I went through this stage when my favorite "fast food" was Subway. I absolutely loved to eat there. Given a choice between a five-star dining experience and a good old six inch, I'd go with Subway nine times out of ten.
Loved it. Then Jared started going to Subway and I think he turned me off of it. That or I discovered that I really liked Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, but that's another story. I'm a major sandwich person. Sub, hero, hoagie or panini. Slap it in between two slices of bread and more than likely I will devour it happily.
One day, however, I discovered flavor. And maybe that and not Jared was what turned me off of the somewhat boring and certainly never mind blowing experience I got at my local sub shop. I realized that you can't just throw things in between bread and expect greatness.
And then I started to make my own meatball sub, and because I love you so, I will give you the recipe. Because I'm not being biased when I say this recipe is awesome. Tender and bursting of flavor. Not too much of anything and they hold together well. Have at this for a (messie) weeknight meal.
Homemade Meatball Sub 1 lb lean ground beef 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs 1 Large Egg 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 medium onion, grated 1 clove garlic 1/4 tsp parsley, oregano and garlic salt each salt and pepper to taste Your favorite jarred tomato sauce 4 Italian Sub Rolls 6 Slices Mozzarella cheese, sliced diagonally in half
1. Turn on broiler. Mix all ingredients together. Mixture should be moist but not so that the meatballs fall apart. If you need more liquid, add 1 tbsp of water until you meet desired consistency. 2. Shape meatballs to desired size and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. (I made 20 meatballs with the mixture and they were a nice size). If you wet your hands the meatballs will not stick to you. Broil until outside is slightly brown on one side and then turn and broil the other side. When finished, add to spaghetti sauce and simmer at least 20 minutes. 3. When meatballs and sauce are all still hot, take 5 meatballs and put into sliced Italian sub rolls. Top each sandwich with three diagonal slices of mozzarella and sprinkle with a bit more oregano, if desired. 5. Place on a cookie sheet under the broiler for a few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve!
Hi everyone! Thanks for all the well wishes you've been sending my way! I'm feeling much better with every passing day, so whatever you're sending, keep it up! Today, I have another guest post, from Polly Motzko, the creator of Cooking Up a Storm All Over the World, a foodie website dedicated to her recipes and traditions. Polly contacted me about my request for guest posts, and sent a yummy looking dish my way. So without further ado, here comes Polly!
Polly Motzko’ Farfalle Bolognese with Zucchini and Fresh Basil for Garnishing.
Adapted from “Bolognese Meat Sauce” by Marcella Hazan
Text & recipe greatly adapted from the original by Marcella Hazan,
I was going through my many bookshelves of cooking books and ran across this wonderful new edition of Marcella Hazan’s that is a combination of her first book and the second and then 50 more wonderful recipes. This printing is dated November 5th, 1992. (My parent’s anniversary is on that day, only quite a few years before in 1949. So, when I make this dish for them it will be special because the book was printed on the day when my mother Ramona Hart and dad, Ernest Le Pore-became an item!
Rather than watching this on the stove for hour on end, I have streamlined it for modern day busy people like me, who want to make something wonderful up in advance and have it on hand to use in countless wonderful recipes. I am not sure if Marcella Hazan realized how the crock pot could come in handy for slowly simmering this sauce and in braising more economical cuts of meat; I don’t think she would object to my adaption here.
You can leave the minced garlic out if you want and be true to Marcella’s original recipe, or you can add however much you like in it..and some fresh basil if you feel inclined.
I was raised in a house where a marinara didn’t “taste right” without it in it…so this version reflects my personal tastes, and since I am going to make this for me and my “family” then this version it is.
I am going to use a huge, multicolored Farfalle pasta that I got from The World Market. It is the most vivid multicolor pasta I have ever seen in my life. I also added a sauté of chopped zucchini and yellow squash to the top of it, because I love zucchini and I am opting for more fresh veggies in my diet, plus I think it goes nicely with the colors in the pasta I chose.
Ragu, as the Bolognese call their celebrated meat sauce, is characterized by mellow, gentle comfortable flavor that any cook can achieve by being careful about a few basic points.
• The meat should not be too lean a cut to extract its juices for the subsequent benefit of the sauce.
• Add salt immediately when sautéing the meat to extract its juices for the subsequent benefit of the sauce.
• Cook the milk in milk before adding wine and tomatoes to protect it from the acidic bite of the latter.
• Do not use a demiglace or other concentrates that tip the balance of flavors toward harshness.
• Use a pot that retains heat. Earthenware is preferred in Bologna and by most cooks in Emilia-Romagna, but enameled cast-iron pans or a pot whose heavy bottom is composed of layers of steel alloy is fully satisfactory.
2 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon to toss pasta with.
