Showing posts with label Sauces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sauces. Show all posts
I took a break from salads yesterday, cooking a simple pasta dish that is not only quick and easy, but quite QUITE delicious! Spicy Tomato and Sausage Pasta. Its a bit of a cheat in that it uses jarred marinara sauce, which is quite time saving. If you use a really good quality one however, it won't really matter.
You begin by browning off some Italian sausage meat. Just push it out of the casings and crumble it into a heated saucepan. I used the Riverway Foods Hot Italian Sausages that you can get at Costco. They have a lovely flavour that I really like. So you brown them off, breaking them up a bit. (You won't need them all, but you can freeze the rest for another time.)
You add some chopped onion and let them soften, finally adding some garlic. The original recipe (from Seriously Simple, by Diane Rossen Worthington) called for 3 cloves of garlic. You can cut back on that a bit. The Italian sausages I used are plenty garlicky so I only used 2 cloves of garlic and small ones at that.
Then you add the marinara sauce and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, upon which time it should have thickened up a bit. I used the Lloyd Grosman Tomato and Basil Marinara Sauce which is really nice. Just use whatever kind is your favourite. At the end of that time you stir in some prepared Basil Pesto which gives the sauce a really nice basil kick.
Spoon a thin layer of the sauce into the bottom of a large shallow baking dish, and then stir your cooked pasta into the remaining sauce along with some fresh baby spinach. I like to remove any thick or long stems from the spinach. Its a texture thing really. I don't like a lot of stringy stuff in my sauces, so I just remove them. The heat from the sauce and the pasta will cook the spinach.
I also like to use whole wheat pasta. Seriously I can't really tell much of a difference between regular and whole wheat. If anything, to me, the whole wheat pasta tastes better!
Then you stir in a quantity of Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Coz you JUST got to have cheese . . . its Italian. Pour it into your prepped baking dish and scatter the remaining Parmesan on top.
Bake for half an hour in a hot oven, upon which time the cheese will have melted and the top will be golden brown. And that's all there is to it!
You can divide it up and bake it in two smaller dishes, freezing one for a later date . . . I made mine in one really small dish and one larger dish, which I sent down to Ariana and Jose. Ari will be having her baby any day now. I thought she would appreciate having a meal delivered. It has been so hot and I know she is feeling a bit exhausted with the pregnancy and everything.
It was very much appreciated. She texted me later to tell me how good it was. And Jose works in a premium Italian restaurant, so if he thought it was good, then you know it was really good!
This has so much going for it flavour-wise. I have fallen in love with it and I know I am going to be making it for the Missionaries one day as I am sure they will also really enjoy it!
I love dishes like this that go together quickly without much fuss or faff. To me they spell winner/winner!
*Spicy Tomato & Sausage Pasta Bake*
Serves 6 to 8
I
cheat a bit with this by using a good jarred marinara sauce, but I
think you will agree that this dish is fabulously tasty! Quick, easy
and delicious!
For the sauce:
splash of olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage links, casings removed and discarded
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 730g jars/cartons of good marinara sauce (2 26-ounce jars)
6 TBS of good Basil Pesto
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
You will also need:
450g penne pasta, uncooked (1 pound)
230g of finely diced or grated mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
180g grated Parmesan Cheese (1 cup)
170g baby spinach leaves (6 ounces)
Heat a large heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Add a small
splash of olive oil, then crumble in the sausage meat. Cook, breaking
up with a spoon, until the sausage is evenly browned and no pink
remains. Add the onion and saute for about 5 minutes longer. Add the
garlic, cook for 1 minute and then add the marinara sauce. Reduce the
heat to medium. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then stir in the pesto,
salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings to your taste. Set aside.
Cook the pasta according to package directions in a large pot of lightly salted water. Drain well.
Preheat
the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking
dish. Spoon a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of the dish.
Combine
the pasta with the remaining sauce, the spinach leaves (I like to try
to pick off and discard any large stems), the mozzarella cheese, and 60g
of the Parmesan cheese (1/3 cup) Mix well to combine and then spoon
into the prepped casserole dish. Scatter the remaining Parmesan cheese
over top.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until the casserole begins to bubble and the cheese is golden. Serve hot.
