Meat sauce with Polenta

Fresh sauce with fine ground beef, pork and veal meat.

6/24/24

10/22/23

This is the Polenta I used.

Our family knows polenta as a traditional Italian meal. It's been around for generations..

Today I'm making it and although it's hot outside we don't care because I (we)are craving it.
 It's going to be awesome! 

I know I've said this many times and I am aware that family budgets are tight but check for sales and try hard to buy the best quality of meat that you can afford.  I truly believe quality meat for this sauce makes a remarkable difference it the taste.

Here is today's recipe:

1 lb. ground beef (85%)
1 lb. ground pork (90%)
2 cubes of basil, garlic and olive oil pesto or several cloves minced garlic and about 1 tsp.dried basil

Note:  I make my own blend with my garlic, basil and olive oil and freeze it by tablespoons in ice cube trays but feel free to either buy a good pesto blend(I do not have any nuts in mine) and use a little of it when you cook your meat.

Salt and pepper according to your taste
1 large can Hunts crushed tomatoes
1 large can Hunts tomato sauce
1 small can organic tomato paste
1 small can water
1 15 oz. can organic tomato sauce
1 carrot cleaned and cut into 3 pieces



In a Dutch place a little olive oil on medium heat.  Add ground meats and cook while breaking meat apart into small to medium pieces.  Once meat has started to brown slightly and there is no longer any pink add garlic/basil pesto , salt and pepper.  Keep stirring until incorporated.  Add small can tomato paste and small can water.  Cook and stir until all starts to bubble slightly.  Add mixture to crockpot that is set on high that you have placed crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and carrot. Stir well, cover and cook two hours on high and then lower heat to low and cook for an additional two hours. Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Instant Polenta..........It's really good and cooks in 3 minutes.  Polenta is an acquired taste...Most Italians love it. All it is is thickened corn meal.

You can find a box of Polenta at most grocery stores.  The brand I used was was DeLallo
The box has instructions on it and it serves 3  similar to the portion below comfortably.

FYI:  Just a little note from me.  This was the first year I had so much fresh basil so I decided to try using my food processor(you can use a blender too) and using the basil, fresh garlic and olive oil and after blending it all I froze individual tablespoons in ice cube containers.  I had done this before but varied using pine nuts and cheese.  This year with basil so abundant I am good thru next summer.

You may want to next year grow your own basil.  Containers do well and make your own pesto that have so many uses.  You can add more olive oil when making pasta along with a few of these pesto cubes and top with a little grated cheese and you have an easy meal.

From my kitchen to yours,

Original April 2016

Chicken stuffed mini peppers

Sweet peppers!  Yummy!  If you have any doubt about a green pepper as far as strong or bitter taste by all means try variegated peppers.   Red, yellow and orange sweet and flavorful peppers are the best choice for sweetness and great flavor.  Note;  how about using this stuffing for your favorite hot peppers? Hmmm

Today I decided to stuff these tiny long peppers and have a side salad and potato as well.  A light and tasty meal.

Enjoy!

Any extra filling I froze into patties.

1lb. Ground moist chicken

1egg

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1tsp. Salt 

1/2 tsp. Pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder 

I small onion grated

1/2 to 3/4 cup breadcrumbs 

Fresh jar sauce( I use Victoria brand marinara sauce)

Shredded mozzarella 

Pecorino Romano cheese 

Wash and remove seeds from peppers.  Fill with as much chicken stuffing as you are able to.  I had about 8 peppers so I’m thinking one and a half to 2 dozen variegated peppers might work if you are not having as many sides as I.  

Place sauce in baking pan.  Add stuffed peppers. Top with more sauce, Grated mozzarella and Pecorino Romano Cheese.

Place in preheated 325 degrees in oven covered for approximately 60 minutes.

Yummy!

Making Sweet Potato Gnocchi Video

6 small to medium sweet potatoes

3 1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

Pinch salt

Pinch nutmeg(optional)

I’m a large pot place potatoes making sure to completely cover with water.

Bring to a boil and continue boiling until potatoes are fork tender.

Remove and drain potatoes.  Allow to cool completely.

Once cooled skin should remove e easily,

Cut potatoes in half and put potatoes through potato ricer.

Once riced add pinch or two of salt and optional nutmeg.  If you like nutmeg it does add nice flavor but be careful of amount.  It can overpower your taste of potato.

Video will show the steps.  

