Friday 20 April 2007

Spaghetti with tomato sauce... SO SIMPLE, CHEAP AND FAST!!!


YOU HAVE TO TRY TO COOK THAT!!!

It was my second and the last lesson with my female girls: Michelle and Gemma. This time I wanted to persuade them that spaghetti is probably the simplest meal to cook in the world, apart from scrambled eggs:) The girls were a bit frightened. They do not usually cook. So I showed everything step by step. In order to make it easy for you, I am going to present this recipe in the similar way, because you might cook it for the first time.
INGREDIENTS: spaghetti pasta (for 4 people about 500g costs about 50p), a bit of oil, tomato concentrate (costs about 25p), peeled or chopped tomatos in a can (cost, it depends where You buy them of course, 15p), herbs (basil, oregano, pepper, salt), one onion, garlic - add 4 cloves; olives and cheese (if you have money, because these are the most expensive ingredients).

PASTA:
Boil the whole kettle of water and then pour it into a pot, add some salt, two big spoons of oil and mix. Then, add pasta. It should be ready in 10-15 minutes. DO NOT FORGET ABOUT STIRRING!!! It is very important because then the pasta will not stuck to the bottom. You are probably curious how to check when pasta is ready... YOU HAVE TO TASTE IT. Take a fork and "catch" one spaghetti, but wait a second because it is very hot and then try.
SAUCE:
Chop one onion and 4 (or more) cloves of garlic, take a pan, pour some oil. When the oil is hot, put a chopped onion and garlic. My mum taught me how to check when the oil is "ready". You have to pour some water on your fingers and then to flick your fingers on the pan, so that water could touch the oil. If the oil starts to sizzle, it means that you can put onions and garlic into it.
DO NOT FORGET ABOUT STIRRING and your cooker must be on the lowest programme, because we do not need to burn it. When the onion and garlic are "gold", add (***) the concentrate and chopped tomatoes from the can, stir it of course. Then add some salt, pepper, herbs: the most important are basil and oregano, but you may also use some thyme, marjoram etc. In order to check whether this sauce is tasty, take a spoon and taste a bit. You may need to add some more salt, pepper or herbs.


When pasta and sauce are ready, put some pasta on the plate and pour some sauce on it. Afterwards you may also add some cheese and olives. I think you will like it, not because it is tasty, but because it is quite cheap, simple, fast and... because you cooked it, like my friends: Michelle and Gemma. Look at the photos from our cooking lesson:)

PS. Of course, it was a vegeterian spaghetti, but You may add for example some minced beef, I put (***) in the sauce quidelines when you should add meat.

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