I love pasta. And I married an Italian, so I’ve been taught all of their magical Italian secrets to making the most delicious pasta ever. Don’t tell anyone I told you… This is a recipe for an incredibly delicious, delightfully simple, and moderately healthy recipe that you can make even when you’ve been sipping chardonnay all day (Happy Easter!/Happy Passover! Yay!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. ground turkey breast
• 1 package pasta (I like to use pappardelle, it’s impressive looking and tasty)
• 2 Tb. olive oil
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• Crushed red pepper
• 1 Tb. minced garlic
• 2 jars pasta sauce (I used Whole Foods’ 4 cheese sauce, but you can use whatever you like/whatever is on sale)

Serves: 2 with leftovers (4 without)

Time: ~ 30 minutes

In a large skillet over a high flame, heat 2 Tb. of olive oil. Add approximately 4 shakes of the crushed red pepper (the more you add, the spicier it will be.) Throw the 1Tb. of minced garlic into the olive oil. Using a wooden spatula, coat the garlic and red pepper in garlic. Turn the heat down to medium and the garlic and red pepper browns. It will smell fantastic.

After about two minutes, add the turkey to the pan. Using the edge of the wooden spatula, separate the ground turkey into tiny pieces. Once you have the turkey in the appropriate sizes, sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. You really don’t need to season the turkey too much as the pasta sauce has enough salt and spices to do the trick, but I really hate not seasoning meat, so I add a little bit.

Break the turkey into even smaller pieces and brown on both sides, on high heat for about five minutes.

Once the turkey is browned, add both of the pasta sauces. Turn the heat down to simmer, and simmer for anywhere from 5-30 minutes, depending on how much time you have on your hands.

As the turkey is simmering, boil water for the pasta according to the package directions. I love pappardelle — it’s a wide noodle that looks very fancy, and tastes great. It cooks in about 10 minutes, and can be found in most grocery stores. The pasta I used is the Trader Joes’s brand, and I love it. It’s also very inexpensive.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse it. Then, return the pasta to the stock pot and pour the sauce on it. Mix and serve. That’s it!

You’ve got supremely delicious pasta.

You can top it with shredded cheese of your choice. My favorite is parmigiano-reggiano. It’s my version of perfection. You should invest in a micro-plane grater, which you can get from any kitchen store (check out Sur Le Table). The parmigiano-reggiano will last for a really long time in your refrigerator, so you don’t have to worry about using it all in one serving (although I may have done that once or twice…) Grate it over the pasta. You can also serve the pasta with bread, and use it to sop up all the delicious left over sauce. You can also lick the plate!

In the end, you have something that is good enough to eat!