Jan 16, 2020 | breakfast, Main Course, Recipes
Are you a fan of hearty Italian cooking? Do you love pizza and pasta? Well we’re big fans of Italian cuisine and pizza and pasta are our favorites, specially those with marinara sauce!
Sure we have our favorite Italian restaurants both here and abroad. But nothing beats home cooking! And a bowl of spaghetti is comfort food at its best.
Pastas and pizza have 2 basic ingredients; dough in the form of noodles or crust, and sauce. So making it at home should be easy, specially since you can buy pasta, crust, and sauces dried, frozen, or bottled from any grocery store. But why settle for boxed sauces (or pasta or crust) when making it from scratch is so simple?
Ok maybe making pizza dough is a bit time consuming and so is making pasta, but the sauces, well that’s pretty easy! (If you want to make homemade pasta check out my review of the Philips Pasta Machine). Marinara
One of the easiest and most versatile sauces is Marinara Sauce. You can use it for pasta, think spaghetti marinara; pizza, think Margherita; sandwiches, think meatball subs; and as a dip, think fried mozzarella sticks!
So today I’ll share my Basic Marinara Sauce Recipe. Believe me it’s super easy!
I use canned Fire Roasted diced tomatoes to give it that homemade taste. Sugar cuts the acidity of all those diced tomatoes so don’t leave it out even if you think it’s weird. And lastly I add some spice with crushed red peppers, yes, the the stuff you sprinkle on your pizza; you can add the tablespoon or more if you like spicy or omit it if you don’t.
===================================================================================================
Basic Marinara Sauce Recipe
|
|
|
Basic Marinara Sauce Recipe
|
Instructions
Purée diced tomatoes in a blender, you will have to purée in 2 batches
Heat olive oil in large pot
Sautée garlic for about a minute, do not allow them to brown or even burn as it will make sauce bitter
Add Italian seasoning and crushed pepper, mix well
-
Stir in salt, sugar, and bay leaf
Let boil then turn down heat to low
Simmer sauce for about an hour
Serve over pasta or use in pizza and sandwiches, or as a dip
You can brown ground meat then add marinara sauce to make a meat sauce
You can also use it in your favorite pasta dish like Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan and spread it on your lasagnas!
Store in mason jars or sealed plastic containers in the refrigerator for about a week. Or store in freezer safe containers in your freezer for about 3 months.
Whatever you use this Marinara Sauce for, enjoy!
Dec 5, 2019 | Appetizers, breakfast, Christmas, Corner, Vegetarian
Serve your raw green salad in frico cups!
Frico cups are small cups made entirely out of cheese. They are naturally low carb, gluten-free, and completely irresistible.
You know that little bit of cheese that oozes onto the skillet when making a grilled cheese sandwich? The stuff that turns dark and crispy and perfect for popping in your mouth? Frico cups are essentially an entire serving bowl made of that rich crispy cheese.
You can make them in various sizes. Yet I’ve discovered if you bake them about the size of a paper muffin liner and fill them with a smaller serving of salad, they’re more likely to disappear!
Frico is what Italians call the wafer like crisp that forms when you bake or fry shredded cheese.
This delicate, baked Parmesan cheese cups are deceptively easy to make. You can fill them with whatever you want, but grape tomato, olive and feta make for a light and refreshing snack.
Directions
- For the Frico Cups: Grate Parmesan and make piles, 2 inches apart, on a lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F until melted but not quite brown (6 minutes); use a thin metal spatula to quickly transfer to muffin pan, pressing lightly in centers. Cool before filling.
- For the Grape Tomato, Olive and Feta Salad: In medium bowl, combine grape tomatoes, green olives, feta cheese, sherry vinegar, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper; garnish with basil.
- For the Sesame, Cucumber and Radish Salad: Toss cucumbers and radishes with lime juice, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Season with salt and pepper.
- For the Farro, Corn and Green Onion Salad: Preheat grill on medium-high. Grill corn 10 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove from grill, let cool. Cut kernels off into large bowl; toss with farro, green onions, lemon juice, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Simple, summery and a great little appetizer with a salty parmesan bowl of its own.!
