Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs and Bruschetta Bread

Spaghetti and meatballs is one of my favorite meals to always cook. This recipe is a little involved but, the results are delicious. This recipe will serve 4 people.

Ingredients for all recipes

• 1 pound of ground turkey
• fresh basil
• 3 pounds of roma tomatoes
• garlic cloves
• dry oregano seasoning
• season salt
• red pepper flakes (optional)
• dry Italian seasoning
• 16 oz can of tomato paste
• white onion
• 1 can of rotel tomatoes
• wheat baguette
• Garlic bread crumbs
• 1 jar of capers

Pasta Sauce

1) Boil water with salt and add 2.5 pounds of roma tomatoes to boiling water.

2) Cook tomatoes for about 10 minutes or until the skin of the tomatoes come off

3) Drain the water and let tomatoes cool until you can touch the touch the tomatoes to remove the skin.

4) Add the tomatoes with no skin to the food processor along with 5 basil leaves and pulse until the the tomatoes become a soup like texture. to make a sauce

5) Saute half an onion with a tablespoon of olive oil

6) Pour the tomato sauce into a large pot and add the tomato paste with a 1 tsp of salt

7) Add 5 cloves of smashed garlic to the sauce

8) Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce a medium heat to cook for an hour 

9) Then, 1/2 tbsp add oregano, 2 tbsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes (optional), and 1 tsp onion powder. 

10) Then simmer for another hour

Turkey Meatballs

1) Put the ground turkey into a bowl.

2) Add 1 tsp of season salt, 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, and 1/4 cup of garlic bread crumbs

3) Mix ground turkey and seasoning together

4) Let mixture sit in the fridge for an hour

5) Preheat oven to 375 degrees 

6) Form the ground turkey into small balls and space the meatballs on a cookie sheet

7) Cook the meatballs for about 20 to 25 minutes until the meat balls are cooked and brown on the outside

8) Allow the meatballs to cool for 10 minutes

9) Add the meatballs to the simmering sauce then serve.

Bruschetta Bread

1) Chop up 5 roma  tomatoes and 6 basil leaves. Add ingredients to a bowl

2) Add 1 tbsp of capers and salt to taste and mix all the ingredients together

3) Let the mixture sit in the fridge for an hour

4) Slice baguette 

5) Add olive oil with fresh smashed garlic to the bread on both side of the bread

6) Toast the bread in the over on 375 degrees

7) Warm the bruschetta mixture for 30 seconds in the microwave to remove the chill

8) Top the toasted bread to serve

Cook your favorite type of dry spaghetti from the grocery store and serve with garlic bread. Enjoy!

Asparagus and Mushroom Cheese Pizza

The inspiration behind creating this recipe was to create a recipe to enter into the Pillsbury Cook-off. Unfortunately, I did not make the deadline because I misread some information. :( Though, this is still a great recipe. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 large fresh tomatoes
• 1 pkg of baby portabella mushrooms
• cilantro/corriander
• 2+Serrano peppers (depending on how spicy you want the sauce)
• 1 pkg Hispanic White Queso (Cheese)
• 1 package of Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 container of Pillsbury thin pizza crust
• 1 bundle of asparagus 
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 white onion

Making asparagus
1) Blanch Asparagus. You can complete this process by boiling water with a bit of salt. Then, remove after 4 minutes to maintain a firm texture.
2) Let cool
3) Cut asparagus into strips

Pizza Sauce
1) Blanch tomatoes to remove skin. This is easily done by adding tomatoes to boiling water. Afterwards, remove the tomato skin.
2) Add cooked tomatoes, serrano peppers, fresh garlic, 1/4 of white onion, and 1/8 cup of cilantro to the food process and chop until you make a blend
3) Saute mushrooms in a pan until cooked.
4) Add the tomato sauce mixture and cook for 10 minutes to make a thick mixture
5) Cool for 5 minutes

Making Pizza
1) Start cooking the crust according to the directions on the Pillsbury crust package and toss about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese along raw dough.
2) Then, remove the dough from the oven after cooking it for 5 minutes
3) Add the the pizza sauce
4) Top the the pizza with 1/2 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of Hispanic cheese
5) Then lay the strips of asparagus along the top of the pizza
6) Cook the pizza in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes until the pizza is as brown as you want

When the pizza is ready, serve it warm garnished with fresh cilantro. It is delicious eaten with a glass of your favorite red wine, such as, Merlot.