No-Shame Spaghetti with Two Sauces
It's the holidays. You just finished giving thanks by carb loading. Everywhere you turn for the next month will be endulgences galore. To keep from blowing up by the New Year you need to pace yourself. Here is a recipe as comforting and filling as a big bowl of pasta, but actually has no pasta, carbs, gluten, or guilt. I've included two versions for the sauce in case there are vegetarians in your midst. I make my own pasta sauce in a big batch using a #10 can of tomatoes. I then portion it out in 2-3 cup portions and freeze them. You can use your own sauce or just a jar of good tomato sauce to keep it simple. If you want to know how I make mine, let me know in the comments and I'll make that another post.
Sauce version #1:
In a Dutch oven or big sauce pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil.
Add 1 - 1- 1/2 pounds of lean ground turkey, season with salt and pepper, and brown, stirring occasionally.
I've found that stirring ground turkey too much will just make a paste. Let it sit and brown a bit before turning it in the pan.
After the turkey has cooked, add 2-3 cups of tomato sauce. Season with 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. Depending on how well your sauce it seasoned, you may want to add more salt and pepper.
Let sauce simmer partially covered until thick, about 10-15 minutes. You want the sauce to be as thick as possible to stand up to the "pasta". More like the consistency of chili rather than gravy.
Sauce version 2:
Soak 4 oz of dried wild mushrooms in hot water for about 30 minutes.
Take 1 pound cremini mushrooms and quarter them.
Put them all in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. You want them to resemble the texture of ground meat.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and saute the mushrooms with a clove of minced garlic until all the fluid they release has evaporated and they begin to brown.
Chop the wild mushrooms and add to pan along with the soaking liquid and tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
Simmer until thickened, 10-15 minutes.
Now that your sauce is simmering get on with the "pasta", which in this case is a head of white cabbage.
I would count on about a quarter of a small cabbage per person. Quarter the cabbage and slice into thin spaghetti-like strips.
Pour about 2 inches of water in the bottom of a saucepan big enough to hold the cabbage. Salt and bring to a boil.
Pile all the cabbage "pasta" in.
Clamp a lid on and simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain well in a colander just like real pasta.
Portion out in pasta bowls and top with your sauce .
Add a dusting of fresh Parmesan if you aren't staying away from dairy.
This will fill you up without that sluggish post-pasta feeling. Enjoy!
Ingredients for sauce #1:
1 (1-1-1/2 lbs) package lean ground turkey
1 Tbs olive oil
2-3 cups (or one jar) marinara sauce
1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Ingredients for sauce #2:
4 oz dried wild mushrooms
1 Tbs olive oil
16 oz cremini mushrooms
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
