WildWSS: Easy Arrabiata Mushroom Spaghetti

Easy - Easy

Arrabiata Mushroom Spaghetti

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Well whoot, whoot! :O)

Guess what I stumbled upon? Wild Oats Arrabiata Pasta Sauce (a.k.a. - sugo all'arrabbiata) at the local Fresh & Easy Market! Now, I don't spend much time in Fresh & Easy, b'coz, quite frankly, I've never found them to be "fresh" or "easy". And if I wanted to scan and bag groceries I would get a job at Stater's or Trader Joe's, because I will always pick up just one little item that WILL NOT scan. My thought is if you gotta scan & bag, then you should be getting a great discount on your purchase! Any whoo, I was getting over the remnants of the flu and thought I could pop in/out of Fresh & Easy quickly without having to deal with other folks. Ya know, when you start coughing around folks during flu season, they can look or act a little panicked. :-O

And rightly so!

However, there is good news! I remembered reading months ago that the former "natural & organic" Wild Oats brand was likely to make a bit of a comeback based on the sale of Fresh & Easy Stores to the Yucaipa Companies group run by Ron Burkle who continued to have ties to the Wild Oats brand. Wild Oats stores were sold to Whole Foods in 2007 and I have missed them ever since they closed. Well, Fresh & Easy has started stocking quite a number of Wild Oats branded merchandise, including their great Arrabiata Pasta Sauce. I had to grab some for a quick, easy and tasty little meal.

Now Arrabbiata sauce has a little "kick" to it - spicy- but we like spicy and why the Wild Oats brand is spelled with one "B" in arrabiata, not two, is a mystery. However, a lot of postings use just one "B"! The word "arrabbiata" literally means "angry" in Italian. "Angry Sauce" is usually made with garlic, chili peppers and tomatoes. You simply toss it over your favorite pasta for a simple little dish. I decided to step it up just a notch or two by adding sliced mushrooms and onion. I had been longing for a spaghetti with mushroom sauce dish similar to one we use to get at one of our favorite little Pasadena Italian restaurants which closed in 2004 after 43 years in business. It was called Bona Corso's.

This was super easy to whip up because most of the work , the sauce, had already been done. So,

Let's Try It!

Ingredients: (serves approx. 4 - unless you're greedy)

1 25 oz. jar Wild Oats Arrabiata Pasta Sauce
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
8 oz. (approx.)sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 16 oz. package spaghetti
salt, pepper to taste
1 clove minced garlic, optional - like my garlic
parmesan cheese, grated for garnish

Preparation:

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet or dutch oven to medium/medium high (you can see it start to "shimmer" or "shimmy"). Saute onions until they start turning translucent. Add garlic & mushrooms cooking just until the mushrooms start to brown on edges.

2. Add jar of Arrabbiata Sauce to onion/mushroom mixture, reduce heat to simmer. Stir to combine well. Cover & simmer until slightly bubbly, stirring occasionally. Approximately 15-20 minutes.

3. While the sauce is shimmering, oops, simmering, cook your spaghetti according to package directions. However, remember to put just a little salt in the water when bringing it to a boil AND after adding the spaghetti gently stir for the first 2-3 minutes to minimize it sticking together.

And there you have it, in three Easy Steps, yummy Arrabiata Mushroom Spaghetti! Add some crusty bread and a little side salad for a simple, tasty and filling dinner. It's perfect for a busy, weekday evening. And I'm off to find some more Wild Oats offerings at Fresh & Easy...