There is most likely not going to be any other adventures in the blog posting.  It really is just about sauce.   I am not an Italian cook.  I will be completely honest, that up until a few years ago, I bought jarred or canned – store bought spaghetti sauce. What happened was I watched one of those Facebook videos that we all get caught up in, about a little tiny Italian lady, in a little tiny kitchen making sauce. The very next day I made sauce, and I have not turned back.  Last summer I froze and jarred sauce from our garden tomatoes.  Fresh as the day we picked them, made the winter seem less dark and tasteless.

Let’s get to the sauce of it all.  Be a little saucy!   Let’s build a sauce.

Here is what you need:

1 small Vidalia onion, chopped (about a cup and ½)

2 tablespoons EVOO

3 cloves garlic, minced or 3 tablespoons of jarred minced garlic.

1 tablespoon or to taste, Italian blend seasoning.

2 cups chicken broth

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 small carrots, shredded

Pinch red pepper flakes

6 oz can tomato paste

1 tablespoon sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1 whole nutmeg, grated

*Fresh chopped basil and Oregano (options)

1 good size green bell pepper, chopped

 

This is how you build these flavors to all mesh together.  It is much like laying a framework for a home.  You lay the foundation, build the house, and inside are the people you love.  That’s this sauce.

Add your olive oil to large frying pan and heat on medium high.  Add chopped onion.  Sauté until tender.  Add green pepper.  Sauté until tender.  Add mined garlic, sauté until brown, Add grated carrot, sauté until tender.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Sauté some more.  Add tomato paste to pan.  Coating all the veggies.  Sauté.  Add Crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, more salt and pepper to taste, cook about 5 minutes.  Stir in chicken broth, cook 5 more minutes.   Each layer is building flavor as you go.  Now add grated nutmeg and stir.  Add sugar, stir and turn your heat to simmer – cover pan, and simmer all the day long.  At least 4 hours.  The longer the better.  Now all these flavors work together.  Blend together for a delicious fresh sauce.  Also, double or triple this and freeze it in bags for fresh sauce on hand anytime!

 

*Add your fresh basil and oregano to the sauce shortly before you serve it.  If you add these fresh herbs to the simmering sauce, they lose the aromas and sweetness, and can become bitter.

This is terrific over regular pasta!  Baked with lasagna.  As a base for meat sauce.

I baked with **stuffed banana peppers recently.

**Filling and directions for Stuffed Banana Peppers:

1 lb sweet Italian sausage, or turkey sausage

2 eggs

1 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs.

2 cups shredded cheese of choice

5-6 sweet banana peppers in varying sizes

Do this:

Place a 4 quart pot on stove with water to boil

Add meat, egg, breadcrumbs, 1 cup sauce to large bowl and combine well.

Cut a slit from top of pepper to end, creating a pocket.  Clean our seeds. Leave tops on, because it’s kinda cute. Place peppers in boiling water for about 5 minutes till tender, yet still firm.  Odd choice of words but you want the crunch out.  5 minutes should do that.

Add about a cup of sauce to bottom of 13×9 baking dish.  Add meat mixture into the “pockets” you created in the peppers, add to baking dish. Top with more sauce.  Cover and bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour.  Uncover, top with cheese, and place back in oven until the cheese is a nice melty goodness.  About 15 minutes.

I guess there were a few adventures in there! ❤

Some Stuff to Click:🌠🍅

Kroger Online

Spice Hunter Spices

Spice World Garlic

Rebel Gardens on Amazon

Cento Products Online

Garden Goodness.

Summer has the advantage of fresh from your backyard  produce.  There is nothing like right off the vine peppers and tomatoes. Fresh and light recipes for hot summer days are also part of those joys. Grilling or roasting fresh vegetables has become a staple in my meal plans.

This year we tried our hand at planting Zucchini.  We eat so much of it all year round, why not plant a few plants and see how it goes!  So far, so good!  Also tried a different pepper.  The Shishito Pepper!

