Homemade Marinara Sauce

I started making my own Marinara sauce a few years ago when I took an Italian cooking class.  It is very simple to make one in the crock pot and let it simmer and smell up the house all day.  I chose to do this because so many canned sauces contain chemicals, sugar and soy and none of those things are great for us.  Here is my own little version...

Start with Olive oil in the bottom of the pan on low heat.

Add to that:

1 chopped onion
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup grated zucchini
4 cloves of garlic or less if you don't love garlicky sauces

Saute it all until veggies soften a bit.

To that you add:

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
2 tsp or less of salt
pinch of black pepper

I also add fresh oregano and basil from the garden.

You can also add 1/2 cup mushrooms if you like that to give a meaty texture for the meat free version.

To add meat you just brown your ground sausage or ground beef or turkey and add it to the sauce above.

This can be made quickly but if you really want it to be full of flavor it is better to let it simmer low and slow over the day in a crock pot or stew pot on the stove.

The vegan version is great over pasta or eggplant or chicken parmesan.

With the meat it makes a nice topping for all pastas but our favorite is spaghetti.  I also use the meat version in our lasagna recipe.

This is a very versatile version that can be made ahead of time and stored for use during the week, too.  I often double or triple the recipe and freeze some for later use.

Amazing Chicken Recipe...

In May I received a box with some sun dried tomato products, a folder of history of the company known as Mooney Farms and a few of their award winner's recipes.  On Friday night I made the following recipe...

 You can find a printable copy of this recipe at their website.

 Here is the mixture that goes on top of the chicken before baking.

 The chicken is ready to go into the oven and I bring the internal temperature to 160 and then let it rest a few minutes once it come out.  The internal temp will rise to about 165 during resting and it is perfectly moist and delicious.

And here is the finished chicken with rice and broccoli.  It was FABULOUS... I totally know why it won the grand prize award for 2011.

There is still time to enter the 2012 contest... by July 1, 2012.  

Check out the website for details.

Eggplant Parmesan

There are a few tricks to making this taste really great.  

I start with peeling and then slicing the eggplant to about 1/4 to 1//2 inch thick slices.

Then I lay them out and liberally salt them.  The salt pulls the bitter liquid out of them.

I let them sit with salt on them for a few hours if possible.

Once I am ready to start cooking them I simple rinse the salt off and put them on a towel to dry quickly.

Once they are dried a little I use a pan with eggwash (egg and milk with salt and pepper) and then a pan with bread crumbs, grated parmesan, salt and pepper to dredge them.

Once they are coated I saute them in a saute pan with a little olive oil heated in it.

Once they are sauteed on both sides I line them in a pan and add more parmesan cheese and a veggie marinara sauce and then bake until cheese is melted... about 15 minutes.

Once done I serve with pasta and salad for a complete healthy meal.

Clean out the fridge Pasta e Fagioli...

Some friends and I were discussing the Pasta e Fagioli from Olive Garden yesterday and so I got a "hankerin'" for it. I came home and scoured my pantry and fridge for stuff to make it and had almost everything.  The beans are the "non" authentic item in the mix.  I had to use my bean mix that I made up for vegetarian chili this weekend but it was still delicious!!! 

It is not a hard soup to make and it is hearty and nourishing with just a few specific ingredients you can whip up a pot in no time.  

I chopped up...

*   an onion

*   a shallot (had no garlic in the house which is weird)

*  three zucchini

*   four carrots

I set them aside while I browned a pound of ground beef but you can use turkey or sausage... whatever you like.  I had ground beef in the fridge that needed to be used so that is what I went with today.  If you want it vegetarian then just leave the meat out.  It is quite delicious that way, too.

I drained the beef and I tend to rinse it, too... it takes all the fat off and makes a much leaner soup.

I put the meat back in the pot and seasoned it with oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder and added a little olive oil but not tons.

Then I added the veggies and beans (about 2 cups or as much as you like) into the meat and cooked them until they started to soften a bit.

Once they were softened I added two large cans (28 ounces each) of small diced tomatoes and then filled the cans up once each with water to add, too.  I wound up having to add more water before putting the pasta in.

