Mmm, pretty tasty low-fat spaghetti last night

[Ratty]

I've been trying out a lot of different low fat/non fat recipes. Most have been dismal failures but a few have been spectacular successes. I made spaghetti last night that was simply phenomenal. I used a fake, soy-based ground "meat" in the sauce. I used the Yves (it's fat-free) but the Smart Ground is good too:



Anyway, the sauce was pretty simple.

1. Saute chopped garlic, onions, mushrooms in about a teaspoon of olive oil.
2. When onions are translucent, add the fake meat and continue to saute
3. Add a can of sodium-free chopped tomatoes and one of those tiny cans of tomato paste and mix well.
4. Add some red wine, dried basil, just a bit of sugar or Splenda, pepper and let simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. You can also add some salt but I didn't miss it.

And that's it. The ratio of canned tomatoes to tomato paste made it a very, very thick sauce, which is the way I like my spaghetti sauce. The wine gave it a rich flavor (I hate my spaghetti watery or too tomatoey).

I'm going to make it again tonight and this time I'm going to try and fashion some "meat"-balls. That fake ground meat is pretty bland by itself, and though it was fabulous in the sauce, I'm skeptical about how meatballs might turn out but I'm adventurous. I'm also going to try adding some beef stock or beef flavoring and see if that adds much. Also, I'm going to make a much bigger batch because we all know how those sorts of things only get better in the fridge.

Any other suggestions for how I might gussy it up this time?

[Nay]

1. Throw just a tad of hot red pepper flakes in the meatballs and/or

sauce. Not enough to make it "Mexican" tasting, but enough to give it a little punch.

[VolcanoJen]

2. Sounds delicious, and I'm a low-fat believer

I also love to make my own "Veggie Hamburger Helper" by using chili powder, macaroni, onions, diced tomatoes, ground Boca Burger, and other good stuff. :D

Thanks for this yummy recipe!!!