Pasta and Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce (with Sausage)

I've been slacking. It's not that I haven't been cooking; it's just that I haven't posted in a while. Admittedly, this recipe is from LAST WEEK. But life has been incredibly busy and hectic and here I am, a week later...

I'm Italian, and much of what I cook is based upon one thing: carbohydrates. Pasta. I eat a lot of pasta. I cook with a lot of pasta.  This recipe was no exception.  It was so easy to make.

Pasta and Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce (with Sausage)

Ingredients

1/2 box of pasta (I used Ronzoni Garden Delight)

1 can of chopped tomato with extra puree

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup of mushrooms, chopped

3 turkey sausage links, sliced

2 cups of zucchini, sliced

1/2 cup red pearl onions

2 tbsp. olive oil

Basil

Salt and pepper

Oregano

1. Boil 4 cups of water with a pinch of salt. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Cook as directed on box.  

2. Heat the olive oil and 1/2 of the minced garlic in a sauce pot. While heating, puree the chopped tomato in a blender. Add the pureed tomato to the sauce pot. Bring to a rapid boil.  

3. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray. Once heated, add the sliced turkey sausage to the pan, as well as the other half of the minced garlic.  Cook until golden brown.  Drain fat.

4. Set the sauce on medium heat, and add the sausage to the sauce. Season to taste with basil, salt, pepper, and oregano.

5. Chop the mushrooms and zucchini.  Saute them, as well as the onions, for 4-6 minutes, or until tender.  Add to the sauce. Cook on medium heat for 5 more minutes.

  

6. Enjoy!

PointsPlus value: 9 (makes 3 servings)

Savory Beef and Vegetable Stew

Stews are hearty, thick, filling, and perfect for a cold winter night, when the chill seeps into your bones and you just need to warm up. So I probably had no right making a beef strew in September, when the temperature is still above ninety degrees during the day.

Well, maybe a beef strew isn't quite seasonal, but it was still delicious. And apparently I'm on an orzo kick; the stew rested on a bed of orzo. Just a disclaimer: this totally could be done with rice.  Or could be served by itself...

Anyways, you're not here to read my crazy litany of existentialist thoughts...you want to see the recipe and the pictures.

Savory Beef and Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 pound beef, cut for stew
• 1/2 pound small red potatoes, halved (I used "Enchanted Rose" Potatoes)
• 1 cup peeled red pearl onions
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 3 cups 99% Fat Free Beef Broth
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. chopped parsley

1.  Place flour in in a large Ziploc bag, mixed with salt and pepper to season.  Add pieces of beef to the bag, and shake it to coat pieces of beef in flour mixture.  Shake off excess flour.  Set aside the remaining flour.

2.  Set a Dutch oven over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Add the beef; cook until browned (6-8 minutes), turning over occasionally. Once cooked, set aside on a plate.

3. Add pearl onions to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until softened (about 4 minutes).

4. Add carrots, potatoes, broth, garlic, and thyme. Bring to a rapid boil, covered. Lower heat; simmer while covered until vegetables are tender (about 15 minutes).  Add celery.

5.  Return the beef to the Dutch oven, including any juices that have accumulated in the dish.

6.  Remove 3 tablespoons of liquid to a small bowl. Add the remaining flour; whisk until smooth.  Add the mixture to the Dutch oven. Stir in parsley, too. Stir constantly until thickened.

And viola! That's it...you can pour it over orzo, rice...or just eat it plain!  This recipe is guaranteed to have everyone asking for seconds.

PointsPlus Value: 11 (without orzo, makes 4 servings)

And...it's served best with a glass of red wine.  My favorite is the Vitner's Red from the San Sebastian Winery.

Buon Appetit!

 Faith  | Hope |  Love
Danielle

Seafood Medley with Orzo and a Balsamic Vinegar Glaze

Full Disclosure: I found the base recipe for this in a cookbook. It was originally intended as a side salad, but I decided that it had entrée potential; so I totally tweaked it.
You can add any sort of vegetables you’d like; for example, I added the mushrooms and tomatoes and celery. The celery gives it a nice crunch. I feel like you could probably add chicken and sausage and make this like an Italian version of paella.

Seafood Medley with Orzo and a Balsamic Vinegar Glaze

For Seafood Medley

1 cup Orzo

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 lb seafood medley (scallops, shrimp, and mussels)

¼ cup onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1. Cook orzo according to directions.
2. In a skillet, add 2 tsp. olive oil and heat on medium.
3. Add scallops, shrimp, and mussels. (I cheated, and had frozen already-cooked shrimp). Season with salt, pepper, and other seasonings to taste. Cook 3 minutes and add mushrooms. Cook until scallops and shrimp are opaque.

4. Pour tomato puree into the skillet and heat 5 minutes on medium-high heat.

5. Drain the pasta and toss with tomato puree and seafood.

6. Add celery and onion and tomato.

7. Drizzle the balsamic glaze on top of each serving (see below for recipe).

For Balsamic Glaze:

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp. sugar

1. Heat a skillet or omelet pan on low.
2. Add balsamic vinegar and whisk in sugar.
3. Bring the balsamic vinegar and sugar to a rapid boil, stirring occasionally.

4. Transfer the vinegar to a small bowl, and allow it to sit for about thirty minutes. The mixture should thicken and become syrupy.

PointsPlus value: 9 (makes 4 servings)

Hope you enjoy! Buon Appetit!

Faith Hope Love
Danielle

I've Come A Long Way

Once upon a time, in a residence hall in Gainesville, Florida, a young freshman named Danielle was homesick. It was her first night at college, her first night away from home and her family...and it was the first time she really had to fend for herself.

Feeling sad and alone, she longed for the comforts of home. Since her culinary skills were nonexistent, she decided to make something simple: a cup of tea. Danielle took out her shiny new pot, and filled it with water, and put it on the stove, and turned on the burner. She sat at a small round table in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil, teabag at the ready in a Botticelli-printed mug.

But suddenly, disaster struck! There were flames licking at the sides of the pot. Horrified that she would burn the building down on her first day, she grabbed the pot and threw it into the sink, dousing the pot in cold water from the tap. The flames died away and Danielle inspected the burner. But she couldn't find a reason for the flames on the stove. Cursing her luck, Danielle picked up the pot and then discovered the source of the fire...The pot, brand new, still had the label on the bottom, affixed to it with glue. The paper had caught fire.
__________________________________________________

Yes, I'm sorry to say that this is a true story. While no building burnt down, I was terribly hopeless when it came to even being in a kitchen. I ate in the dining hall every day for four years in undergrad and graduate school. But somewhere in the last few years, I started to develop what I could call some "culinary ability." I did learn, for instance, how to boil a pot of water without it catching fire. Since then, I've tried to hone these skills. Believe me when I tell you I'm not some amazingly talented amateur chef, but I believe that I've truly come a long way from the girl who set fire to a boiling pot of water her first night of college.

That's what this blog is going to be about. It'll be about my adventures cooking. Some will be wildly successful. Others, maybe not so much. But I'm finally at a point in my life where I have the tools and space (and an amazing kitchen) that allow me to explore, try out, and create new recipes. I'm hoping my ongoing culinary experimentation is (overall) successful!

My first recipe will be up tomorrow! Buon appetit!


Faith Hope Love
Danielle