I added about 2 cups of cleaned spinach with stems removed and then two pounds of pasta.  You could choose to substitute a rice pasta if you want gluten free.  That would work great!  :)

Once you serve it up...

don't forget to top it with Parmesan.  You can also add some basil or parsley.

Once it is done you season it to taste.  I don't tend to over salt due to my husband's high blood pressure. 

Note... this recipe makes a sizable pot of soup so you might want to cut it in half or fourth if you are not serving a small army like I do each night.  LOL  

Enjoy!!!

Mommy... can I have some more YUCKY???

That would be how the 3 1/2 year old says Gnocchi! LOL
Made some this week and I cheated using mashed potato flakes.
This is one the kids can help make.
You make the dough and they can cut and roll it into shape.
Mine love doing this project!
Here is the recipe I used...

GNOCCHI WITH INSTANT POTATOES

Preparation - Easy
Serves 2

A quick and easy version of a robust winter dish favored from Genoa to Bologna.

This recipe doubles or triples and works well with a simple tomato sauce, butter and sage, etc.

2/3 cup dry potato buds for instant mashed potatoes

2/3 cup boiling water

1 egg, room temperature, lightly beaten with a fork

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

PUT the potato flakes or buds in a medium-size bowl. Add the boiling water; stir until blended. Let cool.

FOLD in the egg and salt with a wooden or plastic spoon or spatula.

ADD flour slowly, folding with the spatula, until you have a fairly firm dough that doesn't stick to the bowl.

TURN dough out onto a well floured surface and knead lightly into a ball. You want just be able to work with the mixture without it sticking unduly - but too much flour will result in gnocchi that are more lead than light.

CUT dough in half.

ROLL each half into a long cylinder about the thickness of your thumb. Cut into bite-size pieces. You can dust lightly with flour or semolina and set aside for a few hours.

TO COOK - put 6 - 8 gnocchi in a few quarts of boiling, salted water (too many at once interferes in the cooking process). As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon and put them in a sieve over a plate to drain further until you are ready to serve. Repeat until all are cooked.

YOU can eat these gnocchi with butter or good olive oil, a grind of black pepper and some Parmesan cheese, or serve with a sauce of your choice.

I tripled this recipe for my family. :)

and they turned out yummy....
NOT yucky... ;)

Making Gnocchi...

Well, I had some cheeses in the 'fridge and some fresh herbs in the garden along with a passel of potatoes so I made gnocchi with the kids today. Doesn't that look YUM?!?!

I don't actually follow a recipe too much.
I make up a few potatoes by boiling them with skins on until they are fork tender.
Then, I peel them and use a potato ricer to break them up.
Thirdly, I would add some flour and an egg or two
until I get the consistency of pasta dough
and knead it for a few minutes with a light dusting of flour on the counter.
Make a big ball and cut it into four equal sections.
Then roll out the sections like a big playdoh snake.
Cut little "pillows" out of that and roll on a fork or gnocchi board to make the ridges.
Drop them into boiling water until they float
and use your favorite sauce
or a bit of butter and parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.
I will saute them in olive oil or butter to heat them back up
before saucing and serving and that is it.

This particular sauce you see above is basically
a Bechamel sauce (white cream sauce)
with parmesan and ricotta cheese added
and it is topped with a bit of Italian Parsley from my garden.




My middle boy got into it and enjoyed eating what he made, too.


Here are some rolled and ready to go in the boiling water.


Here is another angle of rolling out the little gnocchi dumplings
with my NEW TOY.
That is a gnocchi rolling board and it gives gnocchi it's ridges.
You can also use a fork but this is so much more fun to play with
and it only costs a few dollars.
The ridges are important for allowing the sauce to cling to the pasta or dumpling.
I got that board for Mother's Day.
The gnocchi was delicious and now it is ALL GONE!!!

Chicken Parmegian

I used Tyler Florence's recipe as a starting place and then lazied it up quite a bit... LOL

Here is Leann's Lazy Version

I do NOT make the sauce... I am merely using a Prego sauce I get at Sam's

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 11/2 pounds)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1 (8-ounce) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained
Freshly grated Parmesan
1 pound spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little assembly line. Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/2-inch thick. Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, season with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil. Bake the Chicken Parmesan for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti.

