Foods Breakdown: Spaghetti Amore Mio

Now what we have here this week is a true Mediterranean Dish, even if you’re not up to making the same kind of dishes I’ve listed you can use them as a guide as to something else you may be interested in trying. We already know that one way for us to follow or in order for it to be considered Mediterranean we need a generous amount of vegetables and fruits included into our diet and a regular use of olive oils for cooking or taste. The recipe we have today follows the Mediterranean guide to a tee. Other than the Carbs provided by Spaghetti and the Olives and Olive Oil (that we have broken down previously) lets breakdown the main foods used in this recipe below by telling you its health benefits:

Red Onion: improves blood circulation and releases toxins inside of the body. They also reduce cholesterol and have been said to prevent cancer.

Red Peppers/ Yellow Peppers: Both have a great source of the antioxidant Vitamins A and Vitamins C which also have been said to prevent cancer and helps with cellular damage while helping the immune system.

Cherry Tomatoes: Like we’ve discussed before tomatoes have a good source of Vitamin C and Calcium and also good way of preventing different types of cancer. Like stated previously, tomatoes prevent high cholesterol and heart disease.

Anchovy: offers high Omega 3 fatty acid levels which are nutritionally essential fatty acids. It is a very good to eat fish in general for those trying to prevent heart disease.

Spaghetti Amore Mio

(copyright, 2008 M aria Liberati,The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Healthy & Light)

1 lb of spaghetti

¼ cup of green pitted olives

2 tblsps of finely sliced red onion

1/2 lb of roasted red peppers

½ lb of roasted yellow peppers

½ lb of cherry tomatoes

3 anchovy filets packed in olive oil

1 handful of Italian parsley finely chopped.

4 tblsps of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut already roasted peppers into strips. Cut olives into thin slices. Wash the tomatoes and cut into small pieces. Peel and chop red onion and cut into thin slices. Place olive oil into large shallow frying pan. Place all the above into the oil and add in the anchovies. Toss in pan all till onions start to become a golden color.

Place in the pieces of tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste and cook all for another 5 minutes. Add in pepper strips and cook for another 10 minutes over low heat then remove from heat.

Boil spaghetti in lightly salted water. Cook till al dente. Drain and toss in pan with peppers and vegetables. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top and serve.