--- wrote:
[snip]
> I was wondering if someone has good recipes that they have tried and
> can share with me. I'm looking for quick meals, low fat, preferably
> vegetarian.
>
Learn two basic homemade spaghetti sauces, one long-simmered "Italian
gravy" you can make in large quantities for a crowd, and one fresh and
quick. This one is without meat, but you could easily add meat to
it(especially some pork shoulder), and using parmesan or romano cheese
is up to you:
Italian Gravy (may be halved)
2 28 oz cans tomato sauce (low salt if available; Hunts is
good)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 qt vegetable stock (or chicken stock, or water)
2 cups dry red wine (drinkable, not cooking wine)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 yellow onions chopped
6 garlic cloves chopped
2 ribs celery chopped
2 carrots grated or finely minced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 lb mushrooms chopped (or 1/2 lb. each of button and crimini)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (vary the amount for desired hotness)
2 TB dried oregano
2 bay leaves
4 TB dried basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 TB salt (or less if the tomato sauce and paste are salted)
1 TB sugar
Saut=E9 onions, garlic, celery, and carrot in olive oil over medium high
heat until the onions are tender but not browned. Put in large pot
with all the other ingredients. Bring to a simmer--you want just a few
lazy bubbles popping the surface, not a real boil--partially cover and
simmer for three hours. (It isn't that it needs to "cook" that long,
it's that this much time is needed to make everything blend together
properly. Keep simmering heat regulated, stir occasionally. Find and
remove the bay leaves when it's done.
Why make your own when there are so many jars of pasta sauce at the
store? To give yourself a basic benchmark, so you can experiment with
quantities of herbs and seasonings each time you make it until you
really like it, so you can see how much can be saved by doing it
yourself, so you can offer something of your own to guests.
Here's a version of a fast one, to be made when you can get some good
fresh tomatoes (serves two, probably):
Heat 2 TB olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 1
small onion, chopped, and saut=E9 for 2 minutes. Add 2 cloves garlic,
chopped, and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and toss or stir for another
30 seconds. Add 4 to 6 Roma or plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
small, and a large pinch of sugar. Add 2 TB of chopped fresh basil or
1 TB of dried. Stir, turn the heat down to medium low and cook for
about ten minutes. Do NOT cook more than 15 minutes--you want to serve
this when the tomatoes are still fresh and have not got far along that
chemical path that leads to sauce.
This is infinitely variable, adding mushrooms or sausages or bell
peppers, or different herbs. -aem
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