Simple Spaghetti, No Tomatos (unless you want them)
Ok, as part of this new blog of mine, I’m going to throw in a quick recipe here and there. Those of you that know me know I like to cook, so here’s something you can do as a simple spaghetti dinner that will make you look pretty good in the kitchen.
What you’ll need:
- A fresh veggie of your choice. Grab what ever is in season at the grocery store.
- Some pasta. I use spaghetti, but what ever you have around works.
- An Egg
- Olive Oil
- Vinegar (optional)
- Some Spices. Whatever you have that you like is fine.
Ok, get some water boiling in a pot, and, once it’s all bubbly and hot, put in the pasta. You’re going to let this cook for 1 minute LESS than it says to cook it on the box. So if the box says 10 – 11 min, then go for 9 minutes.
As soon as the pasta is in the water, get your pan read for the fresh veggie(s) that you’ve chosen. Put the pan on the stove eye, and turn it on a nice medium-low heat. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say 3.5 – 4. Put a little olive oil in the pan. You don’t want a lot, but more than a drop. I’d say a spoon full or two should do it. Let the pan sit there and get hot, while you do this other thing.
Take the egg and crack it into a bowl. Then, put in some olive oil and some vinegar. You’ll have to use your own judgment about what’s enough. The oil is pretty forgiving, so don’t worry about putting too much, don’t go overboard. The vinegar is another matter. The more you put, the more of an effect it will have on the taste, so go easy on this unless you like the taste of vinegar. As with the oil, I’m not giving measurements. Cooking is about feeling your way through the task at hand.
Now, mix up the stuff in the bowl. Basically, scamble it all together. Don’t worry about it mixing well. You just need to make sure that the egg yolk is broken up and evenly dispersed. Now, you can add some seasoning to this if you want. I usually put in a little galic salt, some oregano, and some black and red pepper. You can add what ever you want.
Mix all that stuff around. The whole process, from putting the pan on the stove eye to mixing all this up should have taken only about 2 or three minutes. That means you have six minutes until the pasta is done. No problem.
Check to see if the pan is ready. Do this by putting a couple of drops of water on your fingertips and flipping the watter from your fingers into the pan. If you hear a sizzle/hiss sound, then you’re good.
Your veggies will take about 2 – 3 minutes to cook. so, at around 6 minutes into the pasta cook time, you should have your veggie sliced up and ready to put into the pan. At the six minute mark, go ahead and toss them in. take a fork or a wooden spoon or a spatula and stir the veggies every few seconds. You don’t have to keep them in constant motion, but don’t let them sit for too long on one side or they’ll burn.
As the time on the pasta approaches, turn off the eye with the veggie pan on it. Give them a final stir and turn you attention to the past. This needs to be done quick, so be ready. You need to drain the pasta as quickly as you can, and, once the water is mostly gone and the pasta is back into the pot, add in the egg and oil mixture from the bowl. The heat from the noodles will cook the raw egg quickly because it’s spread out so much. Stir the mixture into the past with a spoon or something.
Once it’s all stirred in, start moving the pasta onto plates for however many people are there. After the pasta is on the plate, take a fork and get out the veggies. Put them on top of the pasta, and you’re done. Serve with a white wine of your choice. Feel free to add bread or whatever. I sometimes slice up some chicken and add it to the veggies in the pan.
