How to Make a Fantastic Spaghetti Dinner with Homemade Garlic Bread

My husbands' favorite home-cooked meal is my infamous spaghetti with garlic bread and a tall glass of Orange Julius. Now...this spaghetti isn't just any ordinary spaghetti! It's a thick, hearty, and quite meaty version that I find more satisfying than the watery, thinned out version. And as to the garlic bread, its best when it's homemade from scratch...both the bread, and the garlic butter! It's not as hard as you may think it is to make, but it does take a little time. Today, I will be sharing three recipes that are sure to have your dinner guests asking for seconds and thirds!

For the spaghetti you will need to purchase a paste type of your choosing. My personal favorites are shells because they seem to trap the most sauce within their caves, but this choice is up to you! Also, you should purchase fresh mushrooms (as opposed to the canned variety), a can of tomato paste, and two large jars (about 2 pounds total) of two different kinds of spaghetti sauces. Splurge a little here...I encourage you to buy two high quality sauces. I would recommend you find one mushroom sauce, and one sauce that says four (or five) cheeses. It makes for a great flavor! Also, make sure to pick up a small jar of chopped garlic, pre-made meatballs, a pound of ground meat, a bottle of olive oil, Italian seasoning, a small package of beef flavored bullion cubes, a small package of Goyas Sazon Cilantro/Achiote seasoning, and some salt and pepper if you don't already have some at home.You'll also need a very big saucepan, a large skillet, a strainer, and cooking utensils. Wooden spoons work nicely. Thaw out the meatballs and ground beef as soon as you can.

First, you have to brown the ground meat after it is thawed completely. To do this, pour two tablespoons of olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. You'll notice when it's done when the meat turns a grey color and becomes firm. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and Italian seasoning while it's browning. Don't brown for anything over 15 minutes, or the meat will be too firm. When it's done, put it aside. In a large saucepan, pour your spaghetti sauces in, as well as the tomato paste, all the mushrooms, a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of chopped garlic, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning, a beef flavored bullion cube, and one small package of the Goyas seasoning. Put this over medium-high heat. After it comes to a boil, lower the temperature to a simmer, and put a cover over the sauce. After twenty minutes, put the desired amount of thawed meatballs in your sauce. Usually, I buy a bag that contains 80 meatballs and they all fit comfortably. After the meatballs, pour the ground meat in the sauce. After letting it simmer for a while, taste the sauce. Add salt/pepper to taste. Keep an eye on the sauce in case it decides it wants to boil over. Let the sauce simmer at a very low temperature for forty minutes - an hour. Meanwhile, find your pasta, find out how much you want to make and follow the directions on the box. All pastas and brands require different methods of cooking. You may add a little salt and olive oil to your boiling water to keep the pasta from sticking.

For the bread and garlic butter, you need all purpose flour, instant non-fat dry milk solids (this is just powdered milk which adds nutrients and more flavor to the bread), a package of margarine, sugar, salt, a package of active dry yeast, eggs, and a few cloves of garlic. In a bowl, combine three cups of all purpose flour, one fourth cup of instant dry milk solids, three tablespoons of soft margarine, divided into four pieces, two tablespoons of sugar, and one teaspoon of salt. Combine all these together. In a separate cup, take one package of active dry year and dissolve it on one fourth cup of lukewarm water. Make sure the water isn't too hot or too cold. If it's too hot, the yeast will be killed, and if it's too cold, the rising effect won't work as well when it interacts with the sugar. After the yeast is dissolved in the water, add it to the flour mixture you just made and add the egg, slightly beaten so that it will distribute evenly throughout the dough.

Now you have to add water. You shouldn't have to add anymore water than ¾ cup. Anymore than that, and the dough will be too sticky and too soft. Gradually add water until you can form a soft dough and work the mixture with both hands to ensure even blending of the ingredients.

Sprinkle flour on a clean, dry surface and toss/fold over the dough on this floured surface 9 or 10 times by hand. Then form it into a ball and place in a margarine-greased bowl. Rotate the dough ball in the bowl to grease the surface. Cover the dough ball with a clean towel, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, which could take one hour and a half to two hours.

After the dough has risen, turn the dough out once again on the clean, well floured surface. Punch down and toss until it's no longer sticky. Form the dough into a smooth ball once again. Cover the ball again and let it rest for 15 minutes. (After all, you just finished giving it a good beating...it does deserve some rest!) Place the dough in a well greased 9X5 inch pan. Cover, and let this rise in a warm place until the dough has grown one inch over the sides of the pan. This should take about an hour. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the bread is golden brown. The average baking time is 35 to forty minutes. Take the pan of bread out immediately. The aroma will be delicious, and the best time to eat this bread is when it's warm out of the oven. Cut the bread into even slices in preparation for the garlic butter.

The garlic butter is relatively simple. Take four cloves of garlic, remove the shells, and crush them with a garlic press, or if there is no garlic press available, just use the end of a cup to crush the garlic cloves against a plate. Put these in a microwavable cup. Add four tablespoons of margarine. Melt this in the microwave for 15 seconds. Remove the cup with care, and stir contents using a spoon. Using a pastry brush, add some of the garlic butter on the newly-made bread. Don't put on too much, just enough to add flavor and a little color.

Now, for the Orange Julius...the orange Julius requires a can of concentrated orange juice, sugar, vanilla extract, milk (whole or skim...doesn't matter), and ice cubes. Combine six ounces of frozen orange juice concentrate with two cups of milk, one half cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 10 ice cubes. Blend thoroughly in a blender. Taste to see if you need to add more sugar to sweeten or more milk if you want a slightly watered down version.

After the bread is baked and buttered, and the pasta is drained and the spaghetti has been simmering for a while, you're ready to serve. This recipe makes a pretty big batch, but if there are any leftovers, they are sure to taste even richer the next day. Enjoy.