Category Archives: Sauces

Spinach Basil Pesto.

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Happy National Spinach Day!  Who would’ve known?  Ha!  I love spinach and try to eat it as much as I can.  The color, the vitamins… so good for you!  So I thought on this Meatless Monday that I should do a mainly spinach (with a tiny bit of basil) pesto.  My oldest can’t get enough and has been asking me for it daily.  I indulged.

Ingredients:

4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 c of baby spinach leaves (regular are fine)
1/2 c of fresh basil leaves
1/4 c of olive oil
Palmful of walnuts
1 tbl of grated parmesan
1 tbl of lemon juice
1 tsp of salt

Directions:

This recipe is so easy!!!  In your food processor, pulse up the garlic cloves.  When finely minced add spinach and basil.  Let the machine run.  When everything is chopped up drizzle into the pour spout, the olive oil.  Only use what you need to make the mixture into a creamy consistency.  Then add your walnuts, parm, salt and lemon juice.  Pulse to mix.

Boil  your pasta according to package directions.  Then toss with the pesto.  Coat to cover.  Garnish with either walnuts, pine nuts or some extra parmesan.  Whatever you like!  Enjoy! If you have extra, freeze it and use it later :)  Makes a great dip, topping for chicken etc.

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Marinara sauce.

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This is my family’s red sauce.  I prefer making it with freshly roasted tomatoes but due to the time of year, I’m relegated to canned tomatoes.  I hope you enjoy this sauce as much as we do.

Sauce:

1/2 c olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 bell pepper, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 (28 oz) can of Cento’s diced tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can of Cento’s chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 tsp of Oregano

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium flame.  Once hot, add the onions and stir for about 8 minutes.  Add garlic for 30 seconds.  Add salt and pepper, both cans of tomatoes, paste, bay leaves, and the remaining seasonings.  Turn the flame down as low as it goes, cover and simmer.  Stirring occasionally.

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Basil & spinach pesto.

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Lent started today and for my family that meant no meat today & on every Friday until Easter.  This recipe is one of our favorites.  I’ve tried my best to make this vitamin-packed along with it being lower in fat by using very little oil.  This is a great recipe to prepare ahead of time and then just toss together with some freshly cooked pasta.

The recipe is extremely informal.  This is how I normally cook and I encourage you to tweak the recipe to suit your personal taste.

Start with one handful of basil leaves and one handful of baby spinach leaves.  Toss those into your food processor.  I grate some parmesan into the bowl as well.  I don’t use a lot, maybe a 2 tablespoons, as my kids aren’t huge cheese fans.  Salt and pepper.  4-6 garlic cloves that have been peeled.  Juice from one half of a lemon.  Zest from that same lemon.  And a 1/4 c of chopped walnuts or pine nuts.  Pulse until blended.  Then remove the spout and drizzle very slowly olive oil in with the food processor running.  I would say I use about 1 tbl, if that, of oil.  Once it comes together, I stop adding it.  The lemon juice adds enough liquid to the pesto as well.

You can cover and refrigerate or add to your pasta and mix well.

This pesto can be used to top chicken, veggies, bread etc.

 

 

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Lean ground beef & spinach lasagna roll ups.

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These lasagna rolls are so delicious!  You can make these ahead of time and just pop them in the oven for 30 minutes before you wish to serve dinner.  Doesn’t get any easier than that :)  And for a vegetarian option, just omit the beef and add cooked spinach to the ricotta mixture.

Ingredients for filling:

15 oz of low fat, part skim ricotta cheese
1 c of low fat mozzarella, shredded
1/4 c of grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten

Mix all of the ingredients together and set aside.

Beef & spinach mixture:

1 lb of 92% lean ground beef
2 handfuls of organic baby spinach
5 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil for the bottom of the pan

Directions:  Add the olive oil to the pan over a medium flame.  Then add the beef.  Cook until no longer pink.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Then add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.  Then add the spinach leaves and stir.  The leaves will wilt and the mixture will be complete.  Set aside to cool.

