Basic Marinara

I feel like I owe a recipe, because it’s been a while since the last time I was able to get on here.  I really want to go to bed (it’s been a long day), but I promised some friends I’d get a basic marinara up soon, so here it is.  I made a dish with this tonight, but I don’t have enough time for that one.  Hopefully soon I’ll post what I’ve been up to the last few days.

This sauce is great to make in bulk and to freeze in separate containers for later use.  It’s tasty on spaghetti noodles with a little parmesan cheese, or use it as a dipping sauce.  Use meat if you like, or throw in bell peppers, more onion, carrots and zucchini (and mushrooms if you like them – I’m not a fan of them myself) for a chunky primavera.  Let it simmer on the stove all day to reduce some of the water content and make your house smell good.  It’s quite versatile.

The measurements for this are perfect for one dish.  Double, triple or quadruple to keep it on hand (frozen) for use later on.  Sorry there are no pictures on this one, but I needed to whip it up for the other dish (stuffed zucchini – I promise I’ll get that up soon!), and I’ve only got the pictures of that.  This is pretty simple though, and it uses basic measurements, and techniques we’ve already covered in other recipes.

Ingredients

• 28 oz can tomatoes (we like the Hunt’s Garlic, Basil and Oregano).  You can also use the smaller cans for other flavors depending on what you are making, but this is perfect for a basic marinara.
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 small red onion
• 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tsp (dried) Oregano
• 1/2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp white sugar
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp (dried) Sweet Basil

Tools

• Stick blender
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Saucepan
• Cooking Spoon
• Measuring spoons

What To Do

1. Blend tomatoes in can until they are at your desired consistency.  (Refer to step 2 in the Farfalle with Arrabbiata recipe), and set aside.
2. Peel paper from garlic cloves and mince (refer to step 3-4 in the Capellini Pomodoro recipe) and put in saucepan.
3. Dice onion (just like steps 6 and 7 for the Arrabbiata) and put in saucepan.
4. Add crushed red pepper (optional).
5. Pour on olive oil, and apply medium heat.
6. Score Bay leaf by pressing your thumb nail lightly into it and creating small cracks.  Add to saute mix.
7. Oil should be sizzling by now – stir the ingredients and add the oregano.
8. When onions start to get clear, pour in  tomato puree.
9. Simmer and add balsamic vinegar, sugar, and salt (more or less to taste).  Cook for about 10 minutes to heat thoroughly (you can simmer longer if you like, but make sure you reduce the heat to low and check the liquid every 20 minutes or so as to not cause burning), stirring regularly.
10. Add the basil about 5 minutes before you remove from the heat to serve.
11. Remove bay leaf before serving.

All done!  Enjoy!

Farfalle with Arrabbiata and “Buffalo” Mozzarella

I have high expectations for myself tonight.  My goal is to get this recipe posted up as well as one for the pasta salad I brought into work today for a potluck (had someone ask for the recipe, and it’s not the first time – that usually gets good reviews).  We’ll start with the one and see how it goes.

I’ve actually started writing this blog twice.  The first time I started writing it was the night I was making the dish and had a bit of a catastrophe in the kitchen (more about that in a minute) and then the other morning I was going to write it up, but I ran out of time after I had started my intro and then accidentally hit the backspace button while not in the text field.  Lesson learned on that one.

So, third time’s a charm, right?  Let’s hope so.

Before I get started on this recipe, let me apologize.  I had started with the camera in tow, and got some decent pictures to start, but then, when I was blending the tomatoes I had an incident which made it look like someone went on a murderous rampage in my kitchen.  Blended tomatoes sprayed EVERYWHERE.  I was covered in them, the kitchen, the cutting board, parts of the floor…  It was disastrous.  Thankfully Carl came to my rescue and was able to salvage the tomatoes off the cutting board while I had a minor breakdown (no tears, but some pouting and generally being pissy about not being able to take the pictures).  I almost called off the blog, but Carl convinced me not to, and I decided to do it for whoever might want to try this recipe, because let me tell you… This dish is DELICIOUS.  It is not for the faint of taste bud, or someone who thinks ketchup is spicy.  An Arrabbiata sauce is a spicy red sauce.  Arrabbiato is actually Italian for angry.  So it’s only fitting I had my kitchen look like that scene from Kill Bill when Uma Thurman faces off against the Crazy Eighty-Eights.  If it had been done in color.  And without further ado:

Farfalle with Arrabbiata and “Buffalo” Mozzarella

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes (ish)

Ingredients

• 7-8 cloves of garlic (have you started to notice a theme yet?)
• 1/4 onion
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper (you can get this in the spice aisle – the same stuff that you put on pizza at a restaurant.  We’ve found the Badia brand in the Ethnic section of our grocery store is good quality for the price).
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 cans of Hunt’s Spicy Red Pepper Tomatoes
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 box farfalle pasta (aka bow-ties, because bow-ties are cool.)
• 1 – 16 oz package of Buffalo Mozzarella (we use the Belgiosio brand – it’s a big log of cheese cut into slices).  You could also use Mozzarella “Pearls” for this dish, but we find that cutting the cheese ourselves makes us laugh when we say that, and it is cheaper in the long run.  Also, random fact:  Buffalo Mozzarella from Italy comes from Water Buffalo milk.  We haven’t gotten that down in America, so ours comes from cows.  I’d love to try the real stuff some day, as I’ve heard it’s exquisite (I mean, it comes from water buffalo teets!  It’s gotta be good for people to keep milking them, right?), but this is what we get here in the States.

