If there’s one person I’d give full credit for teaching me how to cook, it would be my dear Ofelia. From an early age, I have vivid memories of sitting on a kitchen stool and observing her gracefully preparing dishes that have become my favorite comfort foods. She never seemed overwhelmed, rushed or fatigued in the kitchen. I suppose cooking was her passion. Her hands were so flawlessly in-sync with her ingredients that watching her reminded me of a concert pianist.

I’d like to share one of my favorite recipes with you. “Fideo de mi abuelita” is a Mexican version of spaghetti with tomato sauce, which we typically eat as a side dish. “Fideo” is a type of noodle that is similar in width to angel hair. 

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 6-7 ounce bag “American Beauty” Fideo (dry spaghetti or angel hair noodles can be substituted) – If using dried pasta other than fideo, break long noodles in to fourths, and set aside in a separate dish.

• ½ cup chopped white onion

• 1 medium tomato, chopped

• 1 garlic bulb, minced (you can use as much/little garlic as you’d like – a “bulb” carries multiple cloves)

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 3 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth or tomato consommé can be substituted)

• Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, add oil, and let warm for about 2 minutes.

2. Slowly add chopped onions and garlic, and sauté until onions become translucent.

3. Add broken dried noodles to the saucepan containing onion, garlic and oil.

4. Stir and sauté ingredients until noodles become slightly browned.

5. Add chopped tomatoes to saucepan and stir to mix ingredients.

6. Add sea salt and black pepper, to taste.

7. Finally, add chicken broth to saucepan and stir ingredients to mix.

8. Cook on low-medium heat for 15 minutes without top, stirring minimally, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

9. Enjoy!

…

Until we eat again,

Lindsay, The Lunch Belle