Sunday, April 13, 2008

French Spaghetti

It was a good week for recipes. In my natural Jenn fashion I "followed" them as close as I could. I can't help it. I'm just sure I can improve them.

French Spaghetti
Serves 8

  • 8 ounces spaghetti
  • 2 small onions, chopped
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 can whole tomatoes (16 oz), undrained and chopped (no shock here I just used a can of diced tomatoes.)
  • 1 can sliced mushrooms (I had some mushrooms in the fridge so I chopped them up and used them. I'm not a big fan of canned mushrooms anyhow.)
  • 1/4 c sliced pitted ripe olives; drained
  • 4 tsp flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 c whipping cream
  • 3/4 c milk
  • 1/4 c Parmesan cheese; grated

Cook pasta according to package, drain and set aside.

For tomato sauce: Cook onion in butter in a skillet until tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 15 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and drained olives.

For white sauce: Melt 1 T butter in medium saucepan. Stir in flour and salt. Cook it slightly. Your nose will know it's done cooking (30 seconds) as it'll smell kinda nutty. WHISK in cream and milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.

To assemble: Arrange pasta in a 2 quart square baking dish. Top with white sauce, then tomato sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes in a 350F oven.

Now, what I didn't do. I am not a fan of baked pasta, so I simply mixed the white and tomato sauce together and put it over the spaghetti. I topped mine with some parsley too since I had it on hand.