recipe – Page 4 – Linda Nelson

I love this recipe. It took me a couple of tries to perfect it to the point where it tastes like authentic Chinese restaurant egg rolls. The first time I made this recipe, I didn’t have any Oyster Sauce. You have to have Oyster Sauce to make these taste anywhere near what you find in a restaurant. Leaving out the Oyster Sauce is like eating a burger or hot dog without ketchup.

We made the Fried Rice too, seen in the photo. That recipe is coming next.

Egg roll wrappers are found in the produce section of your local supermarket. I found coleslaw mix in the bagged salads makes for an easy peasy short cut. You can use a whole head of green cabbage, or any kind of cabbage, and cut up carrots in matchsticks size.

Oyster Sauce and the Asian Five Spice Seasoning can be found in the ethnic food aisle along with the Soy Sauce.

I did try baking these the first time but didn’t have good results. I found frying was the best method.

Ingredients:

1 package of egg roll wrappers
1 lb of meat – preferably pork, beef, or shrimp or 2 can of tiny shrimp
1 package of coleslaw mix
3 green onions (scallions) thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of powdered ginger
Asian Five Spice to taste
oil for cooking

Instructions:

Coat cooking pan with oil to prevent food from sticking to pan.
Saute meat unless using a can of tiny shrimp, then remove from pan, set aside.
Saute over high heat in a wok the coleslaw mix and green onions (scallions) until it cooks down. About 2 – 3 minutes.
Add Spice, Oyster Sauce, Soy Sauce to the pan. Cook for another minute.
Mix vegetable mixture with cooked meat.
Use one sheet of egg roll wrapper at a time, lay on surface in diamond shape, (Corner Points are North, South, East and West).
Place 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture in the center of the wrapper.
Fold bottom point halfway up (making an envelope).
Fold each side halfway in.
Fold top down and roll. Seal the top down with a finger dipped in cold water.
Place sealed side down on plate.
Fry in 350-degree oil, until golden brown. About 2 – 3 minutes.

Spaghetti spiral splayed. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

People come up with the darndest recipes. Some of them make me shake my head others like this recipe, make me shake my head until I sit down to eat. I wasn’t too sure at first. Just the thought of eating a spaghetti pie didn’t make my mouth water. Surprisingly, this was pretty tasty. It could be called a poor man’s lasagna. This dish was quite filling too. You could make probably half the recipe if you are making it for three or fewer people.

Spaghetti Pizza Pie

Ingredients
12 ounces spaghetti, cooked, 1/2 cup cooking water reserved
1 small yellow onion, chopped finely
1 pound ground turkey, or beef
1 cup tomato paste, divided
3 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet, saute those onions until they are soft.
Add your ground meat and 3/4 cup of the divided tomato paste. (This is probably when you would divide the paste.)
Don’t forget to cook your pasta.
Add half of the reserved pasta water and stir well.
Season with the salt to taste.
You want the consistency to be similar to thick Bolognese sauce.
Add more cooking water if needed.
In a large bowl, mix the cooked pasta, eggs, parmesan cheese, the mozzarella, and the rest of the tomato paste.
Grease a 9 or 10-inch pie plate with olive oil. We needed to use two pie plates. The mixture wouldn’t fit all in one.
Spread half the meat mixture over the bottom of the pan. Add the spaghetti and press it down to make it level.
Top with the remaining ingredients and sprinkle any leftover mozzarella cheese on top.
Bake the pie for about 30 – 35 minutes.
Let the pie cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.
Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter. ( We had success with the pizza cutter.)