Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Spicy veggie "bolognese"


Last minute inspiration strikes again! This zippy pasta dinner is as bold as a Spanish work of art because it's made with chorizo, a sausage flavored with dried, smoked, red peppers. In addition, it has a wonderful slight sweet crunch from sauteed onions and a lovely festive appearance due to the chopped spinach which speckles the tantalizing orange-red with vivacious green. Oh, and one more reason to love this in case you don't already: it takes fifteen minutes flat, and that's just because the pasta has to boil.
I have two product notes to get you started. First, I think a really good quality tomato sauce did not hurt this recipe at all. Second, I used my newest favorite Trader Joe's product: soy chorizo. Before you say "eeeeuuunngghh.... I dunno 'bout this..." do your tastebuds and your personal development a favor. Don't think of it as a soy product, think of it like the latest craze at the state fair, such as a crispy creme hamburger. It's not something you'd normally buy, but everyone's trying it and how bad can it be anyway? Like an exercise in overcoming personal bias. I'm not a vegetarian, but I fully appreciate the creativity of modern vegetarian cooking, and this is just plain good. Omnivores do not have a corner on the market of delicious food. Now, without further ado

Spicy Veggie "Bolognese"
serves 2

1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 cup plain spaghetti sauce (I used a Sicilian style sauce with olive oil and garlic in it)
1/3 package Trader Joe's soy chorizo, removed from plastic casing
1/4 lb. frozen chopped spinach
spaghetti

Heat water for spaghetti and prepare the bolognese while pasta cooks. Drizzle oil in 10" or larger skillet and heat to medium high. Saute the onion until it just begins to show some color, 1-2 min. Add the soy chorizo, which will crumble and become the texture of ground beef. Stir in spaghetti sauce and frozen spinach. Heat through and serve over warm spaghetti. To make for a family, use 3 onions, a large jar of sauce, the whole package of chorizo and 1 lb of spinach.

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