By Paul Briand
First off, when the directions say to use large skillet, use a very large skillet.
My 12-inch skillet was barely large enough to fit all the ingredients for this all-encompassing dish that is perfect for these crisp fall evenings.
The stirring part that described below meant a fair amount of spillage, but in the end this recipe from my local Shaw's supermarket was very satisfying.
My changes/additions to the recipe included onions and pepper, and I didn't use as much water as was suggested, mostly because I had simply run out of room in the skillet.
Ingredients
12 ounces of ground beef
4 ounces of sweet or hot Italian sausage (two links will suffice, remove the casings if buying links)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
28-ounce can of kitchen ready tomatoes
8 ounces of uncooked spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
2 cups water
1/4 cup heavy cream (I substituted half and half)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
6 tablespoons basil
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to broil, with rack down one slot from usual broiling position;
2. In a large skillet (very large skillet) coated with olive oil over medium high heat, cook the onion and pepper until onion starts getting translucent;
3. Add minced garlic, oregano and basil and stir, then add ground beef and sausage, breaking them up with wooden spoon and cooking until no longer pink;
4. Stir in tomatoes, spaghetti and water, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the pasta begins to soften (you'll know right here whether your skillet is big enough);
5. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to simmer and stir, cooking the pasta until it's al dente;
6. Stir in the cream (or half and half) and a half cup of cheese;
7. Remove skillet from burner, top mixture with rest of cheese and place under broiler;
8. Let cook about three minutes or until the spaghetti mixture surface is spotty brown.
Serves from four to six.
Please note: Handle with care and oven mitts. It's heavy and very hot coming out of the oven.
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