Start with your sauce. I know a jar of factory made sauce isn't that expensive, but making it your own is not only delicious but self satisfying. Serve your homemade sauce to someone and hear the compliments come rolling in. YOU made it and THEY love it. Life. Is. Good.
1 29oz can of tomato sauce
1 can diced tomato
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
3 bay leaves
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and place on low heat. You want to cook this on low so the spices can really cook into the tomato.
Now start your spaghetti pot full of water boiling. Start heat at medium. A bit of advice, add a tablespoon of Olive Oil or butter to your water. This will help you avoid your noodles boiling over or sticking together! That way you don't have to be worry about watching those noodles while you butter your breadsticks! Breadsticks! Soon enough, we'll get there! But first, start your meat.
1 to 1 1/2 lbs of hamburger meat
1/2 medium onion - diced (optional)
*Lets talk about onions for a minute. They are smelly, slimy, make your hands stink and I LOVE them.
If you don't, don't add them! Simple as that.
Fresh mushrooms without stems and sliced (optional)
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs garlic salt
I season the meat or it will cook bland and taste like bland meat coated in delicious sauce. Lets make them both delicious.
Cook your meat on medium/low heat. That way its not cooking so fast that you have to stay with it. Let it cook a while before you stir so you can move on to the anticipated breadsticks! YEA!!
2 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1 c. hot water
3 c. flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbs brown sugar
1/4 c. oil
Start with your yeast and water. Measure your hot water and add the yeast, let it set while you measure out your other ingredients. This activates the yeast to make your sticks rise. Neat, huh? Don't worry about the look, or the smell. It's suppose to look and smell gross, that's the burden of the yeast. After you combine the remaining ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, step over and stir your sauce, meat and check to see if your water is boiling yet. Back to the bread. Add your water/yeast mixture to the flour and stir with a fork. Now, have a nice clean workspace and sprinkle out a bit of flour. If I had to measure, I would say 1/4 cup. Dump your dough out on the floured surface and start kneading.
Don't panic.
If you've never kneaded anything before, it's not hard. What you'll do is dig the ball of your palm into the ball of dough, turn the dough and fold it over and press your hand into it again. You'll do this for about 5 minutes picking up the flour on the counter as you go. By the time you are done, you'll have a slightly tacky, smooth ball of dough. It should not stick to the counter. If it is, knead in a bit more flour. Roll this out into a rectangle that is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with butter knife or a pizza cutter into strips. Give the strips a twist and place them on a cookie sheet. Let them sit for about 10 minutes then bake at 375 degrees for about 14 minutes. Letting them sit allows them to rise, creating a fluffy, soft, melt in your mouth breadstick.
Ok, back to the meat. If it's not done, turn up the heat. If you water isn't boiling, turn up the heat. LEAVE the heat on the sauce alone. When your meat is done, dump the sauce into it and turn it to low heat. When you water starts boiling, add a 1 lb bag of spaghetti to it. STIR. If you've added Oil or Butter to the water you want to stir the noodles after you put them in the water, this will help them from sticking together.
Do you know how to tell if noodles are done? I was told a fantastic trick that I absolutely LOVE. Take a noodle and throw it against a clean cabinet door. Did it stick? If it did, your noodles are done! See?
HA! I love it! Alright, so your noodles are done. Drain the water and dump in the meat sauce. Mix well, get your breadsticks out of the oven coat 'em with some good ole melted butter and garlic salt and there you have it. Homemade Spaghetti with matching Breadsticks. Enjoy!
"Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."" John 6:35
We just made spaghetti here and invited my fambly over to eat it. Next time, I am going to try out your way of doing it :) But I might not wait until then to make he breadsticks!
ReplyDeleteWe do breadsticks often. And it's never too often for breadsticks!
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