Showing posts with label ITALIAN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ITALIAN. Show all posts

BIG SNOW and SPAGHETTI

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On snowy winter days, when it is good to stay close to home, I enjoy making dinner in the slow cooker. One of our favorite's is spaghetti; our kids were raised on this recipe and it is one of picky-picky husbands favorites.

The thick and hearty sauce and tender meatballs really need a solid six hours or more in the slow cooker, so don't be tempted to rush this recipe. I love the way my kitchen smells when I make this sauce.


MEATBALLS
1 pound of lean (90% or better) ground beef
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Mix all of the meatball ingredients and shape into walnut size meatballs. Bake in a 350 oven for 15 minutes then drain well before adding to sauce.

 
SPAGHETTI SAUCE
(1) 14 ounce can of tomato sauce
(1) 12 ounce can of tomato paste
4 cups water
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup finely diced carrot
1 clove of minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons dried sweet basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Saute the onions, garlic and carrots in the olive oil until they are very aromatic (they don't need to be cooked through). Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil.  Put EVERYTHING in the slow cooker and add the baked meatballs. Cook on high for 6 hours.

The last couple of hours, leave the slow cooker lid open just a crack so the sauce will reduce and thicken. Serve over spaghetti noodles.

NOTE: If you like mushrooms, add them the last hour of cooking.


NOTE: No matter how hard I try to make a "smaller" batch of spaghetti sauce, it always ends up making too much, so now I plan on it. The sauce that we don't use on night one, goes into a lasagna casserole for the freezer. Some sauces just need to be cooked in big batches I guess.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE

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Oh my goodness, this sausage tastes SO good and goes together in a flash. The recipe says you can use it right away, but I let mine sit in the fridge for a few hours to blend the flavors, then fried it all up and froze it in small packages so it will be instantly ready for pizzas (or a million other things). This is going to be a regular at our house from now on!!

ITALIAN SAUSAGE
2 pounds of ground pork
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dry parsley
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
¾ teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon paprika (not the hot kind)
½ teaspoon dry minced onion flakes
1½ teaspoon salt

Mix the spices together before you add to the meat.  A note about the fennel, onion flakes, red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning: I measured the ingredients first, THEN I ground them with my mortar and pestle so that they would distribute evenly throughout the sausage. Knead the spices into the meat with your hands and chill completely.
 
After the sausage has "mellowed" in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight, either fry (for about 10 minutes for until browned and crumbly), or package and freeze.

This was SO good, I'll NEVER buy pre-made Italian sausage again!! It is also delicious in a meat sauce


NOTE: I make my own Italian seasoning with equal parts of: dried basil, dried marjoram, dried oregano, dried thyme, dried rosemary and dried sage (measure the rosemary...THEN crush it a little before you add it to the blend.

CROCKPOT LASAGNA

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SERIOUS COMFORT FOOD

I guess this isn't technically lasagna, since it is cooked in the crock pot and uses rigatoni noodles, but it qualifies as serious comfort food and has all of the rich, familiar lasagna flavors.


1½ pounds lean ground beef (browned & drained well)
4 cups of beef broth (not bullion)
(1) 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
(1) 12 ounce can of tomato paste
1 tablespoon dehydrated onion flakes
1 teaspoon dry oregano
2 teaspoons dry basil
½ teaspoon fennel seed (don't leave out)
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoons sugar (don't leave out)
½ teaspoon black pepper
small pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
¾ pound of rigatoni noodles
½ pound of mushrooms (thick sliced)
2 to 3 cups Colby jack cheese shredded
1 cup of ricotta cheese


Brown the ground beef and drain it very well. In a large crock pot (see note below), Mix the beef broth, tomato sauce, tomato paste, onion and spices. Use a whisk to mix the sauce together well, then stir in the meat and mushrooms. Cook on high for 4 hours (see note). Stir once in a while during the 4 hours if possible (but not absolutely necessary.


After 4 hours, Stir in the DRY unboiled rigatoni, make sure you push them under the sauce (add a little extra hot water if necessary). Add the ricotta to the crock pot by spooning tablespoons of it in random spots and gently push down on the ricotta to submerge it as well (don't stir).


Continue to cook on low for 30 more minutes. Sprinkle the surface with shredded Colby jack cheese and put the lid back on for about 5 minutes or until cheese is nicely melted. Serve.


NOTE: My crock pot is a large oval and wide slow cooker, which works well for this recipe, as opposed to a small/tall one.  The main cooking time is 4 hours on high, but if you are going to be away from the house all day, just turn it down to LOW and cook for 8 hours before you add the noodles. If you are using one of those smaller/taller slow cookers, you may have to adjust the cooking time a little.


NOTE: My crock pot has a "low" setting, a "high" setting and a "warm" setting. Once this recipe is completely done (and ready to eat) you can leave it on "warm" for quite a while. Warning, "low" is not the same as "warm".


NOTE: Noodles tends to fall apart if you leave them in the crock pot for much more than 30 minutes, so don't be tempted to add them early. Thirty minutes is perfect.


NOTE: This recipe uses rigatoni noodles, which are large diameter tubular noodles that have ridges on them. However, any kind of thick walled (sturdy) noodle will work for this recipe. Just make sure you do NOT BOIL THEM before you add them to the sauce. They cook in the sauce and soak up all of that extra liquid. Regular elbow noodles work well if you are serving this to a crowd of kids.


NOTE: I like dehydrated onion in this recipe, but if you don't have that, just saute a small chopped onion along with the ground beef.


NOTE: You can use your favorite cheese. We happen to like Colby jack cheese, but mozzarella works well too.


NOTE: This reheats very well.

ITALIAN SEASONING & A TIP

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I use a lot of dry herbs and spices; they are convenient. However, there are some spices that I don't use all that often. For example, that little $3.99 jar of rubbed sage gets used for a single holiday and then languishes on my spice rack, only to be thrown away. Well, I've discovered the (bulk) dry herb and spice section of the health food isle. The spices are sold by the pound, so the big hand full of sweet basil I bought the other day was a whopping 45 cents. I am buying all of my dry herb and spices this way from now on. They are not only economical, but they are super fresh and are an excellent quality!!
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This recipe for Italian Seasoning is a far better blend than any ready-made jar that I've found so far. I hope you will try it.
3 tablespoons dry basil
3 tablespoons dry oregano
3 tablespoons dry parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon dry rosemary
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
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Stir together thoroughly and break down the larger herbs (like the rosemary) with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder (just don't grind it too fine).
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Store in airtight jar for up to six months.

NOTE: I wash out the glass jars that spices usually come in, and refill them with the bulk herbs and/or spices.

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