I saved some of the sauce out and Todd had it on a baked potato with some cheese on top. He, as you know isn't overly fond of pasta, although he will eat it when push comes to shove. He really enjoyed it on his potato. The sauce itself would also go very well on spaghetti, or even ladled over polenta!
However you choose to enjoy it I am sure you WILL enjoy it. This is . . . simply put . . . quite fabulous! Bon Appetit!
I was recently asked if I would like to try a recipe from the new Cirio cookery book. I would be sent the tomato ingredients to do so. I said sure, I am always happy to try out a new recipe.
This one was for Tagilatelle with Ragu Sauce, and if you are thinking that doesn't look like Tagilatelle, you are right. Its not. Its whole wheat spaghetti.
As a diabetic, I only eat whole wheat pasta and I did not know how to convert the recipe for the tagliatelle into whole wheat, so I didn't make the tagliatelle, but don't let that stop you from trying it!
As you all know I am a huge fan of the Cirio products.
I use them all the time. When it comes to anything to do with tomatoes
or tinned beans, I always buy Cirio.
That's because I know that they
are always going to be really good. A lot of people don't realise that
the flavour of the tomatoes they choose to use in a dish can mean the
difference between a dish being so/so and a dish being wow!
Which is strange really because if you choose to use so/so products when
you are cooking, why wouldn't you expect the end result to be so/so as
well!
A good quality tinned tomato can make a huge difference to the
taste, consistency and quality of any dish.
In my opinion Cirio is one
of the highest quality brands of tinned tomatoes on the market, produced
lovingly in Italy for an authentic Italian flavour.
The recipe they sent me was a tiny bit ambiguous as far as amounts of some of the ingredients, trusting I suppose on a cooks ability to know for themself how much of certain things they wanted to use.
I have added the amounts I used for these to the recipe. The end result was very tasty indeed! (Even without the Tagliatelle!)
*Tagliatelle with Ragu Sauce*
Serves 4
(I used the Napoletana with Mediterranean herbs)
sugar and salt to taste
To make the pasta beat the eggs with a dash of oil and salt.
Add the flour to make a firm and elastic dough. Cover and let rest for
an hour and a half in the refrigerator. Flatten the dough with a
rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. Roll out into thin pasta
sheets, less than 1 mm thick and cut into 7mm strips. Dust the strips
with flour to keep from sticking.
For the ragu, heat a splash of olive oil along with a knob of butter in a large saucepan. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic and lightly fry to soften over medium low heat. Add the meat and cook, stirring until the meat is quite dry. Add the wine and bring to the boil and then simmer quickly until the wine is almost evaporated. Stir in the tomato puree and Passata. Bring to the boil, REduce to a simmer and then adjust the acidity with some sugar. Add salt to taste. Simmer while you cook the pasta.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the tagliatelle and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well and then serve with the Ragu sauce.
For the ragu, heat a splash of olive oil along with a knob of butter in a large saucepan. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic and lightly fry to soften over medium low heat. Add the meat and cook, stirring until the meat is quite dry. Add the wine and bring to the boil and then simmer quickly until the wine is almost evaporated. Stir in the tomato puree and Passata. Bring to the boil, REduce to a simmer and then adjust the acidity with some sugar. Add salt to taste. Simmer while you cook the pasta.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the tagliatelle and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well and then serve with the Ragu sauce.
This was delicious and because there are only two of us I had enough to freeze in a container for another meal. Cirio tomatoes are available at all the grocery shops in the UK. For
more recipes and cooking inspiration and ideas do be sure to check out
their recipe pages.
Note - I was sent a range of Cirio products to use in the recipe free of
charge, but not required to write a positive review of anything. I
quite simply like Cirio products and as you know, I have never made that
a secret! I do love them! Buon Appetito!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
I think I have always loved Porcupine Meatballs. They are so called because the raw rice that you mix into them swells when they are cooking and looks like little prickles sticking out all over when they are done!
Like little porcupines. I can promise you there is no real porcupine in these! I do know some people eat porcupine, but not me!
Ordinarily Porcupine Meatballs are cooked with a tin of tomato soup. This is very old school and probably the way our mothers and grandmothers made them.
Today I decided to mix things up a bit and give them a BBQ sauce to bake in, with MOST delicious results. We love, LOVE BBQ!
These meatballs are so easy to make. You simply mix everything together in a bowl and shape into balls.