4-1/2 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, with juice. I increased this substantially because I made almost exactly to the recipe and the dish didn’t look or taste right-to me. (Everyone is different of course, which is what makes the world great. In my world I added garlic, increased the tomatoes to more of a “meaty marinara”, cut the butter back and that is about it.
The rest of the dish is my invention entirely.
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups or more of pasta-I used jumbo multicolored Farfalle here.
1. Marcella Hazan’s choice of pasta is tagliatelle or tortellini and green lasagna goes really well with this sauce.
2. Put oil, butter chopped onion in a pot and heat to medium. Cook and stir until translucent then add celery and carrots and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat well.
3. Add ground beef, large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of black pepper. Crumble meat with fork, stir well and cook until beef is not raw and no longer pink inside.
4. Add milk and let simmer gently stirring frequently, until milk has bubbled away completely.
5. Add the wine and let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn heat down. Simmer sauce at the laziest boil.
Or
PUT IN A CROCK POT ON 250 DEGREES FOR 3 HOURS OR UP UNTIL 6 HOURS, STIRRING AFTER 2 HOURS.
While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out, and the fat will separate from the meat, unless you use a very lean meat like I did-Polly Motzko, that is.
To keep it from sticking, continue the cooking, adding ½ cup of water whenever needed. In the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt if needed.
Toss with cooked, drained pasta, adding the tablespoon butter and some of the freshly grated Parmesan on the side.
(Inspired by Marcella Hazan’s “Bolognese Meat Sauce”)
Make pasta sauce at least 3 to 6 hours ahead of time and arrange making the pasta after the sauce is through simmering for its total time-3 hours is recommended.
Cook pasta of choice until al dente and then put some in a shallow pasta bowl, then arrange some of the cooked farfalle on top of the sauce. Put enough sauce in the bowl so that you can “sop up the sauce” and you can also drizzle some more on top. I did this type of presentation because I wanted to show off the colors and shape of the jumbo multi-colored farfalle…you could use penne here and it would work out great too! This multi colored pasta-I bought at World Market-was one of my all-time finds in the pasta world. (Even my friends in Italy hadn’t seen anything like it!)
Take 2 finely chopped zucchinis and about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh basil, along with 1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced. Sauté in a little olive oil and a little more minced garlic, if you like. Sauté until the squash is nicely tender. Add enough fresh basil cut in a chiffonade style to the vegetable mixture and top the cooked pasta on the sauce with this. This doesn’t take long because you don’t want to cook the zucchini til their mush, just a little tender. It is really great! If you spoon some of the Bolognese sauce on the pasta, the vegetables give it a nice texture and flavor.
Top the zucchini/squash/garlic mixture on top of the pasta of your choice.
Grate some fresh Parmesan and put on top to crown the dish…and lastly ENJOY! The Parmesan gives the dish the extra SALTY flavor that it needs, so don’t make the dish without it…or substitute something very similar like Romano.
If you have made variations of this dish, email them to Paulette Motzko at:
CookingUpAStorminCA@gmail.com
Polly Motzko will include them in her upcoming cookbook, with your permission, that is.
Happy Cooking!
Yours truly in food and all that is wonderful on your plate!
The plasticky film on top of strangely textured chicken nuggets? Bland creamy sauce over rubbery vegetables? Anyone else salivating?
I didn't think so. As I've grown up, I've realized that cooking does involve more than just tossing ingredients into a pot, stirring and baking. It requires patience, creativity, and a little bit of humility. But, without a doubt, and forgive this lame cliche, but you have to cook with LIKE. I didn't want to say love. It's overused. So, as you're tossing in a sprinkle of salt and a dash of pepper, throw in a little like (or love, you over achiever, you.) to make your dish special.
That's exactly what I did. As you all know (well, you avid readers) I have a hungry boyfriend. As you also may know, my hungry boyfriend is only a blossoming chef. He hasn't quite reached his total potential. He's mastered sloppy joe's, BLTs, my signature chicken dish and hard boiled eggs, but I really feel like he's just skimming the surface. None the less, I don't want him to starve, or survive on prepackaged goodies. That being said, I wanted to create him (well, and me) something that would be just as delicious a third and fourth time as it was the first. I wanted to create him a T.V. dinner! Minus all the gross stuff and plus all the good.
What better than lasagna? It's cut into blocks, freezes well, and always hits the spot. Yes, I know it was 90+ degrees all over the country but that didn't stop me. Oh, and it was awesome.
For this recipe, you can save fat and calories and all that good stuff if you use part skim ricotta, whole wheat noodles (not my fave, but you could), lean ground beef/turkey, etc. Or, if you want to go nuts, have regular ricotta and high blood sugar causing white noodles, yum! So, here's the masterpiece. Way better than any Lean Cuisine or Stouffer's... (adapted from AllRecipes and serves 9)
What ya need:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp white sugar
12 oz ricotta (part skim, if you please)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 egg
9 lasagna noodles
1 pound shredded mozzarella
What ya do:
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook beef until brown. Drain. In another skillet over medium heat, cook onion until translucent. Combine beef and onion in a large saucepan with tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, water, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour.