This is a very mild, small green pepper.  So delish! I picked a few to taste, and decided to “grill” those in a cast iron grill pan, after marinating in this very simple veggie *marinate: 

1/2/ cup Olive Oil

1 teas. Garlic powder

1 teas Onion Power

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning blend

Pinch red pepper flakes

Add vegetable of choice to bowl, add this marinate, and stir to coat all.  Let sit for 15-30 minutes.  For the Shishito Peppers – Heat a little olive oil in a wide sauté pan until it is good and hot but not smoking. Add the peppers and cook them over medium, tossing and turning them frequently until they blister. They shouldn’t char except in places. Don’t rush.

I used the cast iron grill pan. These can also can be added to your outdoor grill, using the same turning often, and medium heat.

*some notes on the marinate – This can be used for any vegetable. Roasting veggies in oven, grilling outdoors, even salad.  Olive oil brings out the flavor, and the spices just add depth. I add fresh herbs to this from time to time also.  Rosemary and Thyme are perfectly paired here.

Zucchini is indeed one of my favs! Another easy and healthy recipe to use up these garden goodies is Turkey Stuffed Zuke Boats! 

**You will need:

1 lb ground turkey

½ onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 tbl Italian Seasoning ( or more, to your taste)

Salt and pepper to taste

12 oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 cups shredded cheese of choice.

And your Zukes!  (1 large, or however many you desire to make!)

few sprigs of fresh parsley leaves, chopped, as garnish if ya want.

What you do:

Add a little olive oil to a sauté pan, heat up, and add onion, bell pepper,  and garlic, heating until sweating.  Add ground turkey, brown until no longer pink, add crushed tomatoes and rest of ingredients.  Let simmer for about 15 minutes, to merge all the flavors together. While the simmering is a simmering, slice the Zukes length wise, and clean out the insides to make boats, leaving enough on the sides to have a nice firm “wall.”  Squeeze out excess water from the meat of the zucchini using a kitchen towel or paper towel.  Add “meat” to cutting board and give it all a little chop, and add it the sauté pan with your ground turkey mixture, simmering 15 minutes more. During that 15 minutes, bring a few quarts of water to boil, add you zuke boats – *boil about 5 minutes, to make them a little softer.

*You do not have to do this, if you like your zucchini a little al dente

 

Line your baking pan with the boasts, and add filling to each boat. Fill pretty full, but not over flowing.  Bake in a 375 oven for 30 minutes.  Take out and add cheese to top, and bake about 15 minutes more, or until cheese is bubbly. Garnish with some fresh parsley for effect!!

**some notes on this filling.  This is a great base for a whole host of things.  Spaghetti sauce, mixed in with eggs, soft taco filling, and even stuffed peppers.  I usually will make 5 lbs or more of this at the beginning of the week, modifying the other ingredients to taste.  I then will save the rest in a plastic container for quick meals for the week ahead.  Again, adding fresh herbs to this is just a bonus.  Try Oregano, thyme, and parsley.

A light and easy summer lunch.

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”

― John Steinbeck

 

Stuff:

Click for what is up with this Shishito Pepper?

Kroger Online

Olive Oil from DeLallo

Penzeys

Bonnie Plants

Riesbeck’s Online

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy overnight pickles! No canning or anything.

4 small pickling cucumbers
3-4 sprigs fresh dill weed
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 gloves garlic: minced OR 1 tbl jarred
*1 1/2 tsp pickling salt OR kosher salt
1/4 black peppercorns
Pinch red pepper flakes.

*A few notes on the ingredients.  I love the Private Selection Peppecorn Medley from Kroger. It gives a great depth of flavor to these. The Sea Salt is also fantastic.

Next:

Pack your clean dry jar (s) with sliced cucumbers and onion.

Mix the brine ingredients well. Until the salt and sugar feels dissolved. Others might heat this, you can, but definitely don’t have to.

Pour in jar, lid tightly. and shake!

24 hours in fridge and a delicious pickle chip awaits you!!

Stuff:

I grew Dill from seeds from Rebel Gardens.

Rebel Gardens on Amazon

Kroger Private Selection Online