There is no pre-cooking of anything involved You don't need to cook the rice first. You don't need to brown the meatballs first, and because they are made with rice, they are also gluten free.
The sauce is also very easy to make. You just whisk everything together and pour it over the balls. No pre-cooking involved there either.
And, if you use gluten free ketchup and mustard, the sauce is also gluten free, making for a totally gluten free, delicious entree!
I looked to my mother for inspiration with the sauce. She always used to cook leftover ham in a similar sauce, for sweet and sour ham.
I largely leaned on that when making up my sauce. I didn't add any herbs to it like she always did, however.
Wait, I lied . . . there is a bit of dry parsley in the meatballs. I have used grated onion, but you could just as easily use onion powder.
Once you have made these a few times you can feel confident in making them your own. You can try new things, making adaptations.
Just form the meatballs, pour over the sauce, cover with foil and bake. Its as simple as that.
I like to uncover them for the last fifteen minutes to colour them up a tiny bit. It helps them to brown a bit nicer and gilds the lily so to speak.
They are absolutely flipping delicious! I kid you not. I think I am going to throw out the tomato soup recipe and make them like this from now on!
Out with the old and on with the new! Not all change is bad. These totally taste better than the originals!
I just love it when I experiment with recipes like this and they turns out so successfully. They don't always. Sometimes I have some pretty spectacular failures. T
hat's the name of the game. When they do work out, however, all I can say is WOW! I hope you will try these tasty concoctions! I think you are going to love, LOVE them!
*BBQ Porcupine Meatballs*
Serves 4
Meatballs:
500g extra lean ground beef (1 1/4 pound)
1/4 tsp paprika
180ml water (3/4 cup)
60ml cider vinegar (1/4 cup)
2 TBS regular BBQ Sauce, your favourite brand
50g soft light brown sugar (1/4 cup, packed)
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready an 11 inch by 7 inch baking dish. Set aside.
Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients until smooth. Pour into the baking dish.
Lightly mix together all of the ingredients for the meatballs. Gently shape into 12 meatballs. Place into the baking dish, turning to coat them in the sauce. Cover tightly with foil. Place onto a baking tray (just in case it boils over) and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer, or until the rice is tender. Serve hot.
I served these with some baked jacket potatoes and English peas. They went down a real treat! I just know they are destined to become a favorite with you as well!! Bon Appetit!
I adore Lasagne. I know you must get tired of me saying that I adore things, but what can I say? I put my hand up! I am a foodie through and through and I like and adore lots of things!
Lasagne wasn't something I ever tasted when I was growing up. It just did not exist in my world. Spaghetti served with tinned Catelli meat Sauce was as "Italian" as my mother got!
My ex Sister in Law Linda made fabulous Lasagne. It was just wonderful and had a delicious filling of cottage cheese. It was made very much in the North American way, which had layers of meat sauce, cheese, and cottage cheese with a final topping of the meat sauce and some mozzarella. Not cheap to make by any stretch, but very delicious.
When I moved over here I got to experience a more authentically Italian type of lasagne . . . one layered with sauce (meat or otherwise), cheese and a rich bechamel sauce. Seriously tasty.
This vesion here today is a totally vegetarian version, consisting of a delicious tomato sauce, a rich bechamel, all layered with thawed frozen leaf spinach and cheese. Do make sure you squeeze as much water from the spinach as you can so you don't water down your lasagne.
I call it Italian Flag Lasagne because it contains all the colours of the Italian Flag. White, red and green! The tomato sauce is a simple one. Use a good Italian tomato for the best flavour. There is no meat in this sauce, so you want to use a tomato that will really shine!
I also like to use full fat milk for the bechamel. It adds a special depth of richness and flavour. This is lasagne and its supposed to be a treat. You can use whatever cheese you want, but I always use Parmesan and Mozzarella, and today I added feta and some sharp cheddar. The feta because it needed using up and the cheddar for the flavour. I find while it has great melting properties, Mozzarella doesn't really have much flavour. But that's just me. You may think something entirely different!
*Italian Flag Lasagne*
Serves 6 to 8
Serves 6 to 8
This is simple, uncomplicated, straightforward and delicious. A delicious tomato sauce, with some great cheese, spinach, lasagna sheets and a good bechamel.
