The spaghetti pot

Everyday Kitchen -

Most of us started cooking spaghetti as soon as we discovered the kitchen and were allowed to turn on the stove. It is the most forgiving of mixtures, surviving all our little culinary foibles. No matter what goes into the pot and how the finished product tastes, we can pretend the end result is exactly what we planned. These recipes, each of which makes enough to serve a crowd, are just food for thought.

My meat & mushroom bolognese

You are all happy with your standard tomato and meat sauce, but I would be remiss if I didn't include a basic recipe. And goodness knows I don't want to be remiss. The traditional Italian bolognese contains milk or cream and I admit to a fondness for it, but you can leave it out and have a perfectly delicious noodlefest, or lighten up the dish by substituting evaporated skim milk.

I know you are thinking the beef and pork needs to be browned but suspend your disbelief for a just a minute. Have you ever made meat sauce in which the ground beef has the texture of rubber? I know you have so, don't even pretend.

This method produces a more tender result, with the browned sausage providing plenty of meaty texture. Make sure you break up the beef and pork as it is added to the pot and this will work, I promise.

Try it and tell me what you think. One more thing, I don't add sugar to my spaghetti sauce unless I'm using fresh tomatoes with a tonne of acid in them. Sugar is how those cheap cans and bottles manage to be palatable without quality ingredients.

1 lb. Italian sausages, casings removed (hot or mild, as you prefer)

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 large onions, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely diced

4 cups fresh sliced mushrooms - whatever kinds you like

1 small can tomato paste

2 green bell peppers, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. dried Italian seasoning

3 (19-oz.) cans diced tomatoes

1 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 fresh thyme sprigs

large handful Italian flat-leaf parsley stalks, divided

4 bay leaves

1/2 lb. each lean ground beef and pork

1 cup each dry red or white wine and beef broth (or all broth)

3/4 cup whipping cream (optional)

handful fresh basil, chopped or torn into small pieces

In a Dutch oven, brown sausage meat thoroughly, breaking it up as it cooks. The more brown bits that stick to the pot the better.

Cook through, then remove to drain in a colander lined with paper towels, leaving a small amount of fat in the pot. Add olive oil, onions, celery, carrot, and mushrooms and cook over medium high until vegetables release their liquid and it evaporates. Stir in tomato paste and cook until mixture is dark in colour and starting to stick to the pot again. You might think you've gone too far but stop just before it looks like it's going to burn. Cooking the tomato paste to this stage is key to developing flavour. Add peppers, garlic and Italian seasoning and continue to cook just until you can smell the garlic. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme, half the parsley, and the bay leaves.

Simmer together 20 minutes. Crumble the beef and pork into the mixture and add wine and broth. Cook, stirring, until mixture comes back to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered about 2 hours, stirring often, until mixture is rich and flavourful.

Fish out the thyme and parsley stalks and stir in the cream. Heat gently - do not boil. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Chop the remaining parsley leaves and add, along with basil, and serve right away with cooked spaghetti.

If you have sauce leftover stir it into cooked penne or rigatoni, cover with mozzarella and bake in the oven until bubbling hot or put the whole dish in the freezer for a ready-made meal.

Updated pesto

Pesto is an uncooked sauce that tastes great with any pasta, but spaghetti is my favourite - there's something primal about slurping those green noodles. Use any nut you like for this but pine nuts add a creamy, meaty, sweetness not to be rivaled. To toast them, heat in a dry frying pan until they start to colour and you can smell the delicate aroma - be careful because they scorch quickly.

Spinach isn't traditional but I like the deeper colour and it adds texture while lightening the taste. The quality of the parmesan really counts here, so buy a hunk and grate it yourself for the best taste. This keeps in the fridge a few days and frozen for three months.

1 bulb garlic, cloves peeled and quartered

3 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves

1 cup blanched and drained baby spinach - 1 small bag

1/2 cup lightly toasted pine nuts (pignolia)

1/2 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Put garlic, basil, spinach, pine nuts, salt, and pepper in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the olive oil in a thin stream with the food processor running, scraping down the sides at least twice. Add Parmesan and pulse just until mixed through. Use this sauce sparingly because it packs a wallop, but with fresh cooked spaghetti it partners spectacularly with a barbecued steak.

Speedy vegetarian-but-fabulous spaghetti sauce

If the zucchini is old, the peel will be tough; get rid of it or chop it very finely. If you prefer not to use butter, substitute the same amount of olive oil. Of course any vegetables you like would be fine in this sauce-these are just my suggestions. It's worth buying fresh herbs for this recipe because it relies so heavily on the fresh flavour. Olives and capers are very salty so be careful not to add too much salt at the beginning.

2 tbsp. olive oil (divided)

2 tbsp. butter (divided)

2 medium onions, finely diced

3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms-any you like

1 large eggplant, peeled and diced

1 medium or 2 small zucchini, diced

1 each red and green bell peppers, diced

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 (19-oz.) cans diced tomatoes

1/2 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, finely chopped

1 cup black olives, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp. capers, drained and chopped

handful each fresh thyme and oregano

small sprig fresh rosemary

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Heat half the oil together with half the butter in a Dutch oven and add onions, mushrooms and eggplant. Cook until moisture is released and evaporates and everything is golden brown. You start with half the fat because eggplant absorbs it like crazy. Add remaining oil and butter and stir in zucchini, bell peppers, red pepper flakes, and garlic and cook five minutes.

Add canned tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, olives, capers, herbs, salt, and pepper and simmer together 30 minutes or until mixture is rich and thick.

Discard herb stalks, adjust the seasoning, and stir in parsley just before serving with spaghetti and tons of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Cynthia Stone is a writer, editor and teacher in St. John's. Questions may be sent to her c/o The Telegram, P.O. Box 5970, St. John's, N.L., A1C 5X7.