Fettuccine in a Classic Tomato Meat Sauce

For once, I think I'll just let the pictures do the talking. After all, a picture is supposed to speak a thousand words.

Believe me, I am not short of words. In fact, I can wax eloquent about how delicious this pasta was.

But, I'd rather let the pictures do the talking.

I'll confess that I was rather uncertain about substituting fettuccine for spaghetti. But that was the only pasta I had in my pantry. And so it had to do. Not that I had any complaints with the final result.

Like I said, I'd rather let the pictures do the talking.

Admittedly, mine may not be the classic way of cooking pasta. I like to toss my pasta into the sauce and let it sit in it for a while so that all the flavours are well abosrbed and every strand of the pasta is evenly coated with the sauce.

Yes, I'd rather let the pictures do the talking.

However, this much I'll certainly say: the husband who is not quite fond of pasta licked his bowl clean. Really.

Unfortunately, no pictures of that!!

Ingredients:

for the sauce:
Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely minced
Bay leaf - 1

Crushed tomatoes - one 14.5 oz tin
Chicken mince - 500 gms

Red wine - 75 ml
Chicken stock - 250 ml
Mixed herbs - 2 tsps ( I use McCormick's Italian seasoning)
Crushed red chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
Low fat cream - 50 ml

Olive oil - 2 tbsps
Salt
Sugar - 1 tsp

for the pasta
Fettuccine : now unfortunately, I just eye balled this!
Chicken stock cube - 1, optional

Method:

Heat oil and toss in the bay leaf, garlic and onions. Saute until the onions turn pink.

Next, add in the mince in 3 batches, frying for 2 minutes after every addition - or until the mince loses its raw colour. Once you've added all the mince, stir fry on high heat for about 5-7 minutes.

Then, add the crushed tomatoes and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Pour in the stock and the wine and bring to a boil. Drop the heat to the lowest setting and simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mixed herbs, salt and sugar and simmer for another 15 minutes after which add the cream and turn the gas off. Remember the bay leaf we put in? Toss that out.

Cook your pasta as per the intructions on the package; I normally cook mine with a splash of olive oil and a chicken stock cube - believe me, this does wonders to the taste.
Drain the cooked pasta and then toss it into the sauce. On very low heat, let the pasta and the sauce cook together for 2 minutes before you serve it.


No, I will not say a word about how yum the pasta was - the pictures should tell you everything!





Sending this off to Chaya of Sweet and Savoury who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Nights, event started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.