Freeze Gnocchi on floured cookie sheets.  Once frozen bag in freezer bags until ready to use.

When ready to use in a large pot place water, add some salt.  When water reaches a full boil add gnocchi slowly stirring so as to not stick.  Allow gnocchi to rise to top on a slow boil.  Cook several minutes (5 to 10). Drain and serve with sauce if choice.

I use a brown butter sauce or even a sage butter sauce.

Mock Devonshire Scone cream

Yes I love scones!!! Especially with jam and cream. Since I can't seem to find any devonshire scone cream in my local grocery store I am opting for this mock cream recipe.

Here’s a wonderful recipe that works wonderfully and you can make it in the comfort of your home.  Enjoy!




Mock Devonshire Cream (I found this recipe in Condiments and Sauces)

3 oz. softened cream cheese
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup heavy cream

Beat cream cheese, sugar and salt until well blended..Pour in whipping cream slowly,.  Beat with mixer until cream is stiff.. Store in refrigerator..Makes enough cream for 12 scones...Delicious!!!!

Bolognese Sauce: Another great Red Sauce!

 Re-post...Original 7/12/11  Enjoy!

Today I made Bolognese(Italian spelling) sauce.  I like to make it with ground loose sausage because I think the flavor of good sausage stands out in the sauce. I use crushed tomatoes because I like to see some tomato pieces mixed with the sausage.  A bit of red pepper and fresh garlic and basil made for one great pot of goodness and the house smells fabulous!  A real Italian Kitchen! It was a great meal and unfortunately no leftovers.  Will surely make it again.

Happy Cooking from my kitchen to yours,

Recipe for Sauce:

1 1/2 lbs. ground loose Italian sausage
2 large cans (28 oz.) Tuttorosso Crushed tomatoes or 2 large cans (28 oz. Tomato puree
1 small can paste
1 tsp. dried basil or 2 or 3 fresh basil leaves
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes(if using hot sausage eliminate red pepper)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 or 3 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil

Check out the sausage in this great sauce!

In a large dutch oven Saute sausage while using a large spoon to break into small pieces.  After the sausage has browned add 1 can tomato paste and 3 cans of water(use paste can).  Cook slowly and after it has simmered for a few minutes and is golden brown; add salt, pepper, basil, garlic and red pepper.  Simmer for approximately ten minutes then add 2 cans crushed  tomatoes of your choice. You can use tomato puree if you would like.

 Simmer(with lid slightly on) until sausage is tender and tomatoes have cooked through. Approximately 2 to 3 hours.  Serve over pasta with Italian cheese.  Add a salad and your meal is complete.

**Note:  For a quicker sauce I use Tuttorosso or Tomato Sauce of your choice.  It cooks in half the time. 






7/12/11
6/29/13
7/30/15

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Authentic Italian Pasta Sauce Recipe

When we visited Italy last year we had the pleasure of visiting my husbands family (his mom's cousin and her family) and were cordially invited to have dinner with them.  Everything was homemade and the meal was fabulous.  

From what I knew about Italy or so I thought I knew about it this pasta sauce was not what I had expected.  No basil, no garlic no fresh tomatoes?? How could that be?  No pepper or other seasonings just veggies, good ground minced meat or ground meat as we call it to make a good down home easy pasta sauce. According to Lorena ,our cousin, her mom makes the sauce this way for their restaurant but at home she uses garden fresh tomatoes.  See even in Italy they take short cuts.

It was very hard to say what I enjoyed the most but I definitely loved their pasta sauce.  Light and slightly sweet I asked for the recipe. I'm going to try a pot this way for our sauce this weekend.

My copykat pasta and sauce

It took a while for me to receive it and translating was a bit of an issue but here it is. 

1 carrot chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1/2 sweet onion chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
3- 28 oz. cans tomato sauce(clean out cans with a little water)and add to sauce
olive oil
freshly grated Romano cheese
homemade fettuccine pasta

Link to pasta recipe:

Homemade pasta 

In a large pot or Dutch oven on medium heat place approximately 4 T. olive oil.  Add chopped carrots, celery and onion. Saute for around 15 minutes.  Add ground meat, sprinkle a little salt too while  breaking meat up into small pieces and saute slowly until all red has disappeared from meat.  Add tomato sauce and sugar.  Sauce will start to bubble.  Cook on lower heat so not to stick covered slightly for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Buon Appetite!


Thank you Roberta Vispi and her daughter Lorena for sharing it with me.  

