Welcome to my first post in the series called Cooking in the Corps. By the end of the series, there will be [hopefully] a collection of 27 [see what I did there] recipes that I personally cooked in my kitchen either on the gas stove or the imbabura. A couple of these are of my own creation, but most are modified versions of dishes my fellow PCV Taylor taught me to cook.
Spaghetti with tomato sauce was my first meal at site. We were installed on a Thursday and this was Thursday night’s dinner [and Friday’s lunch]. Once the gas stove was set-up and tested, and once Peace Corps’ left, the first order of business, even before unpacking suitcases, making my bed, or any other essential task, was to fetch water and set about making the spaghetti sauce. I’d planned this meal from Kigali and acquired the vegetables needed while there so that there would be no difficulty in finding what I need. A hungry Michelle is not a happy Michelle and hungry Michelle makes snap decisions/judgments that a satiated Michelle would not make.
Tools Needed:
- 2 cooking pots
- Non-stick skillet [or frying pan]
- A heat source [I used a gas stove]
- A sharp knife
- A cutting board [preferable]
- A stirring spoon of some sort
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of fresh tomatoes [diced]
- 1 onion [diced]
- 1 green pepper [diced]
- 6 cloves of garlic [diced]
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- Spaghetti noodles [only what you can use at one time; noodles DO NOT keep well overnight]
- Spices to taste [I used salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary]
- ½ L of water
- Bread
- Parmesan cheese [if you’ve got it]
- Butter or margarine
- Red wine [about ½ cup if you have it, but totally not necessary]
Directions:
Turn gas on and pour water in pot. Dice all vegetables and add to water. Add 2/3 of the garlic to vegetables. Add tomato paste to pot. Stir. Add about a tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon each of pepper, oregano, and rosemary. [Add more if the flavor isn’t to your liking]. Bring sauce to boil and reduce heat. Allow sauce to simmer for 15-20 minutes until water cooks out.
While sauce is simmering, add water to another pot. Break spaghetti in half and add to boiling water. Cook approximately 7-10 minutes until noodles are done. Drain water.
Pour noodles on plate.
Take one loaf of bread and cut lengthwise. Slather in butter and add garlic.
Put face down in fry
Super easy and super tasty.
