Home-Made Tomato Sauce

The Crispy Cook at Wheat-Free Meat-Free is hosting this month’s “Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free” blog event.  This event was started by by Naomi of Straight into Bed Cake-Free and Dried, and has featured all sorts of goodies.  This month, the theme is Seasonal Vegetables (I’m assuming that includes anything from the garden, including fruits and herbs).

 

Just currently, my garden is over-run with tomatoes - roma, grape, and now even a few regular ones.  I also have more basil than I know what to do with.  I’ve even been keeping my neighbor in good supply. 

So in honor of this month’s Seasonal Vegetable “GAHIGF” event, I’m going to make a proper, home-made, from scratch, tomato sauce (even though tomatoes are technically a fruit, not a vegetable).  I have a very old and beat up copy of Marcella Hazan’s “The Classic Italian Cookbook.”  She has this really simple, although a bit strange sounding, recipe for tomato sauce.  It’s really good!  It does not call for basil, but since I had so much, I added a little at the very end.  Oh, and I also added a little prosciutto that I had left over.

For 6 servings (I halved the recipe)

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh, ripe, plum tomatoes
1/4 pound butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Wash tomatoes in cold water. Cut them in half, lengthwise. Cook in a covered stockpot or saucepan until they have simmered for 10 minutes.

2. Puree the tomatoes through a food mill (processor or blender) and put back into pot. Add the butter, onion, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar, and cook at a slow but steady simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt. Discard the onion.

If using canned tomatoes: Use 2 cups tomatoes and their juice, and start the recipe at Step 2.

 

Pesto

Due to the overgrowth of basil in my garden, I had to make pesto.  Such a shame to have to make something so tasty.  I’ll probably make more later in the week to freeze, but this was just enough for dinner.  I wanted to try something different this time.  I’d read a recipe on 101 Cookbooks called “How to Make Pesto Like an Italian Grandmother.”  Needless to say, I had to try it.  Unfortunately, Italian grandmothers did not use food processors or blenders — oh no — they chopped everything by hand.  I really needed a mezzaluna for chopping, but tried to make due with a really sharp chef’s knife. 

(I’ll go back to using my blender next time.  Chopping by hand left bigger chunks of nuts and garlic than I would have liked.  Probably because I wasn’t patient enough to keep chopping.)

A basic pesto recipe consists of basil, garlic, pine nuts (or walnuts), freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and a little olive oil.  No added salt is necessary because of the saltiness of the cheese and because you are supposed to remember to salt your pasta water.

The amounts are rough estimates.  They can be altered to taste.

2 Cups fresh basil leaves, packed
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup olive oil (or a little less)

Combine basil, garlic, and nuts in a food processor (or a blender) and chop until finely minced. Add in cheese. Slowly add olive oil until it is just wet through. You really don’t want this runny, or the oil just separates out. You can always add more oil later.

 

This could have used more basil for the amount of other ingredients.

 

I also had some ripe grape tomatoes in the garden that went well with the pesto.

 

“Adopted” Eggplant Lasagna

 

 

I was so excited when Sea at Book of Yum hosted a second month of her ”Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger” web event.  I idea of the event is to pick a blogger who’s recipe you want to try, then make it and write about it.  As soon as I saw this recipe for Eggplant Lasagna on Carol’s blog Simply Gluten Free, I knew that I had to make it, and that it would be perfect for this event. 

 

 

You can find the recipe for Carol’s Gluten Free Eggplant Lasagna HERE. She’s right, you don’t miss the noodles - and non-gluten free people won’t miss them either!

Here’s a basic idea of what I did. First, instead of noodles, she uses layers of grilled eggplant. I cooked my eggplant in the oven under the broiler. Then for the sauce: she browned sausage then used a store-bought tomato sauce, so I did the same. I used the Hans brand spicy Italian pork sausage (all natural) and Amy’s basic and garlic spaghetti sauce. Then for the cheese layer it is a combination of ricotta, Parmesan, and beaten egg. I did make it a little healthier by using part-skim ricotta. Then the whole thing gets topped with mozzarella and baked in the oven.  This would be easy to make vegetarian simply by altering the sauce.

It was SO good.

    

 

 

 

Chicken Piccata

I have a stong love of Italian food, and always have.  I’ve gotten my husband hooked on the gnocchi that I’ve learned to make, which is great, since he’s not a big fan of pasta.  This is a simple and fairly light chicken cutlet that went well with the gnocchi and steamed asparagus.  It is adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’ cookbook Everyday Italian.

    

 

 

       

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients: 

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sweet rice flour, for dredging
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I didn’t have any, so I left this out)

Directions:

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil.

When butter and oil start to sizzle, add chicken and cook for 3 minutes.

When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes.

Remove and transfer to plate. Into the pan add the lemon juice, chicken stock and capers.

Bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor.

Check for seasoning.

Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes, or until cooked through.

Remove chicken to platter.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously.

Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

ENJOY!

 

Penne with Roasted Butternut Squash and Prosciutto

 

 

 

 This was adapted from a recipe I found in Food & Wine.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

One 1 3/4-pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (2 cups)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
3/4 pound penne (I used Tinkyada brown rice penne, but any short pasta would work)
3 ounces prosciutto, diced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
12 sage leaves, torn
scant 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese, plus more for serving (this is a sheep’s milk cheese; Parmesan or Romano can be substituted.)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425°.

On a medium, rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.

Roast for 15 minutes, tossing once, until browned and tender; season with salt.

Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling salted water, cook the rigatoni until just al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.

Add the prosciutto and cook over moderate heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the shallots, sage, crushed red pepper and a generous pinch of black pepper and cook until the shallots are soft, about 4 minutes.

Add the squash, rigatoni and the reserved cooking water and cook over moderate heat, tossing gently, until the sauce is thickened and the pasta is al dente, 2 to 3 minutes; season with salt.

Stir in the 1/2 cup of Pecorino.

Serve the pasta in deep bowls, passing extra Pecorino at the table.

 

Chicken Cacciatore

Last week, Carrie, aka Ginger Lemon Girl, made Chicken Cacciatore (you can see here recipe here).  It looked and sounded so good that it made me want some.  I’ve made this several times before, and it’s really rather simple.  I adapted the recipe from Giada De Laurentiis’ Everyday Italian after watching her make it on the show.  (I love that show! And her cookbook!)  She used chicken thighs and bone-in chicken breasts.  I use whatever I have on hand.  This week, it’s boneless, skinless chicken breast.  The only other change from the original recipe is having to use something other than regular flour to dredge the chicken in.  I use sticky (glutinous) rice flour (don’t worry about the name–no gluten there).  And I’ve cut the recipe in half.

On the show, Giada served this with a side of Parmesan mashed potatoes - I make my potatoes with both cheese and garlic.  Yum! 

     

 

 

 

 

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
Everyday Italian
(original recipe here)
    
Ingredients:

1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we get packs of 3)
1 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 cup sticky rice flour, for dredging
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 ( 14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons drained capers
1 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves (or 1 tablespoon dried basil)

     

Directions:

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. 

Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour to coat lightly.

In a large heavy saute pan, heat the oil over a medium-high heat.

Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, saute it in 2 batches.

Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add the bell pepper, onion and garlic to the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, capers and oregano.

Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce.

Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter.

If necessary, boil the sauce until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes.

Spoon off any excess fat from atop the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with the basil and serve.

      

   

PS:  You like the plate?  I painted that at “Ladies’ Night Pottery Painting.”  Now that’s a fun time - pottery painting where you can bring “adult” beverages.  Helps the creative process!  lol!