Green Spaghetti
My friend Maria makes a yummy dish - green spaghetti - which she serves for special occasions such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Passed down from her mother-in-law, Maria brought this to our home last year for Thanksgiving. It’s unusual and quite deliciously irresistible.
Because we are adopting new and healthier habits, I wanted to try making a similar dish, but with a green vegetable sauce instead of the cream cheese sauce Maria makes. Watching PBS this Saturday, I learned how to make sauce from caramelized or roasted vegetables. On the first show, the chefs were preparing a gravy for Tur-Duk-hen using roasted sweet potatoes, eggplant, and garlic, with turkey stock added and blended for smoothness. This looked great but they used plenty of butter and real turkey stock with all of the fat that it naturally has. (Too much.) On the next show, The chef made a dip using caramelized onions and fennel. He used just a little olive oil, then cooked them down and blended them. He added some sour cream to make it thick and creamy, then added raw chopped celery for texture. I thought the sour cream may have been unnecessary, especially if I wanted to make a sauce instead of a dip.
If you think this dish is not for you, check back soon as I am planning to attempt Black Bean Burgers and will be posting that recipe (for better or worse) soon!
Using these two ideas, and digging through my fridge for vegetables with the right flavor, I made this sauce. I had a spaghetti squash in the oven for the vegetable eaters, and regular spaghetti noodles boiling for the picky-ninnies in our family. By the way - preparing spaghetti squash is simple — cut in half, scoop out the innards, and place cut-side down in a shallow pan. Add plenty of water to the pan and bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a knife, the squash will be soft and easy to slip a knife into when it’s done.
Now for the sauce, a jalapeño and cilantro flavored concoction which I imagine will be good on lots of different things:
Green sauce for Spaghetti
1 large sweet onion
1 poblano pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
more peppers if you like — red or yellow
2 t. minced garlic or 2 cloves
2 t. olive oil
1 c. water
fresh cilantro — 10 or more stems of it
salt, pepper, and cumin
To get started, put the oil in a large skillet and set the heat to medium. Next, chop the vegetables. Fairly large pieces will be fine - you will be blending this all up anyway. Cut the onion, peppers, and add the garlic — toss this all in the skillet. Once it all starts to brown, turn the heat down to low and add about half the water. Cover and allow to simmer.
You will want to keep an eye on the vegetables as they simmer and add water as necessary.
Meanwhile, rinse the cilantro and mince it. I LOVE cilantro - the taste and the smell of it. You can mince it finely by hand and set aside or go ahead and put it in your food chopper for a few pulses.
When that’s done and the vegetables are completely soft, take them off the heat and let them cool a few minutes. When they are no longer steaming, place them in your food chopper or blender and zing them. How long you blend them is up to you - do you want a smooth sauce or something with a few chunks?
When that’s done, put everything in a bowl - the pureed veggies, the minced cilantro, and some salt, pepper, and cumin to taste. Consider adding a splash of lime juice.
Serve over the spaghetti noodles or the squash. (For the New Year’s Dieter, the squash version is a GREAT, low fat, high-vitamin meal. The only fat in the entire dish is the oil you started the veggies in!) For the non-dieter, the original sauce is made with jalapenos, cream cheese, chicken broth, and cilantro. I don’t have exact amounts since I have never prepared it myself - sorry!
ENJOY!
January 2nd, 2008