Neelys' BBQ Spaghetti And Bloody Mary!

"Down Home" Pat And Gina Share Those "Road Tasted" Recipes, More

(CBS)  Pat and Gina Neely have made their Neely's Bar-B-Que family eateries in Memphis and Nashville some of the most successful barbecue restaurants in the South.

The husband and wife are the king and queen of down home cooking, and they share their passion for food, family, and fun, along with delicious recipes, on the Food Network's hit show,"Down Home With the Neelys."

Now, they have another show on that network, debuting Tuesday night, "Road Tasted with the Neelys," which takes them to the open road to find family-run food joints and unique edibles. They visit almost every state of the union and try almost anything, from donning bee suits to harvest honey to making sweet potato pound cake with natural sweeteners. They check out and taste the definition of unusual!

Pat and Gina spoke about their shows, and served up recipes for some unique dishes, alright, on The Early Show Tuesday.

RECIPES

BBQ Spaghetti

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow onion
1 tablespoon garlic salt
3 1/2 cups Neelys BBQ sauce, recipe follows
1 pound pork, beef, or chicken, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 pound spaghetti

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute the pepper and onion, until softened for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic salt. Add the premade BBQ sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and add the chopped meat.

Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and bring to boil. Season liberally with salt and add spaghetti. Cook for 7 minutes, until al dente (firm but not hard) and drain. Toss spaghetti with sauce.

Yield: 2 to 3 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy

Neelys BBQ Sauce

2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cooked uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Yield: 3 1/2 cups

FOR MORE RECIPES FROM PAT AND GINA, GO TO PAGE 2.

[mswolfestock]

I am a life-long pasta lover - my mother is Italian. So I was sort of intrigued by the idea of BBQ spaghetti, but you lost me with the Tablespoon of Garlic Salt. In a word - YUK. In another word - GROSS.

Omit the salt and use a couple of Teaspoons of freshly mashed garlic - then I might consider this to be edible.