Sustainable Spaghetti

I have often been asked (by my kids) for my spaghetti sauce recipe.  Spaghetti is one of those dishes I’ve never used a recipe for.  I’ve pointed out on more than one occasion that women cooked for thousands of years without using recipes.  They couldn’t read and consequently resorted to eyeballing it, then tasting.  Cooking is one of those skills that takes some practice.  It’s both a science and an art.  The artists among us are most comfortable NOT following a recipe, whereas the scientists need exact measurements, since they evidently don’t trust their taste buds.  But just for the record, I haven’t measured anything in this recipe for years.  If you feel there needs to be a bit more garlic or less chili powder, feel free to add and/or decrease, or eliminate an herb or spice all together. 

This is not a ‘sustainable recipe’ in the purest sense, since I use canned goods.  But we all have those busy nights when we need to throw things together quickly– and what can be busier than the holiday season when we have so much to do and so many parties to attend? 

So– this is as sustainable as possible, since I only use organic ingredients.  Most of this stuff isn’t locally manufactured, however. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound grass fed organic ground beef (if you eat meat.)  If you don’t eat meat you can add more vegetables, such as chopped canned artichokes, mushroom and onion, or fry up some tofu to put in at the last minute, OR throw in some seitan or frozen Morningstar Meal Starters (which really isn’t at all organic, but at least it’s meatless. . .)   You choose.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 can organic chopped tomatoes.  (I buy the S&W brand at Costco.)
• 1 can organic tomato sauce.  (In the summer, I opt for fresh cut up cherry tomatoes instead of the canned, but add an extra can of sauce.  The cut up cherry tomatoes add nice texture and fiber.
• 1/2 chopped onion, 1/2-1 cup chopped mushrooms, and maybe some artichokes (optional)
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried chili pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• organic pasta (Costco and Trader Joes both have good good organic brands for a cheap price.)
• parmeson cheese for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Brown the beef  with chopped onions in a frying pan if you eat meat.
2. Otherwise brown the mushrooms and onions together in some olive oil until soft and the onions are transparent.   Add some artichokes if you want.
3. Drain the meat, then add all the ingredients together, except the noodles and the cheese.
4. Bring sauce to a simmer, then cover and cook while you attend to the noodles OR if you’re in a real hurry you can start the noodles first, so they’re cooking while you make the sauce.  I usually do the noodles second to give the sauce time to simmer.
5. Put on a large kettle of water to boil, then boil noodles according to your package directions.  Drain and serve with a little parmesan sprinkled on top.  
6. I don’t find it necessary to salt my sauce, as processed sauce is usually salty enough, but if you buy unsalted organic sauce, then feel free to salt to taste.  My son who likes spicy stuff adds pepper flakes to his along with the parmesan.   

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