillet with the browned turkey (if there’s a lot of liquid in the skillet, drain it off before adding the tomato sauce.)

I know that this looks like a lot of spices, but you only use a little bit of each and they all lend something.  1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes, 1/2 Tblsp. garlic powder, 1/2 Tblsp. onion powder, 1 Tblsp. brown sugar, 1/2 Tblsp. dried parsley flakes, 1/2 Tblsp. dried oregano, 1 tsp. dried basil, and 1/2 tsp. dried thyme.  If any of these look weird to you, it might be the brown sugar.  I know that some people use white granulated sugar in tomato sauces, but I actually hate that taste and prefer brown sugar.  A tomato sauce is a dark taste anyway, so the brown sugar helps with that while cutting the acidic taste of the tomatoes.  Stir the mixture well and cover and let simmer on Medium Low heat until the pasta is cooked.

I know that portioning out pasta can be tricky.  Honestly, I don’t have any witty suggestions for how to accurately portion out pasta.  I’ve done it so many times that I can tell by sight.  I can tell you that a pound of pasta will easily feed four big eaters…I don’t think that helps though.  Just remember that in your hand, the pasta will look like it won’t be quite enough.

The pasta needs to cook for about 8 minutes or so.  Pick a strand out when it starts looking cooked and taste it.  That’s the best way to gauge the done-ness of pasta…take it out and chew on it.  This whole dish will prove to be more successful if you taste it.  This recipe is set to my personal tastes and that may not fit exactly with your personal tastes.  Get a spoon and taste the sauce once it is heated through.  If it’s not quite right, play with the spices and experiment.  That’s a big part of what cooking and creativity in the kitchen is.

But there it is!  A fancy, quick meal that can put the dullness of your day behind you.  This sauce will serve four people, but it makes fantastic leftovers as does the bread.  Just wrap the bread in aluminum foil and throw in in a warm oven to reheat.  Enjoy!

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