Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese has always been my favorite kind of sauce. I make mine a little different each time. Below are the basics, based off my Grandma Filomena's recipe, with a few changes. If you want to add carrots and celery (I don't always add them and did not tonight), I find it easiest to use a small food processor for those and the onion and garlic. I also usually add red wine after the tomatoes, but most recipes say to add it before and cook it a few minutes. Red wine gives the sauce such a great flavor - I always add lots of it!

Below is a double recipe (the original recipe calls for 1 pound total of meat and one of each can of tomatoes). I did not double the onion and garlic in the recipe below, but you can. I usually make this double recipe in my Le Creuset 5.5-qt. Dutch Oven. Tonight I tried a triple recipe (2 pounds of ground beef and 1 pound of ground sausage) in my new Le Creuset 6.75-qt. Round Wide Dutch Oven, and it just barely fit. I managed not to spill any though! That dutch oven worked well because there was so much room to brown the meat. This was my first time using it and I love it! The next time I make a triple recipe, I should probably use my Le Creuset 7.25-qt. Dutch Oven, just to have a little more space to stir the sauce! This triple recipe was enough sauce for dinner tonight with 1 pound of pasta, and then I froze 4 5-cup containers of sauce for easy dinners in the near future.

You can easily adapt this recipe to your liking. I'm posting it here so I remember next time what I did tonight because it was delicious. My husband had 3 bowls of pasta which he rarely does, so it must have been good!

Bolognese Sauce

 

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped (optional)

2 celery stalks, finely chopped (optional)

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork sausage

2 28-ounce cans Whole Tomatoes 

2 6-ounce cans Tomato paste, plus 2 6-ounce cans of water

Fresh basil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Oregano, to taste (optional)

Rosemary, to taste (optional)

Italian Seasoning, to taste (optional)

Red wine (6-8 ounces or as much as you like)

Fresh parsley, chopped

Pasta water

 

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Sauté onion, garlic, carrots and celery (if you are using them) until the onion is translucent. Add the ground meat and brown it while breaking it up.

Add salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary and Italian seasoning (or seasonings of your choice) to the browned meat mixture.

Add a generous amount of red wine, stir, and cook for a few minutes (or you can add the wine after the tomatoes).

Blend whole tomatoes (or you can use a 28-ounce can of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes), tomato paste, can of water and fresh basil in blender until smooth. Add blended sauce to the meat. (If you don't need to blend the tomatoes, add the tomato paste and water to the meat mixture first and cook for a few minutes, then add the tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes after).

Continue cooking slowly, simmering for at least 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.

Add chopped fresh parsley once the sauce is done cooking.

Cook your favorite pasta. Once the pasta is ready and before draining it, add a ladle full of pasta water to the sauce. Stir the sauce once more and serve it on your pasta!

Freeze remaining sauce in small containers for future use.

This sauce is perfect to use with lasagna, baked ziti and stuffed shells as well.

3 recipes of Bolognese in my 6.75-qt. Le Creuset Round Wide Dutch Oven

2 recipes of Bolognese in my 5.5-qt. Le Creuset Round Dutch Oven

Stuffed Peppers

A few months ago I made a delicious Stuffed Peppers recipe that several of my sisters make. This is the perfect meal to make with leftover white rice. My sister Regina said the recipes calls for 3 peppers, but she uses 6 and it's the perfect amount of stuffing for 6. My sister Maria's kids don't like the peppers, so she leaves some of the stuffing out of the peppers and they just eat that and love it. My sister Paula makes it as a casserole, which I think I will try next time because my husband does not like stuffed peppers (it's literally the only food he does not like!). He said he would have liked this more if the peppers were cut up and sautéed as part of the filling - so I think that is what I'll do next time - I'll sauté some chopped peppers with the onions and then bake it all in a dish like a casserole, topped with cheese towards the end.

Black beans would be a good addition or substitution for the rice. You could also used diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce.

Leftover filling meat makes great burritos, and you could also used the filling in empanadas.

These stuffed peppers are delicious served with cornbread, and the peppers are also very good leftover!

I thought this recipe was delicious as is, but to appease my husband and kids I will adapt it a bit next time. As you can see, it is a versatile recipe that can easily be adjusted in many ways to fit your family's preferences. Give it a try!

