Spaghetti Bean-olegnes

Well, I promised this recipe…so here goes. It's approximate, like all mine really are, but this is my best guess as to what went in.
Sadly, no photos…all of this is either eaten by now, or congealing in a fridge, waiting for me to take it as a to-go meal. Yay, leftovers!

1 can black beans (undrained)
1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1/4 finely diced onion
3 cloves finely diced garlic


5 cups raw pasta
water to boil
garlic powder, salt to taste


(I'm writing this as I will do it, not as I did it. I'll put, at the bottom, what I did in sequence.)

Pour beans and all but 1/4 tomatoes into blender, add garlic and onions. Blend on 'whip' setting until smooth (this may need to be done in installments, but I think it should all mix back together as long as you put some tomatoes with the beans and visa versa).

Pour into large frying pan, add remaining tomatoes for texture. (Here's here I'd probably add a whole lot mor tomatoes, because I love them in this….) Boil off as much liquid as you possibly can—this is naturally very runny, despite blending, so evaporation is key (however, my thin sauce may be due to undrained beans. If you want, you could drain them, but I liked how this turned out).

While sauce is cooking, prepare pasta according to package directions, or like me: however long until it feels right.

(Here's where I also attempted to create some bribes for the meat-itarians in the house: I made italian sausage, too. While I love the scent of the spices—I think there's anise in there—I could only choke down one bite before I had to quit. Gross.)

When the sauce is as thick as you want, or as thick as you can get it in time constraints (Wheeeeen'ssss suuuupperrrrrrrr?!), serve! I like to toss mine with a bit of shredded parmesan and more garlic salt (eensy-weensy!), but that's entirely optional.

Now, for what I actually did on Sunday. There should have been a photographer in the kitchen with me, because damn, this was messy! Unfortunately, I have no photos of any kind for you today….

I threw all my sauce ingredients in a pan, and when I got tired of waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for my sauce to thicken, I slopped (yes. It was a slop) half or so into my poor blender and hit buttons until magic happened. Then I returned to the pan and boiled more while I waited for those yummy-smelling-but-oh-so-gross sausages to cook. I can't even type the word without wanting to empty my stomach….

So, there you have it. I think I'd like to try with tofu or something, but how to put it in so they don't know they're eating it…ah, blender, how I love thee. All that aside, though, it's got a really homey, rich texture that I love. The flavour of the beans is in every bite, but it's subtle enough that if it hadn't turned out a sort of mucky red-brown, I think even the snotty nine-year-old would have eaten it. (The sausage bribe didn't even work!!)

Let me know what you think, please!