Crazy Pasta

I call this my crazy pasta because you feel a little crazy (good) when you sit down to eat it.  This isn't a simple marinara with a spaghetti noodle.  No, this pasta is not for the faint-of-heart.

I love vegetables, and I love incorporating them into pasta.  Perhaps this 'pasta and sauce' recipe can be considered more in the meat and potatoes category, as it is a very filling and hearty dish.  Anyway, the best thing about this recipe is how flexible it is, meaning you have all the authority in the world to add or remove vegetables as you please  :)

Tip one:
Always make sure you have a great, heavy, non-stick or stainless steel pan (mine in the picture is Calphalon).

Step one:
Heat up pan, and add a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
                                    Side bar:  Should I use Rachel Ray's oh-so-smart-and-short 'EVOO'?  Maybe.  I
                                    am just going to assume that from now on if I write EVOO, you know what I am
                                    talking about, or you have at least seen one episode of 30 Minute Meals.

Step two:
Saute about 1/2 cup of chopped onion and about 3 cloves of minced garlic in your heated pan.  Let these soften up together for about 5 minutes and then add a package of sliced mushrooms.  Cook these together until the mushrooms start to darken and get soft.  All together they should have cooked for around 8 minutes on medium-high heat.

Step 1a:
While you are sauteing the delicious vegetables, have another one of those great heavy skillets heating up on another burner.  I, being the newly-wed and super-poor-college-kid that I am, have only two good skillets, and one of those is cast-iron.  I don't really care for cast iron for cooking ground meat, but you must work with what you have, so I do!

                                           Side bar: I made this recipe huge!!  I have half of the sauce in my freezer so it
                                           can be a quick and easy dinner some other night... so feel free to cut this all in
                                           half if you want just one dinner!

Now, you can fill in the meat part with whatever you have on hand.  I try to be health-conscious as much as possible (I have a wedding coming up...) so I used ground turkey.  I put in one pack (1lb) of Italian seasoned turkey and then three hot Italian turkey sausages out of the casings.  So just cook this meat right up so it is ready to add to the sauce.

Step three:
Put some water on to boil in a large pot.  When it comes to a 'rolling' boil, add a lot of salt!  Make it so the sea horses can swim in it!

Step four:
Back to the sauteed veggies...  I love olives, so add olives if you do too!  They have such a great taste, even if they are a little fatty, I just feel that they add so much flavor and color to the recipes.  Anyway, add them at this point if you prefer, otherwise, its tomato time!

Now, if you are feeling ambitious, get some cans of diced, crushed and whole tomatoes.  I would put about 4 or 5 14oz cans in at this point.  Then, season them up.  Salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, sage and rosemary to taste.  I like a lot, and I never measure  :)

Otherwise, just use canned sauces.  I used a variety of both when I made it, using two cans of pasta sauce and then a large can of diced tomatoes.  I also still seasoned to my tastebuds  :)

Step 4a:
If you love spinach (which I do, especially with tomato sauces), add frozen spinach here!  Make sure you thaw it and drain it through a kitchen towel thoroughly, otherwise you will have watery sauce!

Step five:
Add your pasta to your boiling sea horse water and cook as directed.  Al dente is best!

Step six:

Add your cooked meat to your sauce and let it simmer.  The longer it simmers, the better, but it is ready as soon as it is hot and your pasta is done!!

P.S.
The model is my friend Kylea  :)  She loved Crazy Pasta!!