Stuffed Peppers

Recipe courtesy “Once Upon a Chef” Website

 

Classic stuffed peppers filled with ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, and cheese make an easy weeknight supper.

 

1 pound 90% lean ground beef

1¼ teaspoons salt, divided

Heaping ¼ teaspoon baking soda

3 large red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, cut in half from the stem to the bottom and cored

3 tablespoons extra-virgin oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1½ teaspoons chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce

1 cup cooked rice, quinoa, or any grain

1½ cups shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar Jack cheese

 

 

Preheat the oven to 425°F and set an oven rack in the middle position.

 

Tenderize the beef: In a medium bowl, using your hands, mash the beef with 1 teaspoon of the salt and the baking soda. Let sit for 20 minutes while you continue with the recipe.

 

Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with aluminum foil for easy clean-up, if you like. Place the peppers, cut side up, in the baking dish; drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt.

 

Roast the peppers for about 20 minutes, until slightly browned and tender-crisp. A bit of liquid will accumulate in the bottom of the peppers; that's okay.

 

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more; do not brown. Add the ground beef mixture, chili powder, cumin, and oregano and increase the heat to medium high. Cook, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned and almost cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium low and cook, uncovered, until the meat is cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and ¾ cup of the cheese, and stir until melted. Remove the skillet from the heat.

 

Remove the peppers from the oven and spoon the meat filling evenly into the peppers. Sprinkle with the remaining ¾ cup cheese and place back in the oven. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until the filling is hot and the cheese is melted and bubbling, and serve.

 

Make-Ahead Instructions: The peppers can be partially cooked and filled with the beef mixture up to 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated, or frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, defrost overnight in the refrigerator if frozen, cover the dish with foil, and bake in a 425°F-oven for about 15 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and remove and discard the foil. Top the peppers with the cheese and place back in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the filling is heated through and the cheese is melted.

 

 

NOTES:

Serve with cornbread!

Oven Braised Chuck Pot Roast

A few nights ago I made a delicious pot roast. I found this recipe while searching online. I've only made pot roast a few times and have never loved the recipes I've tried - until now! I don't like using a slow cooker so I was specifically looking for a recipe to make in a braiser.

I made a few changes to this and it was delicious! I did not add celery like the recipe calls for. I added red wine towards the end (I'm not sure how much I put, probably 1/2 cup to 1 cup), which made it taste so good! I love adding wine to dishes like this. I used an Angus Beef Boneless Chuck Roast from Giant that was a little over 3 pounds and a bag of mini honey gold potatoes. I used more carrots than the original recipe calls for (it calls for 2 and I used 6). I also did not have fresh thyme, so I added a little bit of dried thyme and rosemary. I had 8 ounces of baby bella mushrooms that I chopped and was going to add towards the end, but when I checked it at 3 hours it was already done cooking, so I just cooked those separately and then added them to my dish. This worked out well because my husband doesn't care for mushrooms as much as I do so he left them out of his. I made this in my 3.5-qt. Braiser, which was a bit of a squeeze. Next time I will make it in something a bit larger. This fed 3 adults with enough leftover for 3 more adult servings. This was really delicious and I will definitely be making it again soon. If you try it, make sure you add some red wine!

Update January 2024: I made this again tonight but this time I made it in my 6.75-qt. Wide Round Dutch Oven, which worked much better than in my braiser. I used the full amount of salt and pepper called for in the original recipe (2 tablespoons of each), and I thought it was way too much. This was still delicious but I thought it tasted better the first time I made it, so next time I will use the amounts in the recipe below and see how that tastes. I set my oven timer to 2.5 hours, and the meat was ready, so I sautéed the mushrooms separately and added them in. This is the perfect winter meal, served with some crusty bread to soak up that yummy sauce with!

Oven Braised Chuck Pot Roast

Recipe adapted from “Sweet Tea + Thyme” Website

 

The perfect pot roast doesn't have to come from a slow cooker! This oven braised New-England-style chuck roast with vegetables is a fork-tender, juicy, and absolutely delicious recipe that's perfect for a family dinner.