Pasta:

Boil the lasagna noodles according to the package directions until al dente.  Then lay out pieces of parchment or tin foil and lay each noodle, when cooked, out to cool.  Don’t overlap b/c they will stick together.

Sauce:

1/2 c olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 (28 oz) can of Cento or Furmano’s diced tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can of Cento or Furmano’s chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 tsp of Oregano

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium flame.  Once hot, add the onions and stir for about 8 minutes.  Add garlic for 30 seconds.  Add salt and pepper, both cans of tomatoes, paste, bay leaves, and the remaining seasonings.  Turn the flame down as low as it goes, cover and simmer.  Stirring occasionally.

Assembly time!  Once everything is prepared you can begin…

Ladle some sauce onto the bottom of your roasting pan.  This will serve as a bed for the noodles.  Then take your long lasagna noodle and lay it out on a cutting board.  Spread your ricotta cheese filling very thinly along the entire noodle.  Then add about a tablespoon of the meat/spinach mixture to one side of the noodle (first 3 inches of it) on top of the ricotta mixture.  Begin to roll up the noodle and then place it seam side down in the sauce. Repeat until you’ve used up all of your ingredients.  Then top with the remaining sauce.  You can add fresh parsley to the top if you like.  You can either bake at this point or refrigerate.

In a 375 degree preheated oven, place your lasagna roll up tray.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until hot.  Enjoy!

 

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Red sauce with garlicky turkey meatballs.

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I’m very much an Italian girl.  Grew up eating pasta, sauce & meatballs my entire life.  It is, without a doubt, one of my comfort foods.  Memories of my family gathering around the table, fighting for more meatballs (I remember one time someone “accidentally” getting stabbed with a fork, are part of my fondest memories.)  Being a Gambino – you can understand why.

But as I got older, and adopted healthier eating habits, I revamped the old school recipe to be a bit healthier.  The sauce has remained the same… the meatballs have undergone a huge change & white pasta has been replaced with whole wheat.  All in all, still very tasty and comforting.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Sauce:

1/2 c olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 (28 oz) can of Furmano’s diced tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can of Furmano’s chopped tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 tsp of Oregano

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium flame.  Once hot, add the onions and stir for about 8 minutes.  Add garlic for 30 seconds.  Add salt and pepper, both cans of tomatoes, paste, bay leaves, and the remaining seasonings.  Turn the flame down as low as it goes, cover and simmer.  Stirring occasionally.

Meatballs:

1/2 c of Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 c of parsley, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c of Parmesan Reggiano cheese, grated
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb of 85/15 ground turkey
1/4 c of olive oil

Combine all ingredients (except for the olive oil) in your mixing bowl.  Mix by hand until incorporated, avoid over mixing.  Roll into balls and place on a plate or cookie sheet.  Your going to work in batches browning them.  Once complete.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium flame.  Once the oil is hot, add several meatballs to the pan.  Allow for room to roll them around for growing.  Avoid overcrowding.  This process will take about 10-12 minutes  Once browned on the outside, gently place the meatballs into the sauce.  Be careful when adding and stirring the sauce as you can break up the meatballs.  Work in batches until all of the meatballs are browned and added to the sauce.

I let the sauce simmer on the stove for about 4 hours or more.  Keep a watchful eye and stir occasionally.  Serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy!

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Teriyaki Orange Sesame Sauce

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Perfect sauce for chicken (as shown in the photo), beef, tofu or even just vegetables.

Ingredients:

1/4 c low sodium soy sauce
1 c water
2 – 3 tsp of freshly grated ginger
3 tbl light brown sugar
2 tbl toasted sesame seeds
3 garlic cloves, minced
Zest from one orange
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbl cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water (to mix with cornstarch)

Directions:
Combine 1 cup water, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cold water and add to sauce as a thickening agent. Stir constantly. Add sesame seeds, red pepper flakes and orange zest. Then you can add your protein to the sauce… chicken, shrimp or tofu etc.

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