Mom's Favorite Pasta

Tonight I tried out my own pasta creation, and it was a smashing hit! Mom declared that it was the "best pasta she's EVER had in her ENTIRE life" - and mom's had a lot of pasta.  And no, she didn't just say it because I made it...she actually wasn't a huge fan of the previous 2 pasta recipes I'd tried out, and made that quite clear.  We have friends who are Italian and I asked her, "Is it better than J's pasta??" and she said, "YES!"  Haha so, motherly bias or not, you can decide for yourself.  I also think that she probably liked it a lot because I customized it to suit our tastes and needs.

Anyway, here's my recipe.  (Note:  When I cook I really don't like to take out any measuring utensils so...I have to generalize it and you can customize it to suit your own taste!)

Mom's Favorite Pasta

Ingredients:

Thin Spaghetti  - (I used 1 lb, it was enough for three HUGE plates or four regularly sized plates)

Sweet White Onion - diced  - (I used a 1/4 of a small one today, but next time I will put in more - probably 1/2, because I love onion)

Zucchini - sliced - (I used 2) 

Yellow squash - sliced - (I used 1)

Tomatoes - (I used two small Roma tomatoes because they were on sale, 1 large regular tomato would work also.  Dice 'em!)

Ground Beef  - (I like things healthy and less greasy, so I bought 93% lean - the leanest one I could find, and used about half a package - but you can customize this to however much meat you want in your sauce)

Red Marinara Sauce of your choice - (I got a regular sized bottle of "Mushroom + Onion Marinara" on sale at Safeway for $2.00)

Fresh herbs - (I used parsley and basil)

And of course your pasta musts - salt, freshly ground black pepper, and parmesan cheese

I also used a touch of a fun ingredient - Herbs de Provence - it's not necessary, but if you have it it definitely adds a nice kick.

**With extra fresh herbs - the way mom likes it**

**With extra extra extra cheese! The way I like it**

Directions:

0.  Before you start, it's a good idea to have your onion/zucchini/squash/tomatoes sliced and diced and ready to go.

1.  Cook pasta.  (You know the drill, bring water to boil, toss pasta in, stir, make sure cooked al dente, etc etc etc.)

2.  Take your ground beef (thawed, of course), and put however much you want into your pan.  (Make sure you're using a rather large frying pan by the way, definitely not a skillet)

3.  Cook beef thoroughly over medium heat.  It should secret its own fat and grease the pan so you don't have a burnt mess.  This is great because it also sucks the oils out of the meat for...an even healthier meal! 

4.  Depending on the % of lean/fat in your meat, you might have to add some more cooking oil/olive oil right now - just enough for you to toss your onions in and have them not burn.  It should be a nice simmer.

5.  Let the onions simmer with the beef until they are soft and turn a little brown.  (Again, medium heat)

6.  Throw in the zucchini, squash, and tomatoes.  Yep! All together! Stir, stir, stir until the zucchini and squash are cooked thoroughly, and a little brown around the edges.  Yum!

7.  At this point, take your store-bought (buhaha, I cheat! I'm Chinese and haven't figured out how to make a good red sauce yet, so store-bought works for me for now!) red marinara sauce (honestly, it doesn't matter what your "flavor" is, they all taste exactly the same.  Mine says "mushroom and onion" but guess what, there's of course no mushrooms and no onions. No biggie!)...where was I? Take your store-bought marinara sauce and dump in enough to make a LARGE amount of sauce (Well, large enough to cover your 1 lb of pasta anyway.  For me, I dumped in the whole bottle.  I promise I will update tomorrow with the exact size of my bottle.)

8.  Stir, stir, stir!  Add in freshly ground black pepper and stir til your sauce bubbles a little. (Do this on low-to-medium heat though, you don't want your sauce to all disappear.  Then you'd have to go back to the store and buy another bottle.)

9.  When your sauce is at the consistency and balance (sauce+meat+veggies) that you want, and the tomatoes have softened and become one with the sauce, take your pasta, and toss it right into that same pan.  (See why you need a big one?)

10.  Sprinkle salt to taste (I used sea salt, adds a nice kick) - and sprinkle some herbs de provence if you've got it - and stir stir stir! Keep going until the pasta is all evenly coated with the sauce, and you've tasted it and it's delicious, then scoop out and serve onto a pretty plate!

11.  Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and basil (to your taste, if you're a little kid and don't like herbs, then skip the basil and go light on the parsley.  If you love the taste of herbs, then lop it on), and finally sprinkle (or drench, if you're me) with Parmesan.

12.  Enjoy every bite and stuff yourself to the brim! 

By the way, here's a little budget calculations for you - 

--Today I went to the Safeway and bought 2 zucchinis, 1 yellow squash, 2 roma tomatoes, 1 sweet white onion, and 1 batch of fresh parsley for $4.00.

--Yesterday I bought the pasta sauce for $2.00, the ground beef for $8.99, and the Parmesan cheese for $4.29.

--The pasta cost $0.99 for 1 lb.  

--Basil came from the plant in my back-yard.

Total cost of materials:  $20.27.

All this together serves 3-4 people, so that makes it $5.07-$6.75 per plate.

You can't get this portion size at that price ANYWHERE peeps!!! So the next time you're craving Italian, cook at home! Your tummy and your wallet will be equally happy :)