Zans Spaghetti
I make this using ground turkey, however ground beef can be used or even a combination of both. In addition, this version is acid reflux friendly. I make this version using less tomato based sauce etc. Very good. My daughter loves it!
I make this using ground turkey, however ground beef can be used or even a combination of both. In addition, this version is acid reflux friendly. I make this version using less tomato based sauce etc. Very good. My daughter loves it!
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- 2 large red or yellow onion
- 1 pkg frozen fajita vegetable blend
- 1 teaspoon bread dipper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 cans diced tomatoes basil, oregeno, garlic
- 2 cans diced rotel tomatos
- 1 jar pasta sauce your flavor choice
- 1 pkg wheat spagetti
- Carbohydrate 72.9986968938447 g
- Cholesterol 598.016840492465 mg
- Fat 38.1197525491066 g
- Fiber 16.0091558743517 g
- Protein 208.252854691537 g
- Saturated Fat 11.7408926309207 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (1711g)
- Sodium 13411.1454911107 mg
- Sugar 56.989541019493 g
- Trans Fat 5.41898080268274 g
- Calories 1514 calories
Step-by-step
- Chop onion.
- Add butter to skillet & sauté onion and frozen fajita veggies. Set aside.
- Brown ground turkey. Do not drain.
- Add sautéed veggies to ground turkey.
- Add pasta sauce.
- Add diced tomatoes including juice and seasonings to taste. I start with 1 teaspoon of everything except sugar then add more as needed. I start with 3 tablespoons sugar and add more if needed as well.
- Simmer on stove for 1 hour.
- While meat mixture is simmering, boil salted water in a pot on stove. Add spaghetti. Cook for 7 minutes (Al Dente).
Swapping ground turkey for high-fat ground beef alters the thermal capacity of the pan, requiring careful attention so the meat browns rather than boils in its own juices. Lean poultry lacks rendered fat, meaning butter must be added initially to conduct heat and facilitate the Maillard reaction in the onions and frozen pepper strips. This foundational lipid layer carries fat-soluble aromatic compounds from dried rosemary and thyme throughout the pan.
Simmering the combined sauce for a full hour drives off excess water content from the canned tomatoes and canned Rotel, concentrating the remaining organic acids and natural sugars. Granulated sugar is added precisely at three tablespoons to neutralize the sharp citric and malic acids naturally present in nightshades, preventing a harsh metallic finish. Long thermal reduction breaks down complex cellular walls in the vegetables, yielding a uniform texture without requiring chemical thickeners.
Fresh alliums and bell peppers contain roughly ninety percent water, which releases rapidly during sautéing and steams the surrounding tissue rather than browning it. Conversely, frozen fajita vegetables have already undergone cellular rupture from ice crystal formation, releasing their moisture load much faster when introduced to hot butter. Compensating for this water release means maintaining high burner output during the initial onion and pepper saute phase.
Boiling the wheat spaghetti for exactly seven minutes achieves a firm al dente interior that resists structural collapse when coated in heavy meat sauce. Starches gelatinize rapidly at boiling temperatures, but stopping the thermal transfer precisely at seven minutes prevents the outer amylose molecules from swelling excessively and turning gummy. Drain the pasta immediately through a colander without rinsing to preserve the external starch film required for sauce adhesion.
