Poor Poet's Meals
Rimbaud Ragout
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (turkey works for the calorie conscious and for you
vegetarians, leave it out.)
1 large can whole tomatoes (pear shaped works best, but whatever your market
has)
1 large can beans (take your pick, kidney beans, frijoles negros, chick
peas)
1 large onion coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic (the more the better in my estimation. but not everyone
loves garlic.yet.)
2 TBS dried Oregano
Pasta (you choose shape and serving size)
1-2 TBS Fresh herbs (pick one or two for that matter tarragon, thyme,
oregano, basil)
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Directions:
In a skillet, brown ground beef. You can use a couple of TBS of olive oil
if need be, but if you are a frugal poet, you will have bought the cheapest
ground beef you can find and there will be plenty of fat content to easily
brown the meat. Due to the lean nature of turkey, the ground turkey types
should use the oil. Drain off any excess oil.
In a separate skillet, sautee off the onions until translucent adding the
garlic about halfway through the process. Please don't burn your garlic.
It gets rather mean and bitter about being burned.
In a bowl crush up the can of whole tomatoes with your fingers. So squishy.
So much like five year old fun. Add the tomatoes to the ground beef. And
let the beef and tomatoes simmer for ten minutes. Add the onion and garlic
mixture from the other skillet as well as the oregano and the can of beans.
Stir well to combine.
While the condimento (sauce) is simmering, prepare your favorite pasta. I
have found I like simple elbow macaroni for this. It cooks fast and has
lots of places for the sauce and flavors to go. Cook the pasta until the
famed "al dente" texture is achieved. Drain the pasta and return to the pan
over very low heat. Add the fresh herbs and stir allowing the herbs to
release their flavors. Now is a good time too, if you like things spicy, to
add some crushed red pepper. After you have stirred the herbs for a minute
or so, start adding your sauce a little at a time. Add enough sauce to coat
the pasta, more if you like "saucy" pasta. Plate up, sprinkle lightly with
parmesan cheese and enjoy.
Tip: I prefer cooking up only enough pasta for one meal. Reheated pasta
often turns to mush or worse. And it's better to reheat your sauce and add
some new ingredients while your pasta boils. Innovate I always say! See
the side of the pasta box/bag for serving size guidelines.