 

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 (3-4 pound) boneless chuck roast

6 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 medium yellow onion, sliced into ½” slices

5 cloves garlic, smashed

3 sprigs fresh thyme (or some dried thyme and dried rosemary)

2 pounds baby gold potatoes, cut in half

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups (16 ounces) beef broth or stock

½ to 1 cup red wine (optional)

8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, chopped

 

 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

 

Season all sides of the chuck roast generously with salt and pepper.

 

In a large dutch oven or oven-safe braiser on your range over medium-high heat, add your high heat oil and wait until the oil is shimmering hot (that means it looks like it's doing a little shimmy in the pot, it's moving a little) then add the seasoned chuck roast.

 

Sear the chuck roast on each side until it gets a deep brown crust, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chuck roast from the pan and set it aside onto a plate.

 

Turn the temperature down to medium, then add the chopped carrots and onions to the pot. Sauté the vegetables for five minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the vegetables start to turn golden brown. Add the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and cook for about two minutes. Add some red wine (optional).

 

Place the chuck roast back into the pot, add in the potatoes and beef broth, and put a lid on your pot (you can also use aluminum foil if you don't have a lid).

 

Cook pot roast for 2.5 to 4 hours, checking at 2 hours for fork-tenderness. Once fork tender, take the roast out of the oven.

 

If you want to add chopped mushrooms, either add them in the last half hour of cooking, or sauté them separately and add them in once you take the roast out of the oven.

 

Let the pot roast rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with vegetables and pan drippings or pan dripping gravy.

Before going in the oven (made in braiser)

Before going in the oven (made in dutch oven)

Saute the mushrooms and add them in at the end

Apple Cobbler

Earlier this week I bought 1/2 bushel of various types of apples. I'm not sure what I'm going to bake with most of them but I knew I wanted to make apple cobbler. I had recently come across a recipe that looked good and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did because it was so delicious! This is also so much easier than making a pie, at least for me. I love cobblers and this is a recipe I'll be making often.

I used 5 apples (4 were large and 1 was small) and cut them in thin slices. It looked like too much to put in an 8x8 pan and I don't have an 11"x7" baking dish. I used a 2-qt. baking dish (and baked it on a baking sheet, just in case of any spill over), which worked out fine, but I could have baked it in something even bigger like a 9"x13" pan. I also baked it for the amount of time in the recipe, but later discovered the cobbler topping was a bit runny in some parts and the apples a bit crunchy, so next time I will bake it a little longer.

I did not change anything about the recipe or the ingredients and I would not in the future either - the taste of this cobbler was absolutely perfect! Unfortunately I did not take any photos but I will try to next time.

Update: I made this again two weeks later to freeze for Thanksgiving dessert. I made it in a 9x11" baking dish (3-quart baking dish). The only thing I changed was I used 6 large apples, but I kept the rest of the recipe the same. The amount fit perfectly in the dish (I could have even added another apple) and the cobbler topping was still enough.

Apple Cobbler

Recipe courtesy “Once Upon a Chef” Website

 

Apple cobbler is a rustic dish of apples bubbling in their juices beneath a biscuit crust that resembles a cobbled stone pathway.

 

FOR THE APPLE FILLING:

5 large baking apples (about 2½ lbs), peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick (see note)

⅓ cup granulated sugar

⅓ cup (packed) dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing the pan

 

FOR THE BISCUIT TOPPING:

1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off

7 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1¾ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

1 stick (½ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1 cup buttermilk (see note)

 

FOR SERVING (OPTIONAL):

Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

 

Preheat oven to 375°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease an 8-inch square or 2-quart baking dish with butter.

 

Make the Apple Filling: In a large bowl, combine the apples, granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Toss until the apples are evenly coated. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and pat into an even layer. Dot with the 2 tablespoons butter.

 

Make the Biscuit Topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the cold butter and smoosh with your fingers (or cut in with a pastry cutter) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized clumps of butter within. Add the buttermilk and stir until just combined and evenly moistened. It will look lumpy; that's good. Do not overmix.

 

Using a large spoon, dollop 8 to 10 spoonfuls of the biscuit batter over the apples, allowing the filling to show through in spots (most of the filling will be covered). Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar over the batter.

