One-Skillet Italian Meal

Judikins's Note:

This healthy, fresh vegetables dish is so flexible. You can substitute any of the vegetable for ones your prefer and easily add more or less of the listed ingredients. After finding it in our local newspaper we tried it and thought it was just great!

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 ounces dry vermicelli, broken into 2inch pieces
• 3 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes
• 2 1/2 cups reduced-sodium tomato juice
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (hey, it's back on the market!)
• 1/3 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Spray a large (12 inch) skillet with nonstick spray coating.
2. Cook ground beef, onion and garlic in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Return skillet to heat and add olive oil. Add mushrooms, green pepper and zucchini; stir-fry 2-3 minutes.
4. Add dry vermicelli pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally and very gently, until pasta is golden-brown and vegetables are crips-tender.
5. Spoon cooked meat into skillet over pasta and vegetables.
6. Add seasonings, tomatoes and tomato juice. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.
7. Stir in spinach, cover and continue to cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan just before serving.
8. Serve with your favorite red wine.

Reviews

[Mustang Sally 54269]

We thoroughly enjoyed this dish. It was pretty easy to put together and had all my favorite ingredients. For a change I didn't find we needed to change much to suit our tastes, we just increased the beef 1/4 lb & added an extra garlic clove. Great recipe, thanks for sharing.