Recipe: My Favorite Bolognese

I love making bolognese during the winter months. It's hearty and you can put it on top of pasta or zucchini noodles (if you are going for a healthier/paleo option). The flavors are so rich and the sauce is so vibrant. Most importantly, it serves great as a leftover dish for the week.

Recipe

1 tbs olive oil
1 lb of ground beef
1 medium onion
3 garlic gloves, minced
1 carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 handful of fresh basil, roughly copped
2 tbs of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

Seasoning Blend

1/2 tbs salt (add more or less to your liking)
1 tbs cracked pepper
1/2 tbs crushed red pepper (we like our sauce spicy, but this can be optional)
1/2 tbs cumin
1 tbs roasted granulated garlic
1 tbs granulated onion
1/2 tbs dried oregano
2 bay leaves

Directions:

In a large, deep pan, add olive oil. Once hot, add your onion, garlic, carrot and celery (mirepoix) and cook for 8-10 minutes (until somewhat tender)

Add your ground beef with salt and pepper and saute for about 10 minutes till the pieces become slightly browned. Add the crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning blend and let cook for about 20-25 minutes. You want the meat to absorb as much flavor as possible. Add 1 tbs of fresh parsley with the basil and continue to cook for an extra 5 minutes.

Serve with the remaining parsley.

Zucchini Pasta & Curly Fries

My boyfriend got me the Paderno Spiralizer for Christmas and I am in LOVE. We decided to make zucchini noodles and I wanted to share my recipe

Recipe
Serving Size: 3

3 zucchinis - cut in half and spiraled

Boil the zucchinis for 3 minutes and set aside when the the sauce is 5 minutes to completion.

Sauce

1 lb of fat-free ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large can of organic crushed tomatoes
1 small can of organic crushed tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
1 tbs paprika (or less)
1/2 tbs fresh cracked pepper
1/2 tbs onion powder
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried paprika
1/2 tbs dried oregano
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the onion and turkey till browned and add the sauce and spices. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes.

We also made potatoes with the Paderno and seasoned with EVOO, pepper and salt and baked on 400 for 1.5 hrs for crispiness. For extra crispiness - make sure you soak the potatoes in water to remove the starch

Add ketchup with some sriracha and serve!

Quick Weeknight Dinner: Rotini Pasta with Pesto & Chicken

I love an easy weeknight dinner. My work had some pesto from Dean and Deluca that they were going to throw away, so I decided to snatch it to make pasta. (see pesto photo on the right)

Recipe 

1/2 box of gluten free rotini - Let water,1 1/2 cup of broth, dash of salt and olive oil to boil and add rotini for approximately 9 minutes

4 thin sliced chicken tenderloins chopped length-wise

Use good olive oil and cook your chicken in 2 tbs of the sun-dried tomato pesto (here is a recipe in case you don't have a Dean and Deluca store nearby) and one 1 tbs of regular pesto.

Add salt and pepper to taste

Once the pasta is done, add it into the chicken mixture. Add 4 tbs of the pesto (mix and match) and mix. Top it off with some smoked mozzarella or shredded mozzarella.

(Cheat Day) Weeknight Dinner: Whole Wheat Carbonara with Corn

It's cheat day! I was craving pasta but felt guilty about the massive amounts of carbs I was about to indulge in so I did a modified carbonara.

Recipe

Half of a box of whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup broth
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1 tsp coconut oil
1 small onion diced
2 pieces of bacon diced
3 garlic cloves diced
1 tbs of parsley
2 egg whites
1/2 a can of corn

Put 1/2 cup of water and broth in a stockpot.  Add the olive oil and 1 tsp of salt. Cook the pasta al dente - the best is to boil your water and then add the pasta in for 7 minutes (stirring occasionally).

In another pan, cook the bacon and set aside. Add the coconut oil and cook the onions and garlic in the bacon fat till browned. You can add crushed red pepper if desired.

Add back the bacon and stir.

