Spaghetti with Spicy Meat Sauce

****I don't know what happened to my pictures! I'm going to leave this blog post up, for the directions....meanwhile, I'm hunting down my pictures in the blogosphere picture graveyard...

Here is an excellent spaghetti recipe that will fill you up and is so yummy! It is about 370 calories per serving - and the servings are good size.

Once again, I got this from my Cook This, Not That! Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals from Amazon. I have to say that I am really, really enjoying this cookbook. If you've ever purchased a low calorie cookbook, then you know that a recipe may say 300 calories per serving, serves 4 - only to discover after you've made the recipe, it will barely serve 2 people. (c'mon we're hungry!) So, I was a little apprehensive when I bought this cookbook. The pictures are so pretty and the food looks so good. I would have hated to have been disappointed with a cup of something for my entire supper. But, this cookbook has really left me happy and wanting more. The servings are huge! This spaghetti recipe made a very nice and filling supper for both Bossman and myself - with plenty (more than plenty) left over for lunch tomorrow. Can't beat that with a stick!

So, here goes....

First thing to start with is the spaghetti noodles. I prefer these - Healthy Harvest Whole Grain. Whole grain pasta has more fiber and fiber helps to regulate your blood sugar, making you feel full longer. We prefer the taste and texture of whole grain pasta. (and it takes less time to cook ;)

This is where I added a few more calories to our spaghetti. The recipe calls for 4 slices of bacon. But, I had 5 slices left in a package. Being raised the way I was, I found it impossible to cook 4 slices and either throw the last slice away or put it back in the refrigerator all by itself. What if it got lonely? The bacon I used was also the last of my thick sliced bacon. But, all we've had today was our brunch of egg sandwiches with pastrami and swiss - and then I had an apple with peanut butter and Bossman had a banana. (okay, well, he ate two brunch sandwiches). In essence, we had (and still have) calories to spare today.
Anyway, fry 4 slices of bacon in a large skillet. Seriously, make it large. You're going to be adding everything else to it and this recipe makes quite a bit.

Meanwhile, slice up a small yellow onion. "Small" depends on how much onion you prefer. I used what you see pictured above, but could easily have used more with no problems.

When your bacon starts to look like this - kinda sorta done, but not quite. Take it out of the pan and lay it on a paper towel. (notice how I cut the slices in half to make sure I got the ends cooked good). Remove all but about 1 Tbsp of the bacon grease from your pan.

Meanwhile, put a pot of water on to boil - add some salt to it. When it begins to boil, add your spaghetti. The recipe calls for 10 oz. Why do recipes call for "ounces" of something like spaghetti? I don't have an ounce measuring thingy. Thankfully, the package of spaghetti I bought was 13.4 ounces - so I used most of it, but not quite all of it. I just kind of looked in the box and divided by 13ths and took out 10 of those. So, I used 10 oz. more or less.

Cut your bacon into 1/2" pieces and put back into the skillet. Add your chopped onion, 4 cloves of garlic minced and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes. (I actually used more like 1 Tbsp of crushed red pepper and our's was a tad on the spicy side. So, red pepper to suit your taste. Saute all of this for about 5 minutes.

Add a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes to your skillet of goodies. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for a few minutes. 

While your spaghetti sauce is simmering, drain the water off your spaghetti noodles. Allow to sit in the colander for a few seconds so all of the water drains off.

Add your spaghetti noodles to your spaghetti sauce and mix well. Make sure the sauce gets on all of the pasta equally. Serve!

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