Sarah: Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Alcohol

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup vodka
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 box Whole Wheat pasta (really doesn’t matter what shape)
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 basil leaves, rolled together and chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
fresh cracked pepper and salt

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil. Add onions, garlic and crushed red pepper cook until onions are translucent about 5 minutes. Pour in vodka. Cook 3 minutes. Pour in tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Set aside.

3. After sauce has simmered for 20 minutes, whisk 1 tablespoon of sauce into cream to temper it. Slowly stir tempered cream into the tomato sauce. Add cooked pasta to the sauce. Stir to combine.

4.Stir in basil and Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.

---REVIEW---

Love it. Eat it every day. Recipe from Jen Lula of Jen Loves Kev.

Green Beans and Chicken Sausage with Farfalle

So I'm beginning to learn that the fun part of cooking is seeing what I can throw together without a recipe. I needed to make something for dinner tonight and so here's what I threw together using ingredients in my fridge and pantry.

Green Beans and Chicken Sausage with Farfalle

green beans
two chicken sausages, sliced
8 ounces of farfalle
one small tomato, diced
Parmesan
basil
oregano
three cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil
salt

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Set a pot of water to boil for the green beans. When the water is rapidly boiling, add in a pinch of salt and drop in the green beans. Boil the beans until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in large skillet. When skillet's hot, drop in the sliced sausages. Cook a couple minutes on one side, then flip. Brown the sausages and then pull them off the heat and place into a separate dish. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and drop in the green beans and garlic. Toss together and saute. After a couple minutes, return sausage to pan and then add pasta. Season with basil and oregano. Toss with another tablespoon or two of olive oil if needed. Turn off heat and sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese and top with diced tomatoes. Toss together and serve.

Serves 2 to 3 people.

Creamy Gnocchi with Veggies

1 package potato Gnocchi

1 jar Newman's Own Alfredo Sauce

7-8 stalks of Asparagus

1/2 cup frozen Peas

1/2 Yellow Onion (chopped)

EVOO

Garlic Salt

Pepper

1. Trim asparagus. Lay out on a baking sheet, sprinkle with EVOO and garlic salt on both sides. Put in the oven at 350 until softened (? until it's done, Kiddo), about 5-9 minutes.

2. Cook Gnocchi according to package.

3. Heat up peas in microwave, about 1 minute.

4. When Gnocchi begin to rise, sauté chopped onion with some EVOO. 

5. Drain Gnocchi. Heat up alfredo sauce. Cut asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Mix it all together. Pepper to taste.

---Review---

I've never been able to find a canned alfredo sauce that I like, and this one is ok. It's kind of salty. I really just love Olive Garden's alfredo sauce. Use that if you can get it.

Pretty good and an easy way to sneak some vegetables into your diet.

Italian Pot Pies

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 pound ground beef sirloin thawed

2 cups tomato sauce

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary

4 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 450 with the rack in lowest position.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil. Add onion, carrots, salt and pepper and cook till tender (6-8 minutes). Add beef and cook until no longer pink (you'll want to break up the beef into smaller pieces). Add tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally until the sauce thickens. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, wisk flour, Parmesan, baking powder, rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add butter and milk. Stir until dough comes together.

4. Spoon meat mixture into 8-ounce ramekins or a medium sized pyrex container.

5. Mound dough on top.

6. Bake until dough is golden brown (10-12 minutes).

----Review----

Brandon and I both agreed that this one was a keeper, even though I messed up a few ingredients here and there.

If you use 1/4 cup of milk instead of 1/2, the dough will be somewhat grainy but still good. Something to think about. Also, we used a canned marinara sauce that we found cheap at Trader Joe's, but I think that Newman's Own with everything in it would be amazing.

Also, we used ground turkey instead of ground beef, which is a classic Brandon and Sarah move. The turkey tasted great and is a good way to healthy up the recipe a little. (Though it looks like slime when you put in in a pan, so maybe if you're a queasy type you should stick with beef or chicken.)

Everyday Food issue 58.