 La ringrazio tanto Lorena per avermi aiutato con la traduzione del vostro mamma ricetta. La salsa è ottima e ho pubblicato la ricetta sulla mia pagina e blog. Deliziosa

Roberta, Lorena

Roberta

Roberta's pasta and sauce

10/13/15

copyright i like to bake and cook blog 2015

6/1/16

Rigatoni with chicken in a red sauce

When you have chicken and are tired of the same old recipes you can easily make red sauce with it.  Whether you add more veggies to it or make it with some fresh basil, onions and garlic it makes a light sauce that you can top some pasta with and add a green salad too to complete a meal.

I made the sauce as the below and  since I had a half box of rigatoni I decided to make this our meal today. Tender chicken breasts, yummy sauce topped the rigatoni while adding some grated Locatelli pecorino romano cheese. 

***Note:   If you opt out of pasta you can add some fresh veggies as carrots, celery, green beans and potatoes which are easily incorporated to complete a hearty stew.  

***If you decide to make it a stew you must allow a longer cooking time and I'd even try this recipe in a crockpot and allow to cook on low for 5 or 6 hours.  Carrots, celery and potatoes take a little longer to cook.  I would cook the green beans separately and add ten minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breasts or thighs

1 sweet onion grated
1 grated or finely chopped carrot or if you prefer cut the carrot in thirds and remove before serving.  Carrots sweeten your sauce so there is no need for added sugar.....

1 or 2  cloves minced garlic or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3 to 4 fresh basil leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 large can Hunts Tomato Sauce

4 T olive oil
salt and pepper
10 oz. rigatoni cooked according to directions

In a large Dutch oven place olive oil. Add chicken. Saute on low then Add sweet onion, carrot and garlic. Saute slowly until chicken, onion, garlic and carrot start to sizzle. Cook for a few minutes more on low.

 When chicken is browned slightly on both sides add Hunts (or your favorite sauce) to the pot . 

Cook for approximately 1 hour or until tender.  Serve over pasta or make it a stew as mentioned below.

Today's choice pasta was rigatoni.

From my kitchen to yours,

Italian Chicken and spinach stuffed shells

When I woke up this morning I had no idea what would be for dinner but since I had fresh ground chicken in the refrigerator it would have to be something using it as the main ingredient.

I looked in my pantry and saw a box of large shells and decided to make a chicken filling for the shells.  No plan just a quick glance and I figured it would definitely make hubby happy.

I knew that if I were going to stuff these shells I would need sauce.  I had plenty of meat sauce in the freezer but thought that chicken stuffed shells would be complimented by a marinara sauce so that's how this meal was developed.  It really didn't take very long to put together and I had never made a bechamel sauce so quickly googled it and thought a nice drizzle of a white sauce would top this dish beautifully taste and presentation. YUM 

The Sauce 

2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1- 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 small onion grated
1 finely chopped carrot
1 small chopped pepper
salt and pepper
olive oil and I happened to have some fresh basil so that's all it took to have a light marinara for this dish.

Saute onion in olive oil with carrot and pepper until carrot is tender.  Add crushed tomatoes and sauce(swish cans with a little water to get every bit of the tomatoes out of the can) and add to pot.

Add some salt and pepper. A few pinches is good.  Allow sauce to simmer slowly for about 1 hour or so.

The Bechamel Drizzle

2 T. Butter
2 T. flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg(optional)

Place butter in small pan on low heat.  When butter is melted add flour, milk and salt.  Turn heat up a bit and Whisk until thickened.  If sauce is too thick you can thin with a bit more milk.

The Filling

1 lb. ground chicken
1 small onion grated fine
 1/2 cup chopped spinach cooked and drained well
 3/4 cup bread crumbs( I used garlic and herb seasoned) I really like them(Progresso)
1/2 cup grated Italian cheese
1 egg slightly beaten
3/4 tsp. salt and a pinch or two of pepper

Place ground chicken in a pot with a slight amount of olive oil. Add grated onion. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium until chicken is no longer pink.  Add cooked spinach and cook for a few minutes more.  Remove from heat , add bread crumbs, Italian cheese and beaten egg.  Stir until all is mixed through.

Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.

Please note:  My box of shells was a regular size box and I had about 8 left so if you want to use the whole box increase the ingredients as in 1 1/2 lb. of chicken or even 2 lb. if you like them really filled. 

Enjoy!

9/27/15