Here we go again!

The beach has been calling, no, make that SCREAMING my name! As you read I hope to be on my way home from a very relaxing quick beach trip with some cousins! More details on our mini-vaca later. For now, here is a recipe for something I took down there to enjoy......



Here is what you need......

I have made/tried a many of Spaghetti sauces. What works for us is the following...... good ol' Ragu with some help.....





First, we made a trip to the local Farmer's Market on Saturday morning in downtown Dothan....

Picked up two pounds of ground beef, some chives, and some fabulous pickles from our friends at Gaucho Farms!




So, I went home and did this to the meat....

added about 1 tsp of olive oil to a warm dutch over....

added meat, 3 cloves of garlic and 1/2 an onion (chopped) and grind about a 1 tsp of sea salt over meat..... simmer until done/brown (10-15mins).


Drain (this meat had only about 1 Tbls of grease and smelled so fabulous cooking!), don't rinse.....Add Ragu (I actually used 2 large bottles from Sam's equivalent to about 3 regular size in grocery store)....

Sprinkle with about 2 Tbls of sugar...and 1 tsp of salt....Mix well. Put lid on and simmer for about 10mins....

Add your chopped basil leaves (about 4-5 leaves). give a stir and put top back on and simmer another 10mins.


in the mean time, bring a large stock pot of water (filled 2/3 full)  to a boil. This is the only time you can season your pasta. Most pasta dishes are bland , even if you have a good sauce if the noodles were not properly seasoned. You will need to add about 1 Tablespoon (not teaspoon) of salt to your water if not a little more (sorry, I just eye ball it...) I like a variety of noodles. Ziti and Penne work great, but I saw these Corkscrew ones and thought they were really cool looking. They are my new favorite. Pretty, holds sauce well, bakes well and easy to eat!

Boil both boxes together for 10mins. Drain and return noodles to pot (DO NOT RINSE!) rinsing  will wash away the starch and sauce will not stick to pasta and end up being watery.

Pour your sauce into pot of noodles and stir/toss with wooden spoon.....


Lightly Spray your 9X13 dish (this recipe will fill two of these), have your oven pre-heated to 350 degrees. top with cheese...I used fresh mozzarella slices and a 5 Italian cheese blend sprinkled on top as well.

I didn't top the one with cheese that I stuck in the freezer for our travels. Will add right before baking.....

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 mins or until you have a nice bubble and cheese is ooey gooey.

You know what to do with the bread by now....:)

Enjoy!



*** if you are up to it and would like a little zing to this, try mixing a small container of ricotta cheese in a bowl with one egg (slightly beaten) and about 1/2-2/3 tsp of salt. Mix well and stir into pasta gently before adding to the 9X13 dish. This adds a bit of richness and turns more into a lasagna taste. A real winner in my eyes :)***


If we are not too worn out from our travels today, we will be heading here and enjoying their Music by Moonlight.....hope you can join us :)