An easy spaghetti made with an easy tomato sauce with chicken mince…
I have been having some pretty crazy days of late. A couple of marriages to D getting admitted due to a case of cellulitis took up all my time and energy. The fluctuations in the moods were quite exhausting, to say the least, but Alhamdulillah, everything went well, whether it is the functions or D healing from his illness. I am slowly realizing how it feels to see our parents act against what we say when we want them to be resting and healing. After moving home post retirement, he has been pretty active in making the little spaces he has green, but I guess they also forget that age is not on their side and they need to slow down at times. I am just thankful that I am home during this time to give umma some mental support, even though my presence hasn’t been very helpful. I feel handicapped over here – I can’t drive, I don’t know the way abouts of people over here and I struggle with a lot of things but then whatever I can, I try to do and not let my disadvantages hamper me wherever I can.
Yesterday, we had a family trip on a house boat in Alapuzha from late in the day till evening. It was such an amazing experience, especially with the crazy bunch we were with. After a little lazying, every one picked up their spirit after having lunch and we had a blast with all the games, laughing and giggling. Even though the drive up and down was long and tiring, the day was filled with lovely memories. I wasn’t expecting myself to be going out any far, so this trip was a nice surprise. Now giving a thought, my days over here are numbered and I have just over a week to go. The feeling is mixed as always, and I am just going to take it a day at a time to handle myself… hehe… I guess I should just move on to the recipe for the day…
This is my very first spaghetti recipe on the blog. There is definitely a reason behind it. My girls were never a fan of pasta, but now they love their pasta at least once in every two weeks. Once when we had gone shopping for grocery, Azza wanted me to try making spaghetti. I was a little suprised when she asked for it because they rarely ask me to try anything new. I wasn’t sure how they would like it to be, so I googled pictures of spaghetti dishes and then showed them if that would be fine to try. They were quite excited about how the regular spaghetti cooked in a red sauce looked like. I had already made the tomato pasta a couple of times and the folks really loved it, and this spaghetti dish is just a simple variation of the same.
Usually, spaghetti is made in a bolognese sauce – a tomato and creamy meat-based sauce which gets loaded up or tossed into cooked spaghetti. I kept aside the cream and made a simple tomato based sauce, that will not make you feel guilty as far as calories are concerned. 😉 Since Azza isn’t a fan of beef, I made the sauce with chicken mince. While the spaghetti gets cooked in one large pot with a lot of salted water drizzled with some olive oil, the sauce gets cooked in the other pan. Chicken doesn’t need a lot of time to get cooked, so as soon as the spaghetti gets done. I tossed the spaghetti into the sauce and drizzled some of the spaghetti water to give it some liquid. For the richness, I added some mozarella cheese. I must say the girls were super impressed. They really liked how it tasted and now they want me to make spaghetti instead of pasta, but I guess not. I find it tough to eat spaghetti, so it is still going to be a one-off make for me. Hehe… Off to the recipe…
Easy Spaghetti with Chicken Mince
Ingredients
- 400 gm spaghetti
- 2-4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 small onion minced
- 600-750 gm chicken mince washed and drained
- 1 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes I used Pomi brand
- 125 gm tomato paste one pack
- 2 bouillion cubes I used vegetable
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp dried parsely
- Mozarella cheese or parmesan cheese as much as needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti in lot of water, with salt and a drizzle of oil, till el dente. Drain and set aside. Do not discard the water.
- While the spaghetti cooks, heat the oil. Sizzle the bay leaf and the cloves. Add the garlic and fry.
- Add the onion and saute till just wilted.
- Add the chicken mince with some salt and cook, breaking it down till whitish.
- Add the crushed tomato, tomato paste, buillioin cubes, all the seasonings along with some black pepper and cook till the chicken is done. Saute occassionally. Drizzle some of the spaghetti water if the mixture gets stuck.
- Add the drained spaghetti in and toss to coat well. Add as much as cheese and toss. Switch off and serve hot.
Notes
perfect week night meal !