Here is an heirloom recipe Joey is sharing with us. She also shares here what she is known for–BREAKFAST
P.Cruz Spaghetti
Ingredients:
- 500 grams spaghetti or linguine, or any other long pasta of your choice
- Olive oil, for sautéing
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 10 cloves garlic, minced and divided
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped or grated
- 1 kilo ground sirloin
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 250-gram pack Swiss brown mushrooms and 1 250-gram pack baby portobello mushrooms
- 2 kilos canned chopped or crushed tomatoes (1 800-gram can and 3 400-gram cans)
- 1/2 cup water to rinse out the can
- 1 70-gram pack of tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Extra virgin olive oil, to finish
- Chopped parsley to garnish, if desired
– Prepare the pasta as per package instructions in well-salted water. Keep some of the pasta cooking water aside in case you need it.
– Heat a heavy-based pot over medium-high heat. Add a couple of generous swirls of olive oil. When the oil is hot add the onions and half the garlic, and sauté until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the carrot and stir. Add the Italian seasoning and stir, sautéing until the smell of the dried herbs wafts up.
– To this add the ground beef and sauté, stirring, until the beef browns, breaking up any clumps. At this point remove as much or as little of the oil that the beef renders (amount depending on the fattiness of the beef and your conscience).
– Add the tomatoes, the water (rinsing out the can in which the tomatoes came), tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper to the pot. Stir everything together and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, crushing the chunks of tomato against the side of the pot with your wooden spoon. I sometimes let this go for even longer. You want the sauce to cook down, becoming thick and pulpy, and the flavors of the sauce to meld into the meat. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed; adding salt, pepper, and/or sugar however more you feel it needs of each.
– While the sauce is simmering (or even while you are making it if you are more dexterous) get on with your mushrooms. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a good glug of olive oil and when the oil is hot add the mushrooms and the rest of the garlic. Add a scattering of salt and pepper and sauté until the mushrooms soften and become golden. You want them to release their juices and then have those juices evaporate so the mushrooms’ flavors intensify. When done, add this to the tomato sauce during the latter part of cooking, and carry on until the sauce is done. Taste and adjust the seasoning again after adding the mushrooms.
– Right before the sauce is done stir in a few swirls of extra virgin olive oil for richness and flavor. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired.
– Serve with grated parmesan cheese and garlic bread if you want to be faithful to the P. Cruz way.
Note: A word on sugar in tomato sauce: you don’t have to add sugar if you don’t want to but let me just say that the sugar here is not to turn this into sweet spaghetti (I actually love sweet spaghetti but I am the only one in my family who does), it is used more to balance the flavors and round out the acidic tang you get from canned tomatoes. And I just need to stress, give this enough time to cook — you need the meat and tomatoes to meld into a sauce, becoming one being instead of two separate ones. I’ll cook this for hours, just letting it blip away on the stovetop, while I do other things, just returning every now and then to give it a stir and make sure nothing is sticking. Oh, and it’s also nice to finish this off with a good swirl of extra virgin olive oil.
Apple & Mango Muesli
- 1 apple, shredded
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 dates, chopped
- 1/2 cup cubed mango
- 1/2 cup nuts (I use a combination of walnuts and almonds, but you any combination you like)
- Yogurt or milk to serve
- Extra fruit and nuts to top
– Shred the apple in a food processor. Remove and set aside.
– Place the oats, dates, and nuts in the food processor and pulse until lightly chopped.
– Return the shredded apple to the food processor along with the mango and pulse until everything is roughly chopped.
– Place your preferred serving size of yogurt in a bowl and top generously with the muesli mixture. Add extra chopped nuts and fresh fruits on top.
Ig: @chichajo
Blog: 80breakfasts.com