How to Make Nice Mince Meat Spagetti?

[Mrsbongz]

wow.. I miss making carbonara at home too.. kids are allergic to dairy now.. but I do like to make my own pasta sauce too.. I use it to add vege that my kids (n husband) don't like.. and I freeze them in batches... I just add different meat/ tuna when I reheat the sauce.. so convenient and healthy.. no sugar or preservatives!!

[Andaiz]

I love carbonara but cream sauce and half and half…not very healthy with CNY looming!

[Funz]

When cooking pasta, I tend to boil them until they are slightly underdone.


And when the sauce is ready, I will cook the pasta through in the sauce. That way, the flavours from the sauce gets into the pasta, not just coating the pasta.

I hate the kind where the sauce is just dumped on the pasta.

[tree nymph]

Funz:

I hate the kind where the sauce is just dumped on the pasta.

me too me too! :lol: :celebrate:

[schweppes]

Andaiz:

I love carbonara but cream sauce and half and half...not very healthy with CNY looming!

aiyoh... how true. With CNY looming, my tummy's ballooning! sigh... :!:

[tree nymph]

i can't contribute much here cos i don't have a kitchen of my own. but i will be keeping the tips from you experts here, just in case i do have a kitchen of my own in the near future!


Thanks!

keep the recipes coming!

slurp! :drool:

[autumnbronze]

schweppes:

Andaiz:

I love carbonara but cream sauce and half and half...not very healthy with CNY looming!

aiyoh... how true. With CNY looming, my tummy's ballooning! sigh... :!:

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: sorri schweppes, can't help it, and it rhymes too :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[Andaiz]

autumnbronze:

schweppes:

[quote=\"Andaiz\"]I love carbonara but cream sauce and half and half...not very healthy with CNY looming!

aiyoh... how true. With CNY looming, my tummy's ballooning! sigh... :!:

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: sorri schweppes, can't help it, and it rhymes too :rotflmao: :rotflmao:[/quote]Dun , schweppes as literary blood one, okay!

[Andaiz]

Okay, turning this into a pasta instead of spagetti with meatballs/minced meat thread.


Anyone has tried baked pasta? A bit like lasagna only with whatever kind of pasta you can find in your kitchen:

- pasta
- tomato sauce
- garlic, onion minced (to taste)
- vegetables (that bake well, eg carrots, brinjal cut into thin slices then dried; brocolli; sliced mushrooms etc)
- minced meat if you want.
- cheese
- (optional although my personal favourite) bechamel sauce (see method below)

Method:
(1) cook pasta till just hard, not soft (okay one, trust me...you're going to bake it later);
(2) Slice the vege or cubed if you're using short pasta (for convenience, can eat with spoon, I'm lazy to wash so many utensils ma! )
(3) fry garlic and onion in olive oil (not the extra virgin kind, just normal one for frying/cooking); then saute the vege from (2) but not too cooked.
Remove from pan.
(4) Brown the minced meat if you are using. Don't overcook. Remove from pan
(4) heat the oven at 200C.
(5) now, put into a deep baking tray 1 layer of vege, then 1 layer pasta, top with tomato sauce and meat. Repeat with veg, pasta, sauce with meat till you're 3/4 of the pan thick.
(6) Top with cheese and/or bechamel sauce (if you want).
(7) Bake with a metal foil/cover over the tray for at least half an hour. (test with skewer into the pasta to ensure that it is soft enough; longer if you've got more vege or have a bigger pan).
(8) Remove cover and allow the cheese/bechamel sauce to crust and brown. After 5 minutes, or the top has turned golden brown, partially cover the top and switch off oven.
(9) Allow tray of baked pasta to rest in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
(10) serve


Bechamel Sauce(white sauce)
(must make enough to cover the tray)
150g self raising flour;
150g butter;
300-500ml of milk (think it's healthier than half and half or cream, but not so rich);
1/2 small onion minced;
1 tsp nutmeg powder;
salt to taste
bay leave (optional)

(a) Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and over low heat.
(b) When the butter bubbles, add the flour all at once.
(c) Stir with wooden spoon or hand whisk
(d) Do this for 3-4 minutes till all the flour is incorporated in the butter
(e) Remove from heat and let it cool for 10 minutes (this step is important!)
(f) In separate pot, bring milk to just before boiling. DO NOT LET IT BOIL or you'd have cuddled milk
(g) Put (e) back onto medium heat. Add half of (f) whilst stiring gently with wooden sppon or hand whisk (so that there are no lumps).
(h) Add the onion, and bay leave and keep stirring over low heat for 10 minutes till smooth and thickened.
(i) Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Mix and remove from fire.
(j) You may strain this (I usually don't)
(k) Stir in some cheese (ricotta and possibly paremesan, cut salt) if you like a richer taste
(l) Scoop the bechamel sauce on the pasta layers and cover the entire tray.

Enjoy! :celebrate:

[schweppes]

Andaiz:

Dun , schweppes as literary blood one, okay!

Andaiz, u too kind lah. My friends always say I'm the corny one!! :faint: :lol: