Thursday, August 30, 2012

Paleo Spaghetti

Best as leftovers.

Paleo Spaghetti was my lunch staple for a very long time.  The sauce (the base of the dish) is super easy to make and does not require a lot of time or tools.  Like the Italian meatballs, this dish tastes even better as leftovers and is addictive!

An Italian person would probably be overwhelmed with the amount of basil used in this dish, but whatever, it tastes good.

Tools:

Ingredients for the Sauce:
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 5-6 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 Sweet (Vidalia) Onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 4oz fresh Organic Basil, chopped (I get the organic pack at Trader Joe's)
  • 1lb Ground Grass-Fed Beef
  • 1lb Pork Sausage, casing removed
  • 2 14.5oz canned Dice Organic Tomatoes (no salt added)
  • 1 6oz can Tomato Paste
  • 1 cup Red Wine
  • Crushed Red Chili Peppers Flakes
  • Cayenne Pepper
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper
Ingredients for the Squash Noodles:
  • 4-5 Zucchini or Yellow Squash, or some combination of the both
  • Garlic Salt
  • Garlic Pepper

Instructions for the Sauce:
  1. Gather all ingredients.  Finely chop the 5-6 cloves of garlic.  Half and thinly slice the sweet onion.  Chop the entire pack of fresh basil.  Make sure you have these ingredients chopped up and ready to go.
  2. In the large pot, heat the 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the sweet onion slices and garlic and saute until the onion begins to soften.
  3. Add the chopped basil to the pot and saute for about a minute.
    2. Basil, garlic, and onion.
  4. De-case the 1lb of pork sausages.  Add that and the 1lb of ground beef to the pot.  Sprinkle some crushed red chili flakes, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.  Using a wooden spoon, or whatever, chop up the meat into small pieces.  Keep stirring and chopping until meat is cooked.
    3. Adding meat.
    4. Chopping up the meat
  5. Bring the heat down to medium-low.  Add the 2 14.5oz cans of Diced Tomatoes, 6oz can of Tomato Paste, and 1 cup of Red wine to the mixture.  Stir to create even mixture.
    5. Add wet ingredients.
  6. Bring the heat down to low and cook for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
    6. Almost done.
Now for the "noodles."  Honestly, I think making the noodles takes longer than the sauce above.  If you're lazy just eat them with steamed veggies.  But if you want the noodles, I think they taste best when cooked with the VeggieSteam Steamer.  I've tried steaming the noodles the normal way, and they didn't turn out as well.  That it and requires a lot of attention so you don't over/under cook them.  You can make these while the sauce is cooking on low.


Instructions for the Squash "Noodles":
  1. Gather all ingredients.  Make sure the zucchini and yellow squash are patted super dry.
  2. Using the mandoline slicer, slice the zucchini and yellow squash into thin, noodle-like slices.  I used the super thin juilenne blade configuration.  I like to discard the center part of the squash since it tends to be the most watery.  Pat the "noodles" dry.
    7. Making noodles.
  3. Place a large handful of noodles onto the VeggiSteam Silicone Steamer.  Fill a bowl with water and place the squash noodles+VeggieSteam combo on top.  Microwave for 1min.
    8. Ready to steam.
  4. Remove steamed squash noodles and place into a mixing bowl.  Sprinkle garlic salt and garlic pepper.  Toss.
    9. + Garlic Salt and Garlic Pepper.
    10. The output.
And put it together...

11. So I tried to do a food porn shot, but this looks absolutely terrible.  Taste better than it looks!  Promise!

I am now so sick of this dish since I ate this dish for lunch every weekday for at least a few months.  When I really like things I guess I tend to beat it down to death.  That being said, it is very good and very addictive!


Related Recipes: Marvelous MeatballsPaleo Pad Thai