 

Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the top is golden, about 45 minutes (keep an eye on it during the last 10 minutes; if it looks like it's getting too brown, cover it loosely with aluminum foil). Let the cobbler cool for 15 to 20 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

 

NOTES:

For the best flavor, use a combination of tart and sweet baking apples, such as Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Gala, Jonagold, Jonathan, and Golden Delicious. (Don't use all tart or all sweet, or the flavor won't be balanced. I typically use 2 Granny Smith, 2 Golden Delicious, and 1 Honeycrisp.

 

If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, it’s easy! Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a measuring cup. Pour milk to the 1-cup line (use this same ratio of lemon juice/vinegar to milk when you need more or less than 1 cup of buttermilk). Stir to combine the liquids. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes. You’ll begin to see small curdled bits in the mixture; this means it’s ready to add to the recipe. Note that homemade buttermilk is not cultured and thick like store-bought. Even if you don’t see much change in the appearance of the mixture, the acid has been added to your milk and it will work just like real buttermilk in most recipes.

 

Make-Ahead Instructions: The cobbler can be made one day ahead and kept, covered with foil, at room temperature. Reheat, covered with foil, in 300°F oven for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and continue reheating for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until warmed through.

Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

I recently made a new chocolate chip cookie recipe from my sister Maria that my sister Diana makes as well. My sisters have made these for a few family parties and they are so good. There is no mixer required which means they are quick and easy! The recipes doesn't make that many compared to some cookie recipes, but it is easy to double the recipe, if needed. My kids love these so I have a feeling I will be making them often so they can take a little homemade treat in their school lunches!

I made a double recipe of these and used chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips for my husband's promotion ceremony earlier this month. The cake I bought from Costco was hardly touched because everyone loved the homemade cookies so much!

Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe courtesy “I Heart Eating” Website

 

Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe that makes super soft chocolate, super yummy chip cookies – no mixer necessary, no chilling needed.

 

½ cup butter

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt or ¼ teaspoon table salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat the oven to 350°.

 

Microwave the butter for about 40 seconds. Butter should be completely melted but shouldn't be hot.

 

In a large bowl, mix butter with the sugars until well-combined.

 

Stir in vanilla and egg until incorporated.

 

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Please read the recipe note about properly measuring flour. 

 

Mix dough until just combined. Dough should be soft and a little sticky but not overly sticky.

 

Stir in chocolate chips.

 

Scoop out 1.5 tablespoons of dough (medium cookie scoop) and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

 

Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are set. They will be puffy and still look a little underbaked in the middle.

 

Yield: 2 dozen.

 

NOTES:

Be sure to fluff and then scoop and sweep to measure the flour. Too much flour will result in a dry or crumbly cookie. For the ingredient measurements by weight, please click "metric" directly underneath the ingredients.

 

Don't over-bake the cookies, or you won't end up with soft cookies. Several people have said that they've needed to bake the cookies for longer. Since oven temps can vary, I suggest starting with the listed baking time and increasing the time as needed.

Stracciatella Ice Cream

Stracciatella gelato has always been my favorite flavor. Today I made Stracciatella ice cream for the first time. It is so easy and very delicious! I used my vanilla ice cream base, which I let chill in the fridge for a few hours before adding to the ice cream maker, but you don't have to do that. While it was in the ice cream maker, I melted a bar of 70% dark chocolate and let it cool a bit until the ice cream was almost finished (25 minutes in the ice cream maker). Then I used a small spatula to lightly drizzle the melted chocolate into the ice cream while the ice cream maker was still on. The melted chocolate freezes on impact with the ice cream and it breaks into shreds as the ice cream maker keeps churning it. I reserved a little bit of chocolate to drizzle on top of the ice cream container that I put in the freezer to make it look nice.

The ice cream was so good, and I don't know why I waited so long to make this! To me it tastes so much better than just adding chocolate chips to ice cream. This is not an official recipe and the steps are so easy but I just wanted to make note of what I did and what chocolate I used so I can remember the next time I want to make it. If you enjoy making your own ice cream, I highly recommend you give this a try with your favorite chocolate bar! This would taste good in other flavors of ice cream as well instead of vanilla (chocolate, strawberry, coffee, etc.), but this way is my favorite!