Italian cooking 101...

See, I did take the class...
Originally uploaded by academy252.

Here is me making gnocchi! We had such a delightful time in my summer class. I learned so much. We did pasta making, gnocchi, Italian breads, lots of sauces, stuffings for filled pastas like ravioli and shell pastas, and last but certainly not least we made Tiramisu. On my own I am delving into pesto, polenta and gelato. I have been given some wonderful new skills!!! What a great class and I cannot wait to start the fall semester. I am currently sewing my chef outfit and will be purchasing shoes pretty soon. What a blessing to be doing something I love so much for a JOB!!!!! I will post more later on the goals and plans of all that lay ahead for me...

Some new reading...

I am heading into my last Italian class on Wednesday. It has been such a delight to be in that class this summer. There have been lots of fun people to share it with, too. We are going to be eating together one last time and asking some last minute questions on things we want to know. One of the things that Jenn shared with us was a variety of sauces throughout the summer. She gave this book as a reference. I was looking around at Amazon this last week and found a copy of this for about $1.90 and could not pass it up. It came in the mail today and I cannot wait to sit down and read through it. It will have to wait until I get back from the RV trip, though. It is a HUGE resource and full of great information. I also got an RV cooking book in the mail today and will be planning menus for our trip. I am getting so excited about starting the fall semester in the culinary arts program. I am living my dream and cannot believe God is letting it all happen. Throughout the semester I will be sharing more on my passions and goals in getting this degree. I am still pinching myself over it all!!!

Risotto revisited...

I tried it again today at home after our lesson last night. I decided to try it with brown rice. It took twice as long to cook it but it was so very yummy! Here is the process...

Heat the broth... (ignore my stovetop that needs to be cleaned)
















Brown the onions in butter
















add the rice and bring to a toasted state - you can smell when it gets there.
















Start adding liquid a ladle or two at a time.
















Done
















Ok, so the picture is a bit fuzzy but I added parmesan and fresh tomato from my garden.

Cooking Italian

About 8 weeks ago I embarked on a summer adventure. I began taking a local Italian cooking class with the continuing education program in one of our local colleges. Since I began I have made homemade pasta, purchased a pasta roller to continue to experiment at home, learned a variety of sauces from northern Italy and southern Italy, baked bread, pizza, focaccia bread and a harder dipping variety and sampled a plethora of cheeses. The best, by far though, was tonight. We made risotto!!! I have always been afraid of cooking the stuff but not any longer. Risotto is rice cooked slowly in a stock (beef, chicken, vegetable etc...) and stirred constantly until thick, creamy and soft (as in not al dente). We did the basic recipe and then tried some variations.

Here is the basic recipe

1 Tbsp. minced onion
1 Tbsp. butter
3.5 oz short grain white rice
about 2 cups stock (beef, chicken, vegetable - your choice)

Boil the stock and set it aside. Saute the onion in butter over medium low heat until translucent. Add the rice and mix thoroughly with the butter. Cook, stirring until a toasted aroma rises. Add one third of the stock to the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice has absorbed the stock. Repeat, adding the remaining stock in 2 more portions, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. Cook the risotto until the rice is tender but with a pleasing texture and most of the liquid is absorbed. Season to taste.

Variations

* Substitute 1/4 liquid with wine
* Use different stocks for different flavors
* Add any combination of fresh or frozen vegetables
* Add pre-cooked meats (grilled sliced beef, chicken, fish, tuna, salmon, etc...)
* Add fresh herbs at the end or dried at the beginning to the stock
* Add fresh sauteed or grilled diced vegetables
* Add a touch of cream or butter to make it smoother

Here is the one Jenn gave me to do for the class.

In place of the 2-3 cups of stock mix
1 cup coconut milk (in a can)
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup water

follow the recipe only add this instead of the basic stock as you cook then chunk in a palm of curry powder. You can add salt and pepper to taste but I chose not to. You can also add chicken shredded, raisins, nuts and serve with a flat bread.

I WILL be making this one again and again!!!

It was FABULOUS!!!!!

Next week is our last week together and we are celebrating with pizza made in class and Tiramisu. It is gonna be good...