Love Nests
Ingredients
- 2 (28 ounce) diced tomatoes with juice ⓘ
- 1/2 cup olive oil ⓘ
- 4 garlic cloves, minced ⓘ
- 1 red onion, finely diced ⓘ
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste ⓘ
- 1 bay leaf ⓘ
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 6 anchovies, finely diced ⓘ
- 1 tablespoon sugar ⓘ
- 2 tablespoons water
- 40 g pancetta, finely diced ⓘ
- 40 g sausage meat ⓘ
- salt and pepper
- 10 g unsalted butter ⓘ
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ⓘ
- 125 ml milk ⓘ
- 2 teaspoons fresh chives ⓘ
- 3 tablespoons pre-shredded mozzarella cheese ⓘ
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs ⓘ
- 120 g fresh ricotta ⓘ
- 75 g frozen chopped spinach, thawed, WELL drained of any excess liquid ⓘ
- 65 g sun-dried tomatoes ⓘ
- cooking spray ⓘ
Instructions
- Heat deep fry pan then add oil; fry onions for about 3 minutes; add garlic; fry additional 2 minutes until onions are soft.
- Add in tomato paste; stir for about a minute until combined.
- Add in diced tomatoes in tomato juice, bay leaf, anchovies, water, red pepper flakes and xylitol; adjust to personal taste.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 45 minutes.
- In additional fry pan, fry pancetta and chorizo sausage meat until golden brown; add to marinara mixture.
- Marinara done! :).
- In a saucepan, add all bechamel ingredients (except cheese) and stir "continuously" with a wooden spoon until sauce thickens.
- Heat oven to 180°C (350F).
- Place breadcrumbs on a baking tray; bake for 5 minutes (until dry, not browned); remove; set aside.
- In a bowl, combine ricotta and spinach.
- Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water; cook for 7 minutes (al dente); drain; oil spray; set aside for about 10 minutes.
- Place 1/2 cup of cooked pasta into a plastic measuring cup. Place the 1/4 plastic cup inside the cup with pasta. If you don't have plastic measuring cups, you get the idea that the spaghetti needs to be "packed" down tightly; can do by hand while pasta is "in" something.
- QUICKLY, turn measuring cup over onto marinara sauce; be gentle but quick lol You want it so it looks like a mound.
- G-E-N-T-L-Y, with the back of a teaspoon push down on the spaghetti to form a round hold without going through the bottom of the spaghetti. You can stop with the teaspoon fits inside the nest with a bit a room around it too!
- Place 1 - 2 teaspoons of spinach ricotta mixture in the base of the nests. with a spoon (or with your fingers ;-) ) GENTLY push down until it covers the base. You do not want to push too hard that the nest will collapse. ;-).
- Top with 1 -2 teaspoons of bechamel sauce.
- Top with breadcrumbs; can add a few pieces of shredded cheese (optional).
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Nutrition & Diet Analysis (per serving)
1429
kcal
71% DV
Protein
Fat
Carbs
* % Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet (FDA 2020).