For the Tomato Sauce:
2 TBS good quality olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed slightly
3 14-oz tins of chopped tomatoes in their own juice
(I like to use a good Italian brand)
about a dozen or so torn basil leaves
salt and black pepper to taste
For the Bechamel:
125g butter (1/2 cup)
85g plain flour (1/2 cup plus 2 TBS)
2 pints of whole milk, warmed (5 cups)
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and black pepper to taste
Also:
12 ounces of fresh lasagne sheets
85g freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (3 ounces)
170g grated mozarella or a mixture of mozarella, cheddar, fontina, etc. (6 ounces)
(In other words which cheese you are in the mood to eat, or what you have on hand)
butter to dot or additional Parmesan to sprinkle (optional)
For the sauce, place the oil in a saucepan and heat it til fairly warm. Add the garlic and cook until it becomes quite fragrant. Add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or so until it resembled a sauce. Add the basil and 1 cup of hot water towards the end of the cooking time. Puree until smooth with a stick blender, or very carefully in a regular blender. (You can either leave the garlic in, or remove it as you wish.) Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt and some pepper if required.
To make the bechamel, melt the butter in a saucepan and then whisk in the flour. Cook for several minutes over low heat and then slowly whisk in the warm milk. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens and is smooth. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or so on low heat, until you have a very thick and smooth sauce. Set aside.
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a deep 8 1/2 by 12 inch baking dish. Drizzle the bottom with some of the bechamel. Put a slightly overlapping layer of the lasagne sheets over the bechamel. Dollop with some of the tomato sauce, spreading it out. Dollop another two hefty spoonfuls of bechamel over top and then a layer of the cheeses. Add a layer of the spinach. Add another layer of lasagne, and then repeat with the tomato, bechamel, cheese and spinach as before, and then again, repeating the layers one more time, finishing with a final layer of lasagne and a few tablespoons of tomato sauce and a good portion of bechamel. You can sprinkle with some additional parmesan cheese if you desire, or dot with some butter. Place in the heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until it is bubbling and golden brown on top. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.
A little more work than you want to put in for a weeknight supper, this is the perfect weekend or entertaining dish! Add a salad and some crusty bread and you have a meal fit for a King! Buon Appetito!!!
Every now and again I toy with the idea of becoming a vegetarian. Every now and again.
Then I think of eating a nice piece of tender beef, or some perfectly roasted chicken, some succulent pork with crackling . . . bacon . . . tender slices of ham with that glazed and crispy fat on the edges . . . and I change my mind.
I just couldn't give them up completely. Not. At. All.
I think brisket has to be one of my favourite cuts of beef. I know it is one of the tougher cuts, but when it is properly cooked, it is delicate and delicious.
It has just the right amount of marbeling as to render it quite succulent once cooked. Long and slow. Its the best.
More often than not I will use it in a pot roast. Sometimes I will cut it up and stew it for a meat pie or some such.
Today I decided to give it a kind of a short rib treatment. Beef Shortribs are very hard to come by here in the UK.
You will want to cut your meat into smaller pieces. Pat it dry with some paper towels so all your herbs and spices will stick to it.
Once I had done that, I rubbed the meat all over with some spices. I then browned it slowly all over in a knob of butter . . . you can never go wrong with a knob of butter. That's my motto. Its about 2 TBS.
Once you have done that you can add a bit of beef stock. You then simmer it tightly covered until that beef was fork tender and succulent . . .
But that's not all I did . . . no, that's not all!
I then used some of the pan drippings, some shallots, brandy, green peppercorns and . . . *Gulp* . . . double cream . . .
I know, very wicked is double cream. You might know that as thick cream or whipping cream in North America.
These helped me to get all saucy with it. You cannot beat serving a good sauce with a piece of good meat.
This sauce is the perfect sauce to spoon over that beautifully flavoured and perfectly cooked beef . . .
Then I served it up with some delicious twice cooked chips and a bit of veg on the side because you need a bit of veg don't you?
Its what keeps you healthy-like. And we all need some of that!
*Braised Beef with a Peppercorn Sauce*
Serves 4
knob of butter
beef stock
1 banana shallot, peeled and chopped
2 TBS of green peppercorns in brine, drained
salt and black pepper to taste
If I had to make one complaint about this it would be that it doesn't photograph near as nice as it tastes and if it weren't for the cream, I could quite easily have eaten twice the amount of that delicious sauce . . . . sigh . . .
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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