Rag
Italian tomato sauces
I will be sharing many tomato sauce recipes with you in the future, but I will start out with some of the basic ones first. Ragù finto is a deep-flavored tomato-based sauce that is perfect for certain dishes like cannelloni. The secret is to let it simmer for at least 2 hours.
The ingredients (serves 6 when used on cannelloni):
1 pound pork loin or mild Italian sausage
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 6-oz tomato paste.
1 cup (or more) red wine (e.g., a cabernet or chianti)
2 ½ cups hot water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
Mixing and cooking
Place the oil in a pan and heat on medium. Add the meat and brown slowly so that the meat particles do not burn in the oil (about 30 mins). If you are using Italian sausage, take the skins off and break it up as it cooks. Once it browns, remove the meat for later without turning off the flame (if you cooked sausage, use a slotted spoon to remove).
Pork loin with oil
Browning the pork
The tomato paste and wine
Add the tomato paste (make sure it is paste and not sauce) to the pan and gradually add the wine as you mix. Be careful to make sure it does not burn. After a few minutes the sauce will begin to become creamy and take on a brownish red appearance. Add the hot water and salt and mix well. Add the sugar if you prefer a slightly sweeter sauce. Place the meat back in the pan and simmer for 2 hours. Stir it periodically to keep the sauce from burning. You can increase the thickness of the sauce by adding less water (as little as 1 ½ cups). Remember if you are using the sauce for baking, make it less thick so it will not dry out in the oven. Once the sauce has simmered for 2 hours place the pork in a food processor and shred. Mix it back into the sauce and simmer a few more minutes. You do not need to use the food processor if you cooked with sausage.
The tomato paste in the olive oil
Meat in sauce
Ragù finto
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A Marvelous Christmas Cheesecake
Christmas is just around the corner and you really would like to bake a memorable dessert for the family, something with a holiday theme. Since a Fruitcake is absolutely out of the question (you don’t want a repeat of the chipped tooth incident), why not try a Christmas cheesecake.
This delicious Christmas cheesecake is to easy make and the lovely to look at too. With the Christmas tree sprinkle as decoration and cherries added to the filling, not only do you have a delicious desert, you also have a festive treat that is sure to generate a lot of smiling faces. You may even want to make two. I’m sure they’ll be begging for more.
Christmas Cheesecake Recipe
The Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups of Graham Crackers crumbs
1/4 pound (1 Stick) of melted Butter
1/4 Cup of Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 (8 ounce) bars of softened Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup of Sour Cream
1 Cup of Confectionary Powdered Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Cornstarch
1 Cup of Diced Cherries
1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
1 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
Red and Green Candy Tree Sprinkles
The Directions:
For the Crust: Preheat Oven at 350 F. Make your Graham cracker cookie crumbs by using a food processor or simply place in a plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin. Next mix Graham Crackers, melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Spread in the bottom of a 9″ springform pan and up slightly up the side of pan. Bake in oven for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
For the Filling: Preheat Oven at 350 F. Using an electric mixer blend cream cheese on low speed in a mixing bowl. Use spatula to scrape sides and paddle of mixer. Mix in sour cream. Add in the sugar slowly, and continue to beat until creamy. Add in vanilla extract and mix until blended. Add in eggs one at a time and continue to mix a lowest speed until eggs are incorporated in the batter. Mix in whipping cream. Fold in cherries and continue to mix. Pour the mixture into your crust and use offset spatula to help scoop out the batter. Bake for 45 minutes to and hour or until center jiggles or the top is slightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. While cooling, sprinkle Red and Green Tree Sprinkles of top. Place in the refrigerator and allow to set.
Hopefully this will add to your holiday cheer and have your Mr. Scrooge wishing everyone happy holidays. Enjoy.
Cedrick White is an avid baker and publisher of I-Love-Cheesecake.com and offers advice and information on baking and a wide variety of subjects that interest him.
Potato Soup Recipes : Blend Mixture in Food Processor & Add Walnuts, Coconut & Chocolate
Tips for blending sweet potato mixture in food processor; learn how to add walnuts, coconut and chocolate to Sweet Potato and Apple Soup in this free recipe video. Expert: Josiah Owen Bio: Josiah Owen has worked in the food service industry for the past 9 years. Josiahs cooking experience spans from Fast Food, Fine Dining, working as a Camp Chef to being a Kitchen Manager. Filmmaker: josiah owen
Sun-dried tomato pesto with chicken – Italian recipe
As a main course:
Sun-dried tomato pesto is wonderful. I eat it for lunch with fresh noodles frequently. If you delete the chicken from the recipe below, the pesto can be used on noodles as a primo course (first), as spreads on crostini (toasted thin bread), fish, etc. I have added the chicken to make this a main course. You can substitute Italian sausage for the chicken also (about 6 links, cut) for a main course.
Ingredients (5 servings):
1 pound – fresh pasta (penne if you can find it fresh)
3 – skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 bottles (7 ounces each) – sundried tomatoes, oil drained
5 ounces – parmesan cheese
¼ cup – fresh basil (washed and packed in the cup)
3 tablespoons – pine nuts
6 cloves – garlic
¾ cup – extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, boil a few quarts of water in a pot with salt and cook the penne (fresh pasta should only take a few minutes). While you are waiting for the water to boil, rinse the chicken breasts and remove any fat. Place in a baking dish and cook in oven until brown and well done (about 30 to 40 minutes). Turn oven off once the breasts are finished but do not remove until you have completed cooking the pasta.
Combine the sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, basil, pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil in a food processor and blend until well mixed (see photo – can be refrigerated for up to two weeks, covered).
Basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and sun-dried tomatoes
Sun-dried tomato pesto
When the pasta is finished, set aside ½ cup water from the boiling pot, and then drain the pasta well. Place the pasta back into the cooking pot, add the sun-dried tomato pesto and mix well.
Sun-dried tomato pesto with chicken in the pan
Remove the chicken from the oven and dice. Add the chicken along with salt and pepper and the ½ cup pasta water. Cook on medium high heat while mixing until it is hot enough to serve.
Voila!
Bon appétit
Jack Botticelli
You can read about the Sun-dried tomato pesto with chicken
You can read more Italian recipes here