Dec 5, 2019 | Appetizers, Beverages, breakfast, Recipes
Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. It’s high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals; and low in calories and sodium. It’s a versatile vegetable that can be used as a side dish, appetizer, or as a main course ingredient, think stir-fry!
Here’s one of my favorite asparagus recipes. These Asparagus Pockets are tasty, easy, and look impressive. They’ll make a great appetizer at a party, specially during the holidays. They’re so easy to make, you can whip them out in less than an hour. Guests will think you spent hours preparing them!
Here’s my recipe, hope you love them as much as we do!
Ingredients:
– 24 Asparagus tips – washed and trimmed to about 8” long
– 2 cans refrigerated crescent dough
– 1/2 shredded Parmesan cheese
– 1 Egg – beaten
Procedure:
- Pre-heat over to 375 degrees
- Prepare asparagus
- Unroll crescent dough – dough is pre-cut into 8 triangles and unroll as 4 sets of triangles together forming a rectangular piece
- Separate rectangles – Do not separate it into triangles – you should have 8 rectangles with a diagonal line scored from one corner to the other
- Press the scored line together to form a smooth rectangle
- Place 3 asparagus tips diagonally across the dough – from corner to corner
- Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of cheese over asparagus
- Fold free corners over each other to form the pocket. Top and bottom of asparagus should peek out. Check picture above.
- Place each pocket on a parchment covered baking sheet.
- Brush each pocket with beaten egg.
- Bake in oven about 20 minutes or until dough is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and serve hot or warm.
- Makes 8 pockets.
Mar 19, 2019 | Beef, breakfast, Main Course, Recipes
Corned Beef Hash is one of our favorite breakfast foods; actually we like it anytime of day. We usually order it at one of our favorite coffee shops and they all serve the canned version. Mind you we’re good with that, but have you ever had fresh homemade Corned Beef Hash? Believe me once you do it’s hard to settle for the canned stuff!
Since St. Patrick’s day was just a couple of days ago I’m sure like me you’re wondering what to do with that left over Corned Beef & Cabbage you had for dinner last Sunday! Well wonder not more! Turn it into Corned Beef Hash and serve it for breakfast or even dinner tonight! I know I will!
Homemade Corned Beef Hash is a great way to use that leftover brisket. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s very yummy! So let’s make some hash!
By the way it would be an awesome addition to a Mother’s or Father’s Day Breakfast of Brunch!
Ingredients
Left over Corned Beef Brisket (if you don’t have leftovers then cook a brisket in your crock pot or Instant Pot. Click here for my Instant Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage recipe)
3 – 4 Yukon Gold Potatoes – Peeled, boiled, diced (If you have leftover potatoes from dinner just dice those)
1 Small Onion finely diced
1 Tbs. Minced Garlic
1/2 Tsp. Paprika
1/4 Cup beef broth
Oil for Frying
Directions
Prepare your brisket and potatoes
Heat oil in frying pan
Saute onions until they start to turn translucent
Add garlic and saute until they start to turn brown
Add diced corned beef and potatoes
Sprinkle with paprika and mix well
Spread corned beef mixture evenly in frying pan and smush down with back of your spatula
Pour beef broth over all
Turn down heat and simmer until liquid is mostly gone
Flip corned beef over and smush down again with back of spatula
Cook another 5 minutes or until dry
Serve with hash brown potatoes and fried eggs.
Homemade Corned Beef Hash
|
|
|
Homemade Corned Beef Hash
|
Instructions
Prepare brisket and potatoes
-
Saute onions until they turn translucent
Add garlic and saute until garlic starts to brown
Add diced corned beef and potatoes
Sprinkle with paprika and mix well
Spread corned beef mixture evenly in pan and smush down with back of spatula
Pour broth over all and reduce heat
Cook until liquid is almost gone
Flip corned beef over and smush down again with back of spatula
Cook another 5 minutes or until all liquid is gone
Serve with hash brown potatoes and fried eggs.
Sunday is Father’s Day. Why night surprise dad with this yummy Banana Foster Dutch Baby?
