County Kildare, Ireland
Nigerian Jollof Spaghetti & Corned beef
30 Minutes
6 Servings
Introduction
For busier and rainier weekdays and nights, a quick, tasty and filling meal ready in 30mins with little to no mess! A few veg, spices and spaghetti of choice and you have yourself a meal for dinner, possibly some leftovers for lunch during the week. Fairly inexpensive as you can use some corned-beef or minced meat, this stores perfectly in the fridge for up to 5 days. Another meal to make from scratch and you can make it as spicy as you want and know exactly what’s in your food. Simply change up the spices or vegetables to make it fresh every time. This takes me back to my childhood and my first claim to being able to cook lol - I made this weekly as a "treat" for me, siblings and friends.
Steps
Slice your onions, bell peppers and scotch bonnet into small strips
Mince/dice your garlic and ginger
Cook the pasta in a pan till al dente and pour into a colander and run cold water
Heat a wok pan on medium heat and fry onions and peppers till soft
Then add your tomato puree ginger and garlic, stir till fragrant
Pour in your chopped tomatoes, and spices and allow to simmer with the lid off
Once the sauce has reduced a bit add your meat and mixed vegetables
Add the pasta and mix till combined
Its ready once the sauce sticks to the spaghetti, serve with any garnish of choice
Blog
Now that I am back to the office - at least 3 days a week, there hasn't been more of a need to have a quick recipe to hand! Packed with so much flavour with the beauty of all the spices and vegetables coming together in a perfect song - this is simple and worth the extract chopping. This takes me back to my childhood - as this was my speciality lol (all I would willingly make with no fear). Super easy to make and makes a quick dinner option or packs perfectly for lunch. Just make sure you guard yourself from any sauce slatter - ha-ha. A wok really speeds up the cooking process here, if you don't have one consider getting one (my previous post of woks should help you decide).
How to make
Now to the meal, you’ll need to do some slicing and dicing but first boil a full kettle of water. So, slice your onions and bell peppers into thin strips and your scotch bonnet to as small as physically possible. Use a medium sharp knife to achieve this. Put this to one side and then dice/mince your garlic and ginger to add to the pan at a 2nd stage.
For the spaghetti type, you could use any in your cupboard it will turn out exactly the same. Once the kettle is boiled, cook your spaghetti for about 10 minutes, this is because it will finish cooking in the sauce and sea salt to taste. As that is boiling, put your wok on medium heat with a bit of oil to stir-fry your onions and peppers, go easy on the scotch bonnet if you don't like the heat. Allow this to fry for 2 - 3 mins until it is soft and then add in the minced garlic and ginger. Allow these to be combined and aromatic before moving to the next stage.
Increase the heat to high and add in the tin tomatoes carefully, stir and then add your spices (thyme, chilli pepper, black pepper, stock, salt). Let it cook for 2 - 3 mins with the lid on whilst you take your spaghetti off the hob. Drain your pasta and run under the cold tap to stop it cooking any further. Add a drop of oil into the spaghetti and mix to stop it gluing together. Now take the lid off the sauce, reduce the hob's heat to medium and allow to simmer for 12 - 15mins, stirring occasionally.
Next, to the sauce add your mixed vegetables, and the corned beef separated with a fork into smaller chunks, combine and leave to cook for 3mins. Then add in your spaghetti to the lovely sauce, mix till combined and its ready to serve!
If cooking ahead for lunch, allow to cool down and then serve into storage containers. Otherwise serve on a plate with any garnish of choice.
Comment below and let me know how you found this recipe.
Enjoy!
#Lunch #mealprep #homecook #homecookedmeals #quickmeals #onewok #wokmeals #easymeals
- Spaghetti 500g (wholewheat/plain)
Red & Green bell peppers 2 (M)
Chopped tomatoes tin 800g
Tomato Puree 60g
Red Onions 3 (M)
Scotch bonnet 1/2 - 1
Garlic clove 4
Fresh ginger 1 inch
Mixed veg 200g
Corned beef 340g tin
Chilli pepper 1 - 2 tps.
Freshly ground black pepper 2tsp
Thyme 2 tsp
Sea salt to taste
Stock 100ml
Olive oil 2 tbps
Optional to garnish - half a green pepper & red onion