Souper Spaghetti

Mmm… there is nothing like Souper Spaghetti. One of my favorite comfort foods – ever. SO good. It’s SO easy to make too. Well, I suppose it’s not something you can zap for 30 seconds, but in the grand scheme of things, frying some meat, cutting some veggies and cooking it, not too difficult.
Last summer we had a huge bunch of basil we didn’t know what to do with, so we stuck it in the food processor with some ice, then froze the basil mash into a mini cupcake silicone form. So when we are cooking Italian, we throw in a frozen basil cube. This time I used 2 cubes and cut up a bunch of fresh parsley I had in the fridge.
Let’s talk about the quantities in this recipe. They are ridiculous. Who wants such a tiny amount of carrots? Or onion? I say… go with your gut and add tons of veggies – we do. :) This time I used 2 full onions- a bunch of green onions too, probably 8 carrots, 5 stalks of celery, a full sweet pepper, a full can/jar of spaghetti sauce and lots of spaghetti noodles.
This is awesome the next day and for the next week. So then it is an easy meal, but instead of 30 seconds, it’s more like 3 minutes… but still can’t beat that! So good.

Souper Spaghetti
What you need!
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green sweet pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 14-1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2-1/2 cups water
1 13- to 15-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Dash crushed red pepper
2 ounces spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
Fresh herb sprigs (optional)
What to do!
1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook meat, onion, sweet pepper, celery, carrot, and garlic over medium heat until vegetables are tender and meat is no longer pink, stirring frequently. Drain excess fat.
2. Add undrained tomatoes, the water, spaghetti sauce, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Bring mixture to boiling. Add broken spaghetti. Return to boiling. Reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until spaghetti is tender. Serve immediately. If desired, top each serving with a fresh herb sprig. Makes 6 servings.