Spaghetti with Spicy Turkey Meat Sauce from Rachael Ray

I have a love-hate relationship with Rachael Ray, in that I love most of her recipes, and hate nearly everything else about her - her persona, her catchphrases, her trademark abbrevs. I find her disingenuous and frankly, a little scary. But when it came to this turkey meat sauce, my girl didn't let me down.

I halved recipe, though that wasn't my original intention. Turns out, in my grocery-list-making haste, I had just written down "1 can diced tomatoes," not "1 28 oz can diced tomatoes."So naturally I ended up with 14 oz and decided to cut down the recipe. This was a wise choice. Even halved, this made three generous servings, one of which will be tomorrow's lunch. If you're cooking for fewer than 6 people, which I suspect most of you are, you will certainly want to do the same. I also used whole-wheat spaghetti, which makes this dish even more satisfying while cutting down on white carbs.

My only grievance with this recipe is the lack of purported "spice". For our tastes, I could have easily doubled the amount of red pepper flakes - that is, kept with the amount in the original recipe - and we would have been a little more impressed. We both added a few more flakes at the table, though, which you may prefer to do rather than doubling the heat straightaway.

I am a big fan of turkey versions of traditionally fatty foods, which you probably figured out if you saw my post about turkey burgers with veggies mixed right in. (Except bacon. Don't mess with my bacon). After trying "regular" pork sausage several months ago, Brady and I were both so disgusted with the sheer quantity of fat that we vowed never to cook them again. But turkey sausage, especially hot Italian-style turkey sausage, we are very fond of. Using 97% lean turkey for sauces like this is a fantastic way to get your comfort-food-fix without feeling.... Well, disgusting. And it is so easy and delicious! Thumbs up.

Of course, it goes without saying that this sauce is definitely not veggie-friendly. But, I do think that these simple ingredients would be just as delicious with some chopped zucchini or squash in place of the meat.

That's a very gloomy, rainy Philadelphia in the background.

Quote of the Day: “SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-nine. For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven.” ~ Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911