Drunken Spaghetti with Hot Salami Meat Sauce

Spaghetti with Hot Salami Meat Sauce

I don’t think it’s any surprise after writing this blog for a couple of years that anyone would be surprised that my comfort level and go to ingredient is wine, beer, or liquor in my cooking.

I think this became my comfort level when I was learning the Corsican way of cooking when I was a child. Heck I have even put wine in pasta when I was making homemade pasta!

I came across a recipe on the Food Network that I just had to try.

It was posted by Rachel Ray.

She called it Drunken Spaghetti with Hot Salami Meat Sauce

The first thing I had to do was make it affordable after making the original recipe and of course downsized  it to a meal for one or two people. Since I love left over pasta I did it for two.

Drunken Spaghetti with Hot Salami Meat Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

·        2 tablespoons  olive oil

·        5 ounces  of sliced hot salami from the deli

·        ½ lb ground beef

·        Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

2 Teaspoons of garlic that you buy at the dollar store that is already chopped and ready to use

·        1  Teaspoon of rosemary  

·        1 small bay leaf or half of a large  dried bay leaf

·        1 carrot, grated

·        1 /2 medium onion, very finely chopped

·        3  tablespoons tomato paste

·        2 1.2 cups of red wine (Chianti or lambusco is my choice you chose the one you like)

·        1 cup chicken stock

·        One  16 oz can of tomatoes

·        ½  pound spaghetti

·        1/8 pound of fresh parmesan cheese from the dell

·        Grated  cheese

Directions

Heat olive oil (also can be bought at the dollar store) in a large pot over medium heat.

Add salami you have cut into strips and cook until the fat is rendered from the salami.

Add the ground beef and crumble with a wooden spoon until browned.

Season with salt and pepper

Add the garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, carrots and onions and cook until tender. That should take about five minutes.

Add tomato paste and stir for about a minute.

Deglaze with one cup of wine stirring and scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Add the stock and tomatoes breaking up the tomatoes with the spoon.

Cook until thickened about thirty minutes.

Now while this is finishing cooking it’s time to start the pasta

Bring two cups of water and the rest of the wine to a boil then add the pasta.

Cook the pasta until al dente.

Reserve one cup of the water from the pasta.

Toss the pasta with the sauce and enough of the reserved cooking liquid to bring the dish together.

Divide the pasta between two dishes and top with strips of the fresh parmesan cheese and serve.

Be sure to remove bay leaf before serving.

The majority of the items in the recipe can be purchased at the dollar store. The wine can be purchased at a discount grocery store if you can buy wine in your area there if not be on good terms with the wine store owner. I find that pays dividends. When I want to make a dish and need a little wine he helps me pick out the right wine to use.

I know this seems like a lot of steps but it really isn’t its really easy and quick to prepare. Most of the time in the recipe is letting the sauce thicken.

One note here if you add wine to your pasta it gives it an awesome flavor that stands out even when you just use a jar of prepared sauce.

I found this meal to have a rich and full bodied flavor. Each ingredient has its individual flavor that stood out on its own but blended beautifully with the rest of the ingredients. It was nice to have the pasta stand out and not just blend into the sauce.

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I did. I can tell you I will defiantly make it again!

If you enjoy this dinner I have another recipe posted called Drunken Tuscan Pasta that has spinach, mushrooms, and pancetta in it.