By Angie McGowan
This was last night’s dinner. I went into the kitchen with no plan at all. I asked my son if he wanted pasta or rice, he said pasta, so pulled some bucatini. I basically cleaned out the fridge and made a sort of vegetarian ragu. I chopped up spinach, onion, carrots, olives and mushrooms, in my food processor. Then I married my sauteed veggies with some wine and leftover cooking water from the pasta.
This is a really simple recipe that you can have fun with by using different types of vegetables, or a ground meat and veggie mix, or just meat.
Bucatini with Vegetarian Ragu
Ingredients
- 1 lb Bucatini, or spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped small in the food processor
- 2 medium carrots, chopped small in the food processor
- 1/2 lb spinach, chopped small in the food processor
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped small in the food processor
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- 1 cup black olives, chopped small in the food processor
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 cup milk or starchy water (from cooking pasta), or more (I used water to save on calories)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to package directions. Reserve cooking water.
- Drizzle a large skillet with olive oil. Add onion, carrots, garlic and mushrooms. Saute until tender. Add spinach and olives. Saute until spinach is wilted. Add herbs, fennel seeds, tomato paste and wine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 cup starchy cooking water. Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes. Add Bucatini to sauce. Add more starchy cooking water if needed to thin out sauce. Toss pasta to coat. Serve and enjoy!
