Elle Can't Cook: Semi-homemade Spaghetti

"Oh, your family's Italian? You must be an EXCELLENT cook!"

Um, nope. I leave that to my amazing Mama and sis Jess. I can, cook noodles al dente very well and I can fake cooking spaghetti sauce very well. It's a great comfort food. Oddly enough, I never make meat sauce; it's usually vegetarian and usually out of a jar. Sometimes, I add either chicken to the sauce or make meatballs (my Mama's are the best. Discussion over!) and add them to a pomodoro sauce, which is out of a jar.

So when cleaning out the freezer, I had a little precooked hamburger meat and decided to make some meat sauce. Here's a simple, quick, basic spaghetti. I told you I'm not a cook, loveys.

Noodles: I prefer vermicelli, since they're not as thick as spaghetti. Most people cook 'em too much but the noodles need to be a little chewy. Boil water (I don't add salt or oil or butter. Just water!) and add the noodles. Boil for about 10-12 minutes. About halfway through, I throw in some garlic to flavor the noodles. Totally optional!!

Meat: optional. I put it frozen in the pot and dumped the sauce on top. Again, I usually don't eat meat with spaghetti (weird, right?) when at home.

Sauce: Ragu vegetable. I added Italian Seasoning, an extra can of diced tomatoes (Rotel if you wanna spice things up!), and a few gloves of garlic. I suggest a garlic press. You can pick one up for a few bucks and it makes the garlic melt and makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

Cook: Until the sauce bubbles and the meat is warm (remember, mine was precooked). Add as little or as much sauce as you'd like.

Serve: with garlic bread, a salad, or it's just fine as it is!

Enjoy!