Tools

• Cutting board
• Knife
• Can opener (don’t waste your money on an electric one unless you have arthritis, especially if you live in a place that has hurricanes, because you’re boned when you have no power.)
• Stick Blender
• large saucepan
• mortar and pestle
• stockpot
• colander
• spoon for cooking

What To Do

1. Fill stockpot with water and put on medium high heat.
2. Open cans of tomatoes and blend with the stick blender.  Ok, this is where I messed up.  Hold the can with one hand, and sink the blender into the tomatoes (cover the bell shape) THEN turn it on.  Run it all the way down once.  This one motion will blend the tomatoes well enough.  If you like your sauces very smooth, do this twice.  Make sure the bell is completely immersed in the tomatoes before you turn it on.  Unless you want to clean up a big mess.  Carl is not available.
3. Grind the rosemary and oregano together in the mortar and pestle, applying pressure and working around in a circular motion.  I recommend you turn the pestle (wand part) in half circle motions while doing this (it makes it go faster).  Set to the side.
4. Peel and mince garlic (like we did in steps 3 and 4 of this recipe).
5. Put garlic in saucepan (no heat yet).
6. Slice onion in thin slices, like so:
7. Dice the onion by doing a small radial cut.  (Similar to what we did in step 7 of this recipe, but smaller: ).
8. Put onion in saucepan (still no heat).
9. Add crushed red pepper to saucepan.
10. Cover with olive oil, and apply medium low heat to saute.
11. Saute (stirring the whole time) for about 3 minutes, then add the ground herbs from step 3.
12. Saute for about 1 more minute, then add tomatoes, red wine vinegar and salt.
13. Stir and reduce to low.
14. By now, your water should be boiling.  Go ahead and add the farfalle to the boiling water.
15. While the pasta is cooking, and the sauce is simmering, cut the cheese (hee-hee.  I’ve got the sense of humor of a 4 year old.)  Do this, but parting the log (pre-sliced) down the middle.  Cut in quarters one way, and then turn and do a cross cut in quarters.  This will leave you with pieces on the larger side of bite sized chunks.  Stir the pasta and sauce before you cut the other half of the log.
16. When pasta has cooked to your preference (warning, the box will say it’s done sooner than it is – the folds in the bow-tie make it take longer – so be sure you test it before you drain it), drain the pasta in the colander.
17. Put pasta into dishes, add cheese to the top, and cover with sauce (the cheese will get melty and delicious at this point), and serve.

Enjoy!  Let me know if you try this recipe and like it.  I’m going to try to get that pasta salad recipe up next, and I’ve had a request to post a basic marinara so I’ll do that soon, too.  I’d also like to get some additional foods on here (salads, sides and deserts).  Ah, if only there were enough hours in the day.

Capellini Pomodoro

A lot of my friends think that I’m weird.  This is a fair assumption.  I will admit that I’m strange; I have strange tastes and I’m picky.  Take, for example, my view on tomatoes.  I tell people I don’t like them, because it’s far easier than explaining the intricacies with my tomato infatuation.  I actually love tomatoes in most varieties: cooked, stewed, cured, soup, juice.  But I detest ketchup, and I won’t touch the goopy insides of a tomato unless I’m removing the seeds.  Bleh.

I do appreciate the tomato for all it offers.  It’s an excellent source of Vitamin C, and it is quite possibly one of the most versatile fruits with uses from breakfast to happy hour.  How can one not be somewhat enamored with it?

And with that, I offer my first recipe.  This is a fairly simple dish to try for your first gourmet meal.  Capellini Pomodoro, also known as tomato pasta, angel hair pasta with tomatoes, or even bruschetta pasta.  It pleases the pickiest of appetites – from my dad who was pretty frightened when we offered to cook him a  “Vegetarian Meal” for his birthday, to my (then 4 year old) niece who came up with this gem, “Just wrap it [the tomato] up and tell me it’s bacon.”  At a table with some of the pickiest eaters, everyone left stuffed and willing to eat leftovers.  Score!

All ingredients you need for this dish (aside from grated or shaved parmesan and cracked pepper to top) are in this picture.  It doesn’t get much more basic than this:

Tomatoes can be kind of expensive, so I recommend making this dish if they are on sale.  Thanks to Michelle over at http://www.iheartpublix.com, I was able to get some good deals on plum tomatoes this week.  If you are in an area that uses Publix, I highly recommend reviewing the deals on this site before you go shopping each week.

