Yesterday, in between baking delicious pumpkin cookies, going to Target, and seeing 50/50 my mom and I spent some quality time in the kitchen together.

I requested a pasta dinner last night in preparation for today’s run. Instead of going to Bella’s for dinner my mom suggested we make our primavera sauce. We referenced this mouth watering recipe but ended up going down our own path which included lots of vegetables, a mix of dried and fresh herbs, and lean ground turkey!

Please note the amazing blender in the above picture which my parents received as a wedding gift in August of 1977. I can only hope that some of my amazing wedding gifts survive the years to be used and appreciated by my children. We used the blender to pulverize the can of fire-roasted whole tomatoes my dad bought the previous night, along the fresh basil, onions, and spices.

Don’t worry, all my parents’ appliances aren’t 33 years old! This Viking unit is an induction burner which doesn’t put off any heat uses less energy than a stove. It also heats up and cools down quicker as a result!

The process of making our own sauce was easier than I remembered, left an amazing aroma in the kitchen, and was quite fast. Admittedly, we should have consulted a few recipes during the process as our primavera, while delicious, needed more sauce. The spaghetti and meat absorbed the little bit of liquid in the sauce leaving it drier than we normally prefer. But, the flavors were amazing especially the basil and peppers!

The quality time spent in the kitchen with my mom cooking together was priceless. We had such a wonderful time gossiping over the simmering sauce and boiling pasta.

Chunky Turkey Primavera

Ingredients

1 large can of fire roasted tomatoes

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

A few leaves basil, finely chopped

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 orange pepper, diced

1/2 onion

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons Italian seasonings

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 container mushrooms, sautéed (Canned works fine if you forget to buy them at the grocery store.)

1 pound pack of lean turkey

salt and pepper to flavor

Extra virgin olive oil

1 package of your favorite pasta

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Empty can of tomatoes, garlic, and minced basil into the blender. Blend until thoroughly broken down and you can’t seen any chunks or basil strands.  Set aside.

2. Drizzle olive oil in heated pan, medium heat, before placing peppers,onion, and mushrooms in pan to sauté.

3. Flavor with oregano, Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes while the vegetables sauté. 

4. Once vegetables soften, transfer into the tomato mixture.

5. Use the same pan, now empty, to brown the ground turkey, seasoned with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

6. Once turkey is browned, transfer the tomato and vegetable mixture back to the pan.

7. Adjust pan temperature to simmer, allowing mixture to cook for 15-20 minutes.

8. While sauce simmers, boil water for pasta.

9. Cook pasta until al dente, drain.

10. Plate pasta, cover with sauce, and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

11. Enjoy with loved ones!