Recipes are wonderful for so many reasons. I literally sat on my couch the other night and read through my favorite cookbooks...for the millionth time. Not only are there tons of recipes that I want to try, but they also give me ideas for recipes that I can create. Right now, my favorite cookbook is Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis. I have to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE her! Her cookbook is exactly how I envision mine to be, and I just love her recipes. I feel like my tastes are still growing and developing, so every time I read her recipes, I find more things that I never would have thought to try, but now sound amazing to me.
I saw a recipe for her Pizza di Spaghetti, which made me think of what Italian Comfort foods I love and should make for dinner tonight. So, when I get home tonight and my hubby asks what's for dinner, I will be prepared! Tonight I am making Spaghetti with Italian Eggrolls (which are total comfort food for me) and garlic bread. I am going to also make too much Spaghetti, so that I can make Giada's Pizza di Spaghetti tomorrow night, or the night after for dinner.
Two dinners are now planned out this week, before I am asked the dreaded question, and I have to say, I am a little proud of myself :)
I also have to let you know in advanced, I will blog tonights dinner, tomorrow, but I was told at the beginning of my blog, that I am not allowed to share the secret recipe of my families Italian Eggrolls, and also, they won't look anything like they are supposed to (I am still mastering the technique). So just to warn you ahead of time, tomorrow's blog will be just a tease, sorry! :)
How excited was I last night when I could actually answer my husbands question about what was for dinner?! I arrived home, immediately put on my pajamas and got to work on my Italian Comfort Food Dinner (part 1)! As I had mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I have been forbidden to share my Italian Eggroll recipe. This is a recipe that my grandmother brought over from Italy and decided to share with my mother, (probably so that my father could still eat well), and my mother shared it with me. However, I am not sure if it's just my family, or if every Italian does this, but when you receive a recipe in my family from any of the women, you must realize that it is going to be missing at least one ingredient. I believe this to be on purpose, but they always say that either the recipe is not missing anything, or that they just 'forgot' that they ALWAYS add that one item that make the recipe what it is. My mother apparently inherited this technique, so when she gave me the recipe for Italian Eggrolls she not only forgot an ingredient, but forgot to tell me that there was a specific technique that had to be done. I have been trying to perfect this technique and recipe for over a year. If you have any Italian friends or family members and you want a recipe from them, it's probably better to just watch them make it, and take your own notes.
However, last night, the technique was mastered! I finally made eggrolls the way that they are supposed to be made, and was so thrilled with myself. I even did a little dance in the kitchen, in celebration :) I also cooked up some whole wheat pasta and some sauce that I had canned a couple of weeks ago.
I have to admit, I was in comfort food heaven, and ate way, WAY more than I should have...thank goodness for whole wheat pasta, so I didn't have to feel quite as guilty about the two servings that I had. We didn't really have any leftover pasta...since I was a pig and ate it all, so I will make more pasta tonight and put it in the fridge to make the Pasta di Spaghetti for tomorrow nights dinner. I am not 100 percent sure what tonight's dinner will consist of, but I took out some pork chops to defrost before I left the house...so I could possibly make something with them tonight...stay tuned!
I am so honored to be writing a blog on iBerkshires.com! I love to share my recipes with others, in hopes that the joy that I find in cooking will find its way to someone who isn't aware of how amazing it is to prepare your own meals. I am a self taught, home cook, who is trying to make a career out of doing what I love. I work a full time job, but try to cook as much as possible, and write about the ups and downs that I face in the kitchen. I read tons of cookbooks and try to create recipes that are inspired by things that I see.
My husband and I have very different tastes in food. I hardly eat any meat at all, and definitely NO red meat, while he is a meat and potatoes type of guy! I grew up in a family with a very Italian background, so most of my recipes are pasta dishes and sauces. However, now that I cook a lot more for my husband I have been branching out, and he helps to keep my on my toes and challenges my creative side with his thoughts on what he would like for dinner.
As you read this blog, you will see that every cook creates dishes that just don't work out, and also dishes that are amazing! I try to keep the cooking techniques simple so that people don't get discouraged if they try to re-create my recipes. I want everyone to find the happiness that cooking brings to my life.
So without further adieu, lets start this blog off right with an Italian Tomato Sauce! I have worked for years to try and perfect this recipe. I grew up have homemade sauce all the time from my mother. I have taken her recipe, and my grandmother's recipe (which I am assuming that she brought over from Italy with her) and enhanced it to make, what I believe, to be a better recipe.
Italian Red Sauce
Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion, chopped finely
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large can crushed tomatoes with basil
1 regular sized can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
Vegetable stock
6 oz. red or white wine, whatever is on hand
2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
Heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning or spaghetti seasoning
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
Place butter and olive oil in a large sauce pot over medium heat. Melt butter and add in onions. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over onions and butter, stir occasionally. Once the onions are translucent put in the minced garlic, cook for just a couple of seconds. Add in the whole can of Tomato paste, stirring for approximately 2 minutes. Next put in Vegetable stock until the tomato paste loosens a bit, continue stirring until it starts to re-thicken, then add red wine. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let the alcohol evaporate, stirring occasionally. After a couple of minutes if the sauce is too thick, add more vegetable stock. Stir in tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and cream. Stir until everything is mixed. The add the remaining ingredients stirring until combined. Simmer for 30 - 45minutes stirring occasionally.
We show up at hurricanes, budget meetings, high school games, accidents, fires and community events. We show up at celebrations and tragedies and everything in between. We show up so our readers can learn about pivotal events that affect their communities and their lives.
How important is local news to you? You can support independent, unbiased journalism and help iBerkshires grow for as a little as the cost of a cup of coffee a week.
