How to Cook a Delicious Restaurant-Quality Spaghetti Dinner At Home

Toss those canned and frozen spaghetti dinners in the garbage can! There's nothing like eating a delicious traditional spaghetti dinner, and it's much easier (and less expensive) than you may think. So lay a tablecloth on your dining room table, light a couple candles, dim the lights, and wa-la: a perfect recipe for a restaurant-quality Italian meal right in the comfort of your own home.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 16 oz. spaghetti
• Spaghetti sauce
• Meatballs, ground beef, or Italian sausage
• Broccoli, zucchini, green beans, or spinach
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Fresh garlic or chopped garlic in jar
• 1 loaf Italian or French bread
• Fresh grated Parmesan cheese or higher-quality grated cheese in plastic container
• Salt & pepper
• Pots & Pans (including steamer)
• Spaghetti strainer
• Pyrex® or other glass storage containers
• Decorative serving plates and bowls (Made in Italy, of course)
• Serving spoons and forks
• Chianti (optional)
• Tiramisu (optional)

1. Cook Spaghetti. Boil water in large pot and add spaghetti. After about 5 minutes, begin checking to see if it is cooked by pulling a strand out of the boiling water, cooling the strand, and tasting it. The consistency you are looking for is al dente, or slightly chewy.

2. Cook Meats. Your meat choices are Italian sausage, ground beef (for meatsauce), or meatballs. For Italian sausage, fry in a 10- or 12-inch oiled frypan for about 15-20 minutes, turning sausages halfway through the cooking process so both sides are browned. For ground beef, brown in a frypan. For meatballs, you can either follow a recipe or purchase store-bought meatballs (the latter of course is a time-saver).

3. Prepare Sauce. Save money by purchasing 26oz. cans of spaghetti sauce for less than $1.00. For easy cleanup, pour sauce into a Pyrex® or other glass storage container and microwave to heat up the sauce. After the meal, simply store remaining sauce in the refrigerator.

4. Prepare Veggies. Steam fresh zucchini, broccoli, or green beans. Spinach goes well with spaghetti as well, which you can either purchase canned or cook fresh in a pan with a dash of salt and olive oil. If you choose to cook fresh spinach, remember to cook the entire bunch (with stems removed) as fresh spinach cooks down significantly.

5. Prepare Garlic Toast. I shake my head in disgust every time I pass so-called "garlic bread" in the frozen section of the grocery store. Those expensive pieces of tasteless bread slathered with margarine and sprinkled with garlic powder - that's not garlic bread at all! Mix about 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil with 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 2-3 minced garlic cloves (or if you really like garlic, 4 cloves), and 1/4 teaspoon salt in bowl. Spoon or brush mixture on bread slices and toast until almost golden brown.

6. Prepare Drinks. Now of course you can have milk, water, iced tea, juice, or a variety of other drinks with your meal. But for a true Italian experience, why not try the red wine of Italy - Chianti. Other wines that pair well are Pinot Noir and Merlot.

7. Serve Your Spaghetti Dinner. Strain spaghetti in strainer, then pour into large decorative ceramic bowl (made in Italy, of course) with a long-handled spoon and fork for serving. If you choose to serve your sauce with flair, pour into another decorative ceramic bowl and serve with a ladle. If you're making meatsauce, mix browned ground beef into sauce. Put veggies in another bowl, meatballs in another bowl, and/or Italian sausages on a serving plate. Lastly, place hot garlic toasts in a serving basket lined with a cheesecloth or fancy cloth napkin, covering the toasts to keep warm.

8. Toast your guests with your beverage of choice, and shout, "Un bel piatto di pasta! Bello da vedere - e molto delizioso!"

9. Top off your delicious spaghetti dinner with a light and delicious slice of Tiramisu served with extra mascarpone cheese on the side. Serve with coffee.

Tips & Warnings

• There are three types of spaghetti: regular (thickest), thin, and angel hair (the thinnest: also known as vermicelli).
• In terms of cooking time, regular spaghetti takes the longest and angel hair cooks the fastest.
• Don't overcook the vegetables or you'll end up with veggie mush. The key to steaming veggies is "tender yet firm."
• For tastier spaghetti, add 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and olive (or vegetable) oil to boiling water.
• There are two types of Italian sausage: sweet and spicy. Both are tasty; it's just a matter of preference.
• Olive oil is high in healthy monounsaturated fats, catechins, and phytochemicals. Don't be afraid to use it liberally wherever you can.
• To enhance the excitement of your Italian spaghetti dinner, serve a salad and/or antipasto before the main course.
• Wine pairings include Chianti (preferred), Pinot Noir, and Merlot.
• When cooking spaghetti, DO NOT go by the cooking times on the box. Rather keep pulling spaghetti strands out of the boiling water, allowing them to cool a bit, and tasting them to see if they are al dente (chewy).
• To avoid burns, use kitchen implements with long handles rather than the spoons or forks you eat with.

Resources

• Best of Sicily Magazine: Was Spaghetti Invented in Sicily?

[gessie]

on 12/12/2008 Ohhhh I just love spaghetti and this sounds so
delicious. Thanks I'll have to put this in my favs
so I can come back to to it. 5 stars 4 U