MEAT-LESS SPAGHETTI

My picky-picky husband is a "meat and potatoes" man through and through. If a meal doesn't center around meat.....well, he doesn't call it a real meal. 

That's why I came up with this "Meat-less Spaghetti" (for myself) to counter hubby's "steak night". It is total COMFORT FOOD !!!

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium sweet onion (chopped)

(2) 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes (Italian style)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)

pinch of cayenne pepper  (see note below)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (see note below)

2 teaspoons dry basil leaves

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

8 ounces button mushrooms

12 ounces spaghetti noodles

Saute chopped onion in the olive oil until they look sort of transparent and smell "sweet-ish". Put cooked onions (don't drain) in a large Crockpot (I think mine is a 7 quart size?). Add the diced Italian style tomatoes, garlic powder, cayenne, basil, kosher salt, black pepper and sugar; mix well. Cook on high for about 3 hours.

After 3 hours, clean the mushrooms and take the stems off. Chop the stems in the food processor and slice the mushroom caps (nice and thick), then put them in the sauce to cook for about 30 minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, boil the spaghetti noodles (in salted water) until they are HALF WAY DONE (important).

Strain the noodles and turn the Crockpot down to LOW. Add the noodles to the sauce and continue cooking for about 30 minutes. Stir and serve.

I like mine with Parmesan!!

ENJOY !!!

NOTE: Remember, kosher salt measures differently than table salt because the tiny grains (in table salt) pack together much closer. The measurement in this recipe is for kosher salt. If you only have table salt......use less.

NOTE: Cayenne pepper is pretty spicy. I have measuring spoons that go down to 1/16th of a teaspoon, so that's what I use......it is basically a "pinch" of cayenne. You can substitute 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes for the cayenne.

NOTE: Make sure you only boil the spaghetti noodles half way. This is an important step since they pick up a ton of flavor from the sauce as they cook the rest of the way in the Crockpot.

NOTE: You will have to cut this recipe in half if you only have a small Crockpot.

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