Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Spanish Spaghetti

We are both feeling like we really overdid it over the holiday with the huge servings at the Southern restaurants, the home cooking at my parents' and all the Chex party mix. So, we decided we need to watch what we are eating a little more or at least watch our servings sizes. My mom had a copy of Cooking Light at home so I grabbed a few recipes from it including this one.
Spanish Spaghetti
When I read the title of this dish I wasn't too sure but then, when I read the ingredients list I knew it was right up our alley. I changed very little from the original dish other than to cut it in half to serve two & to add more saffron & red pepper flakes. The recipe says the saffron is optional but I feel like it's really the flavor that made this dish stand out & gave it that beautiful golden color. Then again I like saffron quite a bit. I added a little more red pepper flakes simply because it needed a little more of a kick for us.

For the marinara sauce you can you any basic seasoned pasta sauce you like. We used some of the pizza sauce we canned this summer.

Spanish Spaghetti
(adapted slightly from Cooking Light Dec. '09)

4 oz spaghetti
1/2 T olive oil
1 c onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4 t celery salt
1/8 - 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 t ground black pepper
1/4 t saffron threads, crushed
4 oz ground beef
1 c marinara sauce
1/4 c pimiento-stuffed olives, sliced
2 T dry sherry
1/2 T capers

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain & set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion & cook until softened. Add garlic & cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the oregano, celery salt, red pepper, black pepper & saffron. Crumble in the beef & cook until the beef is cooked through, 4 - 5 minutes. Add the marinara sauce, olives, sherry & capers. Bring to a boil then reduce & let simmer for 10 - 12 minutes. Stir in drained pasta & heat through.

2 servings

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

15 comments:

RecipeGirl said...

Gotta love the tried and true Cooking Light recipes. This is one we'd love :)

Kristin said...

that looks really good!!! Too bad NO ONE in my family will eat olives except me : (

George Gaston said...

kat, I bet this does have a unique flavor with the green olives. I am definitely give this a try with your slight changes. Many thanks

Fresh Local and Best said...

I adore Cooking Light, and this looks like another great recipe.

Toni @ Imperfect Pregnancy said...

Pretty! I'm so glad I entered the foo blog world because everyone's food looks so pretty.

I love Cooking Light. Looks like a great recipe.

FriedWontons4u said...

What a great twist on the same old meat and tomato sauce spaghetti. I might have to axe out the olives though. No one seems to like them in my household.

grace said...

that's a pretty fantastic-looking meat sauce--i love all the components. and here i was thinking spanish cuisine was all about the seafood--thanks for correcting me!
incidentally, i ate more than my fair share of chex mix over the holiday too. :)

Lori said...

This does look tastey. I am so with you about portions and overdoing it last week.

Velva said...

Your Spanish Spagehtti looks really good. Like you, after the holiday, I could use all the "light" I can get!
:-)
Seriously, this recipe looks very satisfying while still being a light dish. Thanks for sharing.

Jen said...

Ditto on the watching portion sizes this time of year. This looks like a great (and different) way to prepare a familiar pasta.

Deborah said...

I have really good luck with CL recipes usually, and this one looks like a winner!

Alicia Foodycat said...

That looks so good! Such a pretty colour.

Peter M said...

Kat, those pimento olives look fab and the zippy flavours are someone I like!

~~louise~~ said...

Happy National Spaghetti Day, Kat. Just wanted to let you know I "borrowed" this link to include in my post today. Thank you so much for sharing. It looks amazing!!!

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

Spanish spaghetti sounds very intriguing indeed!

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