"Secret Spaghetti"

Pin It

[Reposting this since the previous version was showing up incorrectly, sorry!]

After seeing Jamie Oliver's tv show Food Revoluion two summers ago, I became interested in the idea of adding more vegetables to every day dishes.  Specifically, spaghetti.  I took my Mom's standard recipe (sauce + ground beef) and then gave it my own spin.  I swapped in ground turkey and added loads of veggies like chopped green peppers, diced onion, mushrooms, and garlic. 

It's simple, delicious and super hearty without offending your waist line.  Hence the name secret spaghetti... you'd never know this dish is jam packed with so many veggies!  It's a secret :) 

I've been relying on recipes like this to beef up my daily fruit and veggie intake in the new year.  I love eating comfort food that packs a nutritional punch too.

This recipe is embarrassingly easy since it starts with jarred sauce.  So easy that I'm ashamed to post an actual recipe at the bottom.  This is too easy to warrant a recipe.  But I'm doing it anyway in case someone wants to see the process. 

This is perfect for hectic worknights.  It would work equally as well with a homemade sauce and with whatever veggies you have on hand, feel free to switch it up!  In general, it's pretty impossible to mess up.  The sauce needs to simmer for 30 minutes to cook the meat but you could leave it over low heat for an hour.  Or cook it earlier in the afternoon or the day before and then reheat it when you're ready.

I serve over whatever pasta I have handy and add in some slices of cheesy garlic bread and a green salad.  And a glass of milk.  For some reason spaghetti makes me crave milk.  So weird.

PS: if you can afford it, go with organic spaghetti sauce (and ketchup for that matter).  Organic tomatoes deliver up to 30% more of the antioxidant lycopene which is said to help reduce your risk of cancer.  Well theoretically "30% more".  You know how the FDA works.

*****

Secret Spaghetti
serves 6-8
15 mins active, 45 mins total

Favorite jarred spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb ground turkey
2+ cloves minced garlic
1/2 onion, roughly diced
1 green bell pepper, roughly diced
Large handful of mushrooms, chopped
Sprinkle of dried oregano (optional)
Handful of basil or parsley (optional)


Pour sauce into a large saucepan.  Crumble ground turkey into sauce and stir to combine. Set on stove over medium heat and cover.

Chop onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms.  Add to the sauce (you can add each one as you finish chopping or hold them and add all at once), stir.  Add herbs, salt and pepper if desired.  Cover and let simmer until turkey is cooked, about 30 minutes total.

While the sauce simmers, cook pasta.  Combine pasta with sauce and serve.

Pin It