Recipe Time!!

As you all may know by now, i like Blogs. I'm not necessarily great at keeping MINE up, but i love browsing quilt and craft and food blogs, and blogs kept by friends and family.
Anyway, i tried out a new recipe on the Elders last night, not something i usually do, just in case it's, well, nasty, but i was planning to try it out, and it just kinda happened that they were coming.
Anyway, i REALLY loved it! It was different, to be sure, but quite good! I picked up this spaghetti recipe from Sherbet Blossom.

PASTA AMATRICIANA
2 tsp olive oil
1 slice canadian bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup water
1/2 lb whole-wheat spaghetti
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until heated through. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook, covered, shaking the pan occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt, ground pepper, and water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain, toss with the sauce, and sprinkle with the parsley.

Substitutes (i didn't have EVERYTHING on the list in my fridge, so i had to make do....):
I didn't have canadian bacon, so i used a couple slices of regular bacon - it works great, you just have to leave out the oil because the bacon makes it's own (probably not as healthy...)
I used fresh tomatoes (close to 4 cups, but i doubled the recipe.... so equate that to 2 cups for the regular size...)
Fresh red pepper (is there such a spice as crushed red pepper?? I looked everywhere for it! Dried, pasted, in a bag, jar, tube... couldnt' find it. So i bought a fresh red pepper, minced it up and threw it in to cook with the onions and garlic. also, i assumed crushed red pepper would be dried, so i increased the amount to a couple tablespoons for fresh for a doubled recipe.)

It was quite nice. I was worried, because it looked really watery to me, but it flavored the pasta so well!
Another note, i LOVE my Pampered Chef chopper. My mom gave it to me a while ago because she's had it for years and never used it. It's like the grandfather of the Slap Chop. I'm not a big onion person, and i HATE mincing garlic (because i get more on my hands than in the pot!), but the Chopper cut everything so fine that i wasn't eating huge chunks of onion or garlic.
And of course, while chopping, i'm thinking of Vince....