2. While sauce is simmering, blend ricotta cheese, Parmesan and egg until smooth. Set aside.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
5. Spread 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover sauce with 3 noodles. 6. Cover noodles with one-third of remaining sauce. Top with half the mozzarella. Place another layer of noodles and one of sauce over the mozzarella; top that with the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining sauce.
7. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top and bake 15 minutes more, until golden and bubbly.
Now, as mentioned earlier, they have NO cooking utensils. I'm talking no pots for boiling water. You should have seen my creativity. I used a pocket knife for a can opener and cooked the sauce in two skillets at one point. I eye balled a lot of the numbers and relied on my taste buds to know right from wrong... success!! Check out the pictures below to see what I was (or was not) working with!
My first attempt without the can opener was both ineffective and unsafe.
Then I mastered it! Pop Pop would be proud of me!
See this cupboard? It's barren.
No tablespoons in this drawer...but an egg slicer?
Well, that's all for now folks. I was supposed to be doing homework.. Well, I was multi tasking, at least. Ta Ta!
It's May. It was 90 degrees a couple of weeks ago. Say goodbye to warm winter meals, and hello to grill marks, fresh veggies and cool drinks...or at least that's what I thought. With Tuesday being cold and gloomy, however, nothing seemed as appealing as a satisfying bowl of chili. That being said, we also had all the ingredients on hand--such a luxury. So, here's a really simple, really tasty week-night fix.
What ya need (for about 5 servings--1 cup each): 1 lb ground beef 1 medium onion 2 cloves garlic 1 can (16 oz) whole tomatoes 2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp Worcestershire Hot sauce 2 tsp Cocoa Powder (optional) 2 medium celery sticks 2-3 tbsp chili powder 1 cup cooked elbow macaroni 1 can kidney beans drained
What ya do: Cook and stir burger, onion and garlic in saucepan until burger is light brown. Drain, stir in tomatoes (with liquid) celery, chili powder, salt, sugar, Worcestershire, cocoa powder (if using…it adds a nice warmth, and brings out the other flavors) and a few shakes of the hot sauce (to taste); heat to boiling, reduce and simmer for one hour. Stir in beans and macaroni, heat to boiling and reduce. Simmer uncovered until hot (about 15 mins). If you want a thicker consistency, simmer longer.
This, alongside some good bread and you've got a filling (cheap) meal. The elbow macaroni is another optional ingredient. I added it because we have a big eater on our hands and I wanted to bulk up the recipe. It's perfectly fine without any pasta, too. Give it a try! I'm sure you could also substitute ground turkey, but we never have that.
Don't be turned off by the almost meatless (ALEX!) because this recipe is quick, easy, and really tasty! Adapted from Cooking Light, it's healthy and a good pick for a hectic week night. The great thing about this recipe is that you probably already have most of these ingredients...even we did (which never happens). Tastes a bit like chili/bbq...a good choice!
What ya need:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces ground sirloin(we used ground beef)
1/2 cup grated carrot
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 (15.5-ounce) can low-sodium red beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
4 (2-ounce) whole-wheat sandwich rolls, split and toasted
4 (1/4-inch-thick) red onion slices, separated into rings
What ya do:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, and beef to pan; Mmm...love that sizzle and smell of saute!
Cook 5 minutes or until meat is browned and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally to crumble beef. Yum. We had to drain it a little
Add carrot, chili powder, sugar, oregano, and red pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes or until thickened and carrot is tender, stirring occasionally.
Partially mash 1 cup beans with a fork or potato masher. Add mashed beans and remaining whole beans to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.
Spoon 1 cup bean mixture onto bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 1 red onion slice and top half of roll.
If you were to have a regular sloppy joe, forget healthy numbers, so here's the best part (in my opinion).
Nutritional information:
Calories:405
Fat:14.4g (sat 3.2g,mono 7.5g,poly 2.3g) --mostly good fat
Loved it. Then Jared started going to Subway and I think he turned me off of it. That or I discovered that I really liked Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, but that's another story. I'm a major sandwich person. Sub, hero, hoagie or panini. Slap it in between two slices of bread and more than likely I will devour it happily.
One day, however, I discovered flavor. And maybe that and not Jared was what turned me off of the somewhat boring and certainly never mind blowing experience I got at my local sub shop. I realized that you can't just throw things in between bread and expect greatness.
And then I started to make my own meatball sub, and because I love you so, I will give you the recipe. Because I'm not being biased when I say this recipe is awesome. Tender and bursting of flavor. Not too much of anything and they hold together well. Have at this for a (messie) weeknight meal.
Homemade Meatball Sub
