Back Story
In my ongoing quest to have a variety in my diet balanced with nutrition goals, I’m learning to revisit old favorites. This blog entry will provide a recipe I developed to bring nutrition to the forefront of an old favorite of mine, ziti. This dish goes back to my childhood. In my family my mother would refer to this as “hamburg-macaroni.” Which in those days would consist of fried hamburger, onions, (sometimes a chopped green pepper) and "Ragu" spaghetti sauce. We were a "Prince" pasta family so we would have Prince elbow macaroni. Simple, yet something we all enjoyed as an easy supper.
Fast forward to present day and I’ve modified this a bit. Below is my recipe for a "healthier" option.
Ingredients
1 – bag – frozen Gardein Beef-less Ground (frozen)
1 – 32 oz. Jar – Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce
1 – 12 oz. pkg – Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Whole Wheat Pasta & Ancient Grains
4 – small sweet peppers (finely chopped)
½ - small onion (finely chopped)
1 – carrot (finely chopped)
1 – pinch red pepper flakes (optional but provides a layer of flavor)
Olive Oil
Directions
Prepare the pasta in a large stock pot according to directions. I like to add in a few pinches of sea salt to water.
While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet (with high sides), place onions, peppers, and carrot and drizzle liberally with olive oil, add in red pepper flakes. Simmer for about five minutes over medium heat until the onions become translucent and peppers, carrots soften.
Add in the Gardein Beef-less Ground and cook for another four to five minutes.
Once the ingredients are cooked, add in the jar of marinara sauce. I usually splash in some water, cover, shake then pour the watery remains from jar into sauce (it will cook down, and I hate to waste).
Bring sauce to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
Once the past is done, drain and leave in pot.
Remove skillet from heat and carefully pour sauce into pot over pasta. Mix with large spoon.
Challenge
Make this, tell no one of the meat-less option and I guarantee no one will be the wiser - I'd love to get feedback on this.
Useful Notes
This dish freezes well. I like to put leftovers into single serve containers to have on hand for a quick meal. You can reheat in the microwave.
Paring - This dish goes well with Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (my personal favorite).
Gardein products are available in most supermarkets in the freezer isle. Some supermarkets separate "healthy" options into a section, Stop & Shop, Shaw's do this. Whole Foods Market - well the whole place is "healthy," Market Basket has a "healthy" case in their freezer section.
For more information on Gardein products check out this link: https://gardein.com
