Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Zucchini Boy-R-De

It's been a long time since I ate pasta out of a can, but this vaguely reminded me of those spaghetti-O's-- only better, due to the fresh zucchini and garlic.
Another fast fast (although far-from-gourmet) dinner that actually tasted good!




Serves 2
25 minutes
-large pot
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
6 oz. uncooked GF pasta spirals (I use half of a 12 oz bag of Tinkyada brown rice spirals)
2 to 3 large zucchini
1 large white onion
8 to 10 lobes of fresh garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 (14 oz.) can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes
2 Tbsp. dried (or fresh) basil leaves
1 Tbsp. dried (or fresh) oregano leaves
sea salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Place spirals into the large pot. Add in water until the water level rises 1/2 inch above the pasta sitting in the pot. Place over high heat and chop up the veggies while waiting on the water to boil.
2. Veggies: Wash the cut the zucchini into 1/2 inch thick slices. Don't half the circles, leave them big. Place zucchini near the range (aside from the garlic and onion). Peel and chop up the white onion. Peel, remove ends, then and dice up the garlic.
3. Once the pasta comes to a rolling boil, begin timing, stir, then reduce heat down to medium-high. Cook spirals for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Taste a spiral, it should be very al dente (slightly soft on the outside, yet still firm and chewy on the inside). Add in the zucchini slices. Stir. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. By this time, almost all of the water should have boiled away. Just before the pasta starts to stick on the bottom of the pot, add in the onions, garlic, olive oil and full can of Muir Glen Crushed tomatoes, liquid and all (do NOT drain tomatoes!!). Stir well to mix. Add in a fair amount of seasonings: basil, oregano, sea salt and pepper.
6. Turn the heat down to medium. Let the 'soup' simmer, uncovered, until the onions become translucent and the tomato sauce becomes thick, coating the spirals (around 3-5 minutes). The pasta and zucchini will be tender by this point.
7. Remove from the stove; let sit 5 minutes, but serve warm.

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