Throw Together Spaghetti

Throw Together Spaghetti

These days you have all the time in the world to plan a meal, but there’s always a catch.  Today, the catch was I had plenty of stuff on hand, too much to warrant a trip to the grocers. Doesn’t sound like much of a catch, but I also had no plan.

See, I’m a guy who likes to dine, not just eat. So, I searched the cupboards and refig and saw some things that piqued my interest.

I decided on spaghetti, but there was no way to overcome my prideful exuberance and just pour some red sauce over noodles.  Some things just aren’t done in my kitchen.

Didn’t want a cream or cheese sauce either.  Much too much of a cliché.

What I came up with was something that even my fastidious significant other declared to be a tolerable dish.  High praise indeed from someone who eats pizza with a knife and fork and insists that I make salad dressing and bake my own biscuits for breakfast.  Well, it wasn’t breakfast time and there was no lettuce, so that simplified the matter.

I’m a simple man, with exquisitely simple tastes.   But, just to be sure I was on the right track, try this recipe yourself, making your own changes to suit what your pantry holds.

Throw Together Spaghetti

1 Pound ground pork

½ Sweet onion, diced

1 Regular sized colorful sweet bell pepper or a few baby bells, diced

Many good shakes of Italian Rustic herbs (list provided on a photo below)

A full package of whichever spaghetti noodles you have on hand (cooked according to package directions

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Slosh in a goodly amount of olive oil in a medium to large skillet.  Cook the ground pork, breaking it up as much as possible.  Add the diced onions.

When the onion is translucent, add the chopped bell pepper and the seasonings.  Stir repeatedly, then pour in ¾ cup of water to steam the mixture until all the water evaporates.  Take the mixture off the stove.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti.  When done, drain and add olive oil to the pot.  Put the spaghetti back in the pot and stir.  Add more oil if you want, then add the sauce.  Mix well.

Serve with a toss of Parmesan and some sliced green onions.

Now pour yourself some Italian wine, white or red, your choice.

A throw together meal that’s fast and easy and one you won’t forget.

Saluti!   

Pork Belly: Your taste buds will love you!

Ok, you hungry gourmets, and inebriates….I always get those two mixed up…it’s time for a new recipe.  Pork belly is the au courant delectable on many snobby restaurant menus these days, so let’s try that.  What the hell is pork belly anyway?  Don’t think stomach; that’s on the inside.  Belly’s the meat on the outside and when it’s cured with sugar, or salt, or smoke, we call it bacon.  So, think of pork belly as a big slab of uncured and unsliced bacon.  One difference for Americans is the thick slice of skin that remains on top.  Europeans are used to seeing a strip of tough covering, as their bacon also usually comes with the rind in tact.

Between the layer of rind and the meat is a layer of fat, and it’s this layer that will lead to a heavenly flavor and the tenderness you only get from your spouse on special occasions. 

The secret to a great pork belly is to give it a chance, and that means lengthy cooking at low temps.  Try to rush it and you’ll see disappointment and scorn on the faces on the other side of the table.  The more volatile will smash plates.

Follow my instructions, which I present with love and good wishes, and all you will see are smiles.

Preheat the oven to 250ºF (120ºC)

Pork Belly

1  to 1 ½ lbs pork belly, dusted with salt, pepper, and sugar

For the sauce

2 Cups water

1 Heaping tablespoon of Bovril (my favorite, or use another brand of beef extract)

1 Bottle of beer (I used Bitburger pils)

½  Cup soy sauce

½ Cup sugar

Puttin’ it all together

Leave the skin on and braise the pork on all sides in 2 Tablespoons of oil, then remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Put the sauce ingredients together in a large saucepan (with a lid), or a small roasting pan. Stir while it comes to a boil.

Add the pork belly to the saucepan, cover, and put it in the oven for 3 ½ hours. 

At the end of 3 ½ hours, remove the pork belly from the saucepan, slice off the skin, and put the meat aside to rest.  I sometimes slice the skin into bite sized pieces and put it in a 400ºF oven until it’s crisp.

Remove the skin and here's what it looks like after removal

 Chill the broth and skim off the fat.

While the meat rests, put the sauce back on the stovetop and cook until the broth is reduced by half.

Return the pork belly to the saucepan and allow it to reheat, turning it once. 

Remove the meat, slice it into serving portions, put the portions on plates and ladle on the sauce.

I served this with small boiled potatoes, halved, skin left on, and sliced zucchini with diced onion and a sprig of rosemary, lightly steamed and laced with balsamic reduction.

Now you’re asking me to get to the good part and tell you about the wine.  Ok.  A wonderful Italian Primitivo.   Don’t know about Primitivos?  Well, I’m happy to oblige, but not now.