Sun Dried Tomato Spaghetti: Our Take on the RICH HelloFresh Recipe

If you can’t afford to spend forty dollars on one dinner for your family via HelloFresh, we are here to teach you how to make meals that are affordable and delicious. I recently had the privilege of eating the HelloFresh sun dried tomato spaghetti at a friend’s house. And I loved it. So much so that I decided to go home and recreate it…but on a budget instead. The astronomical prices HelloFresh charges don’t make me want to sign up for their subscription any time soon. SO I think I’ll be inspired and create my own at home.

A Different Take on Traditional Spaghetti

Spaghetti is one of those staple dinners that nearly every American home makes on a regular basis. I know it’s been a long-time favorite in my house, particularly with the kids. Wait. No. My husband loves it too. The acidity of the tomato sauce with the savory Italian sausage and sweet peppers mixed in. The parmesan or romano cheese that graces the top and sends our tastebuds into a happy place. Who doesn’t love spaghetti? When I recently had the HelloFresh’s sun dried tomato spaghetti at a friend’s, I knew they’d created a new take on the traditional dish. So I decided to try to recreate it for myself. And guess what? It was a success! The family loves it just like my traditional spaghetti recipe. Here’s my copycat recipe for you to try out and save money in the meantime.

What You Will Need

Before you start cooking, you’ll need to gather all your ingredients and tools. I find preparing all of my ingredients beforehand makes for a less stressful cooking experience. Some folks like to prep as they go along, but I can’t function that way. Now, if you have another person to cook alongside of you, then do whatever saves you time but also keeps the stress levels low. Here’s what you’ll need for sun dried tomato spaghetti.

Ingredients:

• Sun Dried Tomatoes: 1/2 cup (you can get sun dried tomatoes in oil in a jar OR dried in a bag. Go with what you can get your hands on and is most affordable)
• Minced Garlic: 2 teaspoons (you can always use 2 cloves but I prefer having pre-minced garlic for easy prep)
• Grape tomatoes: 1 cup, sliced vertically
• Green onion: 1/2 cup thinly sliced
• Parsley, fresh: 1/4 cup finely chopped
• Italian seasoning blend: 1 tsp
• Spaghetti: 1 box, 16 oz.
• Almonds, Sliced
• Chicken stock concentrate
• Butter: unsalted, 2 tablespoons
• Cream cheese: 4 tablespoons
• Romano (or parmesan cheese): 1/2 cup
• Salt and pepper to taste

As for your kitchen tools, you’ll need a large stockpot for boiling the pasta, chopping board and knife, mixing bowl and spoon, large skillet and spatula/spoon.

First, Prepare your ingredients

Like with any recipe, your first step is to prep all of your ingredients. I like to wash and chop my veggies before I do anything else. You’re going to chop your sun dried tomatoes, mince your garlic if not already minced, cut your grape tomatoes vertically, and chop your fresh parsley and chives. In addition, bring a large stockpot of water to a boil in which you’ll cook your pasta. Then add a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and Italian seasoning to your grape tomatoes in a separate medium sized bowl.

Next, Boil Your Pasta

After you’ve prepared your veggies, it’s time to add the spaghetti to the water. Here’s a professional tip: salt your water with a good amount of salt…it should taste like ocean water. I learned this trick from the world renowned chef Samin Nosrat. Cook your noodles until al dente. Then drain. If you really want to make this meal Michelin-level, make your own homemade pasta beforehand.

Next, Toast Your NUTS

One delicious addition to spaghetti that I NEVER would have thought about – toasted nuts. Specifically, HelloFresh uses almonds…so we’ll stick to that. But I’ll bet anything this recipe would also work with chopped walnuts. Toasting nuts isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Heat up a pan to medium, then toast your almond slices or other nut in a dry pan for a few minutes. Until they’re lightly browned. Then remove from the pan and set aside.

Then Cook Sun Dried Tomatoes & Garlic

Now for my favorite part. Using the same pan you used to toast your nuts, heat a teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add your sun dried tomatoes and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Let cook until fragrant about 2 minutes.

Add Your Wet Ingredients

And the REALLY fun part, when it all comes together, we add our wet ingredients: chicken stock, 1/3 cup of water, and then cook for 3 minutes. The liquid should reduce just slightly. NOTE: you don’t want the pan too hot because it will cook the liquid too fast. If this happens, add a little more water (1/4 cup) and let cook another minute. Lastly, reduce the heat to low and add your cream cheese. Be patient and stir until your sauce is nice and creamy and thick. I like to taste and add a little more salt and pepper, if need be. But remember, you also salted your pasta so you don’t want to over-do it on the salt here.

Then Add Your Spaghetti to the Pan

And the final step in making sun dried tomato spaghetti is to add your grape tomatoes to the Sauce. Then add your pasta right to the pan with the sauce. This is also how the professionals do it. Rather than ladling sauce over pasta, it’s better to incorporate the pasta directly into the sauce and stir until the pasta is soaked. Mix in parmesan cheese, butter, and fresh herbs. Toasted nuts go on last.

What if you want to add a protein?

You totally can. I won’t lie to you, we are big meat eaters in my family. We are bears, after all. 😉 So if you’d like to add a protein to this sun dried tomato spaghetti recipe, go for it! There’s quite a few types of meat that would add another level of nutrition and flavor to this meal including:

• Shrimp (pan sear separately with olive oil, salt and pepper then add to the sauce before the spaghetti goes in)
• Shredded chicken (if I have leftover chicken in the fridge, I’ll literally add it to ANY pasta dish!)
• Ground sausage or sausage links (Italian is best. Brown the meat in the pan first thing, then start this recipe at number 1, adding your other ingredients to the sausage. The fat from the sausage renders and makes this meal even heartier)
• Crab (YES believe it or not, crab meat actually tastes amazing in a red sauce of nearly any kind. I grew up in Maryland, and so we added cooked crab meat to all the things. It works. Trust me. Add it to the sauce at the end, as long as the meat is pre-cooked)