Turkey Mushroom Spaghetti

Spaghetti is always a great quick dinner. Try it with Turkey!

You will need: for dinner for two

• 1/2 pound ground turkey
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 onion
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1-1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbsp porcini mushroom powder (I will show you how to make it)
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 milk
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped basil
• salt/pepper
• starchy hot pasta water
• Parmesano Reggiano cheese- grated at serving

Step 1: rough chop garlic, celery, carrot and onion. Pulse in a food processor until roughly pureed.

Step 2: in a hot saute pan with a few tbsp olive oil, add contents of food processor and half of the chopped basil and parsley. Save the remainder to sprinkle on at the last moment before serving. Cook 3-4 minutes until some of the water has evaporated and the vegetables start to carmelize.

Step 3: add your ground turkey to the vegetables and fry until starting to brown. You may need some additional olive oil as there is very little fat in the turkey meat.Add Italian seasoning,  chili flakes, granulated garlic, salt and pepper.

Step 4: bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook your spaghetti to the directions on the package. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before you drain pasta. This water is very important to help create your sauce.

Step 5: add your sliced mushrooms and porcini powder. (which is made by grinding dried porcini mushrooms in a spice/coffee grinder until you get a dust- loads of mushroom flavour!) Add crushed tomatoes, milk and sugar.Cook on medium/high for 5-7 minutes. Stir as necessary to avoid burning.

Step 6: when the sauce gets too dry add a bit of the pasta water at a time to thin it out or add a bit of tomato paste if its too wet. Keep cooking until pasta is cooked to Al Dente. (a bit hard) Add remaining parsley and basil.

Step 7: Once the sauce is the thickness you like add the cooked pasta to the sauce and cook another 2 minutes. Serve with additional sauce and grated Parmesan cheese.