Rotini Pomodoro

Tuesdays that feel like Mondays are ALMOST as hard as Mondays! My students were NUTTY today, but it’s the end of the year, so that’s to be expected! I ran a little late getting out of work due to talking wedding invitations with the woman at work who is MAKING our invites, so when I got home I jetted upstairs, changed into workout clothes, and made a pre-workout/post work snack. I’m one of those people who has an “after school snack” every day… its just a pre-workout snack on the days I work out!

After burning 780 calories at Jazzercise, I ran to the grocery store to pick up some necessities, most importantly, garlic! I can’t believe I’ve lived without real garlic for almost 2 weeks now! I set right to cooking as soon as I got home in order to use up the quick-to-spoil fresh mozzarella and organic tomatoes leftover from yesterday‘s Caprese salad. Amazingly fresh, amazingly simple, and truly beautiful, this pasta sauce ROCKS!

Pomodoro Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb (or more) fresh tomatoes, diced

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. olive oil

about 10 leaves fresh basil, cut into small pieces

Fresh mozzarella to taste

S&P to taste

1 lb. cooked whole wheat (or any) pasta, kept hot

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet, and add the garlic. When the garlic is aromatic, add the tomatoes and lower the heat. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes start to disintigrate. Add the basil (I shredded mine using a chiffonade technique). Add salt and pepper, stir well, and serve on top of pasta. Top with fresh mozzarella and eat!

This was SUCH a treat because it tasted like my favorite pasta I ever eat out at most Italian restaurants. I’ll be making this again, FOR SURE!

Nutrition Info for sauce only: Calories: 58; total fat: 3g; dietary fiber: 2g; protein 1.3 g

Add in the nutrition values from your pasta for the total value.

Now, I’m SO excited to bring you a Guest for Dinner! Christina from Dinner at Christina’s sent me a guest dinner, and I was THRILLED! I love reading her blog, because, well, her writing is amazing and her recipes are even better! AND to top it off, she’s a Chicago girl too! So, Christina, pull up a chair, have a seat at my table, and tell us about your meal!

Normally I host Dinner at Christina’s, but tonight will be “Dinner at Mara’s!” (Thanks for having me, Mara!)

I receive Taste of Home’s magazine as a thoughtful gift subscription from my Aunt Annie. Not only do I receive the beautiful magazine in my mailbox, but I also get tasty e-mails and special web access for member’s only sections. Somewhere in that tri-fecta I ran across this recipe for Spaghetti Squash Boats! I had a spaghetti squash in the pantry, and the rest of the ingredients are simple, so that was all the go-ahead I needed.

Ingredients:

Ingredients

1 medium spaghetti squash (2 – 2 1/2 pounds)
1/4 pound ground beef (I used 95/5)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I substituted zuchinni)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, drained (I used a 28 oz can of crushed)
1/3 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Cook the squash in the method that you prefer. Either bake in 1/2 in. of water until tender, or microwave about 5 minutes per pound. I used to be a baker, but it takes almost an hour, so I’ve recently converted to the microwave to cut down on both time and energy. You can’t taste the difference!

When cool enough to handle, scoop out squash and set aside. In a skillet, cook beef, onion, and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the mushrooms (zuchinni), garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in squash.

in progress

Cook, uncovered, until liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Fill shells; place in baking dish. Bake, uncovered in a 350° oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake until cheese is melted. I popped mine under the broiler for nice brown cheese!

YUM!

These were really tasty and so filling! We each only ate half and the other half baked up nicely for leftovers a 2nd night.

If you cook these using lean ground beef and part-skim mozzarella (as I did), each 1 cup serving is 102 calories, 3g fat, 13g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, and 7g of protein!

Thanks so much Christina! These look like they’d be a phenomenal meal! I haven’t had spaghetti squash in YEARS! If you want to be my guest for dinner, just send your post to mara@imadedinner.net

Now, just a reminder! You can STILL ENTER to win one of the fabulous foodie charms here, or you can order one for just $7 by clicking here! I even made the contest post FIRST on the main page! You can also enter to win a charm at EatingBender and GlidingCalm!

Tomorrow promises to be a great day… a friend (yes, a REAL friend) is coming over for a “very meaty burger dinner”, and hopefully (fingers crossed) it won’t rain!! AND tomorrow’s Guest for Dinner has the tendency to get very, shall we say, Hangry?

Have a great night!

Tagged as: Guests for Dinner, Italian, vegetarian