Once the pasta is done, add it to the bacon, onion and garlic mixture. Add the corn and toss it in the sauce. Finally add the egg whites. Let cook and toss occasionally. Add 1 tsp of salt, some pepper and parsley. Toss again and serve. (you can add more salt and pepper if desired - I always add more if needed later on)

Gnocchi with Shrimp and Asparagus

Recipe


Gnocchi - 

2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 large russet potatoes

Boil or microwave the potatoes until soft and mushy. Mix in with the 2 cups of flour and kneed into a nice ball. Take a small piece from the large dough and roll it into a skinny snake (you can determine how skinny you want it based on how fat your want your gnocchi to be) Cut with a knife and put in boiling water until the gnocchi comes floating to the top (about 2-3 minutes). Make sure you don't overcrowd the gnocchi, so complete in batches.

Shrimp - 

10-15 Medium deveined shrimp
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional ... I just like spicy food)

Sauté the shrimp in a separate pan and just lightly brown each side. Put aside on another plate

Asparagus

Chop the asparagus into large long chunks and blanche in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Rid of the excess water and set aside.

Shallots -

1 shallot
1/2 tbs of coconut oil

Meanwhile with some coconut oil, sauté 1 large shallot until gold brown. Move the shallots to a separate plate and use the same pan to make the sauce.

Sauce -

1 cup of chicken broth (sodium)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tbs of butter
2 tbs of all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped italian parsley
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground pepper

Deglaze the shallots pan with broth, wine and butter. Let the ingredients simmer and then slowly add the all purpose flour to thicken the sauce. I would add a little flour at a time until you get the consistency you want. The 2 tbs requirement is a rough estimate I begin with and add more if I need to.

Add some of the italian parsley, red pepper flakes and ground pepper to the sauce. I didn't add any salt because the broth had plenty but feel free to add to your liking!

Once the sauce has thickened, add the shrimp, shallots and asparagus to the sauce. Let simmer for about 5 minutes and toss in the gnocchi. Add the last bit of fresh parsley, some fresh grounded pepper (optional) and toss. Serve immediately.

Sausage and Tomato Bow Tie Pasta

Good Afternoon Readers! Just a quick introduction to this blog. I started out with Instagram but decided to broaden my horizons and create a lifestyle blog featuring fashion, cooking and home decor. Enjoy.

This is a pasta recipe that I came up with one weeknight with some random items in my fridge. As far as recipes go, I will try to be as accurate as I can, but I usually just eyeball.. so my motto is start with less because you can always add more.

Recipe

3/4 Box of bow tie pasta
3 spicy italian sausage links (In case you were looking for a recommendation, Whole Foods has the best italian sausage out there)
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves (I'm a huge garlic and onion fanatic --- you can put more or less garlic based on preference)
Salt, italian seasoning, oregano, and pepper, crush red pepper to taste (1 teaspoon each) - add more while you taste - or less based on preference
2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 of a green, red, and yellow pepper
1/2 cup of fresh parsley, basil, and oregano
Olive oil (you can sub in coconut oil)

1. Boil water, with half water and half low sodium chicken broth (1 cup of broth - if you want to be exact). Add a little bit of salt so the pasta doesn't stick. Right when the water is boiling, add your bow tie pasta and cook for about 7-8 minutes; stirring occasionally

2. Meanwhile, get out a large pan with olive oil to cook your italian sausage. (the pan should be large enough to mix your pasta and sauce for later) That should take about 6-7 minutes, but make sure you check the inside so its not pink and cooked thoroughly. I usually chop up the sausage while cooking to make sure everything is evenly cooked. Once the sausage is done, set it aside on a plate with a paper towel on top to soak up the fat and oils.

3. In the same pan, add a little bit of olive oil to cook your garlic and onions. (trick of the trade: if you remove the middle stem of the garlic, it won't be as garlicky tasting, in case you don't to sweat garlic later on). Once the onion and garlic has browned, add the crushed tomatoes, 1 cup of broth, 1/2 cup of wine, and chopped up fresh parsley, oregano, and basil, with all the seasonings listed above. Let it all simmer for about 5-10 minutes

4. Now, time to cut the peppers length wise (thin strips) and toss them with a little olive oil and pepper. Preheat your oven to 400 and roast the peppers. A little char on them is a good thing, as it will enhance the flavor. (You can also do this on a grill, but I used the oven since my boyfriend doesn't let me use the grill when he isn't home.. as he is afraid I will burn the house down #legitimateconcern).

5. Add the sausage and roasted peppers to the sauce. Let simmer for another 5-10 minutes and toss in the pasta and serve immediately. I always add a little bit of fresh basil, oregano, and parsley for garnish. You can add parmesan cheese at the end... but it's all preference.