Aspirations of Eclecticism: Hello Sister: Basketti.

You said you were tired of all the chicken and rice and rice and rice you and Levi were eating so I thought maybe I’d give you something to play with. This is a spaghetti sauce that Erik asks me to make on a fairly regular basis. We had it for dinner last night, I took photos because not enough cook books show you step by step how things are supposed to look. It’s easier for me to follow this way. Hope you like it; it doesn’t have rice in it!

Things you’ll need:

o A big pot, a stove and a spoon.
o Olive oil
o One medium yellow onion (only yellow, red and white are gross)
o Two Zucchini
o Two Yellow Squash
o A big handful of sliced mushrooms (half a bucket’s worth)
o One pound ground meat (chicken turkey beef or pork, I’ve used every kind and it all works, this time I used a mild Italian sausage)
o One large can of petit diced tomatoes
o Two cans of tomato paste
o ¼ cup red wine
o 1 cup water
o Black pepper and salt and garlic (fresh ground pepper and kosher salt is what I use but whatever you have is fine, if it’s fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt though it sounds fancier with you tell folks about it)
o Red Pepper flakes
o Whatever other seasoning you like (with chicken try thyme, with beef use oregano and basil, with pork I like a little fennel and rosemary, it’s all up to you though. Use your own judgment, but I totally know what I’m talking about so just do like I say and get creative later if you don’t like it.)
Start by heating up the oil in the pot, not to the point of smoking and not really for any reason in particular, I just love hearing the sizzle when I throw the onions in. I tend to cackle and say “die my pretties” as I stir, but you can do whatever. I add the pepper and salt (fresh cracked and kosher) here so that I can do just one more thing the opposite of everyone else. Last night I got it just right and didn’t need extra salt at the end but not everyone is the salting savant I am, so go easy on yourself if you find you need more later.

This is what the onion should look like once it’s
seasoned and cooked for about ten minutes

Once the onion has cooked and looks a little slimy that’s when I add the meat. Cook the meat all they way until it’s totally done. Then, if you want, drain the juices. I keep all the juices because it tastes better when you do, just make sure the meat you are using is lean and there won’t be an abundance of fat left.

I didn’t drain the meat last night and you can see there wasn’t much juice left. (Also the onions do soak up some while cooking.) At this point, add the red pepper flakes, or cayenne or Tabasco, whatever you have on hand.

I don’t cut up my veggies until this part because I like the meat and onions to sit in the pepper for a while. Well, that and also I usually forget. So cut it all up and add the zucchini and squash and give it a good mix.

I add in ¼ cup of red wine. It’s not enough to really do much of anything except add a tiny bit of flavor. Also it seems to make the veggies cook a little faster than with just the water we add in later. The wine will soak up fast and you’ll want to add more, I’d say not to but go for it, no reason you shouldn’t. Just don’t drown it, save some to drink with dinner.

Mushrooms next, because you can’t add all the veggies at once, because I say so and because I forgot the mushrooms and because we are going in order of the pictures I took.

Next add a cup of water and a big spoonful of garlic. I use the kind that comes in a jar because when you use as much as I do it's just so much simpler, and cheaper.

Pour in the can of tomatoes, juice and all. Stand back when you do this. I've ruined so many shirts by splashing myself with tomato juice. That crap doesn't come out easy.

After you stir all of it together it should look like this.

Put the lid on the pot and set your timer to 30 minutes. Clean your kitchen turn the stove on for your bread and prep the dough for baking.

Periodically stirring the pot.

After thirty minutes put your bread into the oven and start your noodles cooking. By the time your bread is done and cooling your noodles should be almost done. Add two cans of tomato paste and stir it in well.