Prep time: 30 minutes (give yourself extra time the first time you make it – 45 minutes)

Cook time: about 5-7 minutes (seriously)

Ingredients

• 6-7 cloves of garlic (that’s the individual segments of the entire bulb that’s in the picture).  If you want to weigh them this is about 3/4 oz.
• 3 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Extra Virgin Olive Oil (we prefer the Filippo Berio brand)
• 2 lbs. tomatoes (recommend Roma/Plum tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine for best flavor)
• 2/3 oz. fresh basil
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (tsp) Salt (Table, Kosher or Sea Salt – you decide)
• 1/2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar (if you’re picky about additives, the Alessi brand is pretty straightforward)
• 1 lb. box Capellini (Angel Hair) Pasta
• Optional Suggestions for Topping: Shredded or Shaved Parmesean Cheese and Cracked Pepper

Tools

• Cutting Board
• Knife
• Sauté pan (skillet)
• Stock pot (large pot for boiling water/cooking pasta)
• Cooking spoon or spatula (no holes – we prefer wooden, but you pick what works for you)
• Colander (to drain pasta)

What to do

1. Fill stockpot with water for boiling the pasta.  Place on a burner and set at a medium heat.  Add salt to the water if desired.
2. Clean tomatoes and basil.  You can use a solution of 3 parts water: 1 part vinegar to clean vegetables.  Just make sure you rinse it well to remove the vinegar taste.  Blot the basil to dry and dry the tomatoes.  Set aside.
3. Remove the papery coating from your garlic.  Cut the tips off both ends and peel the paper off.  Your cloves should look like this:
4. Mince the garlic, by making small slices along the length of the garlic clove and then cutting crosswise.  Continue to cut until small pieces like this:
5. Place garlic in sauté pan and cover with olive oil.  Set aside.
6. Cut tomatoes in half, and remove stem/core (Carl calls this the tomato belly button) by making a small triangular cut (two diagonal cuts) and pulling off.  The tomatoes will look like this:
7. Remove the seeds from the tomato.  You can do this by running your thumb (pad) along fruit with the nail separating the seeds.  You may need to remove seeds from the middle of the fruit as well (you can cut a slit into the middle to remove the seeds, or just cut it with your thumb nail if it’s strong enough).  I usually keep a grocery bag nearby to put the seeds into for garbage (make sure there aren’t any holes in the bag first).  Your tomatoes should look like this:
8. Dice the tomatoes by cutting them lengthwise in thin strips, and then cutting parallel to this.  Be careful!  Tomatoes can be squirrelly and slip.  Take your time, and be safe.  No hospital trips, please.  This is the part of the recipe that takes the most time.  Be patient and do not rush.  When this is done, set the tomatoes to the side.
9. Remove basil from the stems.  You can do this by pinching off the leaf right at the stem.  See before and after:
10. Use a chiffonade cut on the basil.  This is a fancy term for small strips with a cross cut.  Don’t get overwhelmed with this.  The easiest way to do this is put all the leaves together in a stack and hold tightly.  Cut in small strips and work your fingers down the leaves as you cut more (keep that blade away your fingers!).  Do a crosscut (or two) by either turning the cutting board (easiest if you have the space) or the pile or basil (good for space saving).  Set aside.
11. Turn the heat up on the water to get it boiling.  The water should be preheated since it’s been sitting on medium heat for this entire time.
12. Place the sauté pan with the olive oil and garlic on a medium heat. When the oil starts to have tiny bubbles, add your pasta to the water (which should be boiling by now), and stir/toss the garlic with your cooking spoon.
13. Sauté the garlic for about 1 1/2 minutes and add tomatoes.  Toss in the olive oil and garlic. 
14. Stir the pasta briefly.
15. Add the balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes and toss the tomatoes and oil in the pan one more time.  Remove from heat.
16. Check your pasta to see if it’s done.  Angel hair takes about 5 minutes tops – test it to see if it’s done to your preference.  When the pasta is done, drain in a colander and do not rinse.  Starch is good!
17. Add the basil to the tomatoes and fold in.  You do this by taking a spoon of the tomatoes and slightly turning it over onto the basil.  Do this until thoroughly mixed.
18. Stir salt into tomato/basil/garlic mix.
19. Put the pasta back in the stockpot, and add the tomato/basil mixture.  
20. Toss to coat, and serve immediately.  Top with shredded or shaved parmesan cheese and cracked pepper (if you like).  
21. Add salt to taste.
22. Have your friends and family members tell you you are an amazing cook and either take all the credit or share this blog/recipe with them.

Enjoy!

I hope if you give this recipe a try you enjoy it as much as we do.  It is a staple in our house, and we actually ate the leftovers cold tonight (it can be really refreshing in the summer).  You can add/reduce the amount of oil/salt based on your dietary needs or taste preferences.  Without cheese, this is a vegan dish with no cholesterol, with the cheese it is still low on cholesterol and good for vitamin C, antioxidants and omega 3 oils.  Eating healthy can actually be quite delicious.