Fennel Meatball Zucchini Pasta

Travel lunch: zoodles, sauce, and meatballs!

The zucchini is taking over! I've been rotating zucchini, green beans, and cucumbers among the three meals of the day all week - they are prolifically abundant in my garden. Mostly I've been eating the very basic sauteed zucchini (with onions, or bacon, or plain), but I am also eating a fair amount of "zoodles." This recipe also utilizes some garden tomatoes (those are slower in my garden, so I used up some of last year's frozen ones) in the sauce. The fennel in the meatballs was nice with the fresh basil. I actually ate these meatballs with both pesto sauce, and this simple tomato-basil one. Both were delicious.

Fennel meatballs
1 lb beef or venison
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
freshly ground pepper
1 egg
1 T coconut flour

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix ingredients together and form into 1" balls. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet or cake pan in a single layer and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
3. Serve over zucchini noodles with pesto or tomato basil sauce.

Tomato-Basil Sauce
1/2 small onion, diced
1 T fat (lard, ghee, coconut oil)
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
big handful fresh basil, chopped

1.  Heat fat in a heavy saucepan. Saute onions until translucent, then add tomatoes. Simmer for 5-10 minutes to cook down.
2. Add remaining sauce ingredients, and adjust seasonings to taste. Continue to simmer another 5-10 minutes until desired thickness. 

Simple Bolognese "Paleo Pasta"

Well. The cold persists. That is all I really have to say about that. And in the words of my co-worker Jenna, "This weather just makes me want to go home and eat mashed potatoes." This isn't quite that, but is kind of comfort food-ish. I actually did eat some of this sauce on leftover mashed cauliflower this week though, and it was really good. Not so traditional, but good.

This is my go-to pasta sauce for spaghetti squash or zucchini "noodles" - it is really pretty with some (no longer) frozen garden tomatoes, and is pretty easy. I grew up eating pasta with sauce from a jar - and later homemade sauce without meat. Those were fine - tomatoes are good. But I LOVE bolognese sauce. Really. It's its own classification of pasta sauce I think. I've made a few different versions of it over the past few years, but this is probably the most simple because it uses Italian sausage rather than a bacon/beef combo, and it doesn't use any dairy or other liquids. If you have some dry wine around, or a bit of chicken broth - throw some in - but it's tasty just the way it is.

Simple Bolognese Sauce
1 lb Italian sausage
1 small onion, diced small
1 celery stalk, diced small
1 medium carrot, diced small
2-3 oz tomato paste
2 c (or so) frozen/canned tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

1. Brown sausage in a large heavy skillet or pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery to the pot to saute in any excess sausage fat. Add extra fat if needed and cook together until sausage is cooked and crumbly, onions are translucent, and carrots are starting to soften.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices/herbs. Stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat for awhile - an hour (ideally), but at least 30 minutes.
3. While sauce simmers, cook your spaghetti squash, or julienne your zucchini! Both are great. I just eat my zucchini noodles raw, and I use an old school mandoline slicer. If you are making spaghetti squash, just cut the squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the pulp and seeds. Roast cut side up in a pan for 45 minutes at 375. Remove from oven and separate/remove "strands" with a fork.

Paleo Pasta with Sardines

I have had a can of sardines in the pantry for a couple months and finally figured out a way to use them.  It was so good that I am kicking myself for not trying it sooner.  The recipe was inspired by An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler.  Reading the book was inspired by Megan, so thank you for the good recommendation.  I learned so much about stretching food into multiple meals, which is an art in itself.  I do so much cooking these days and it is so great to learn how to stretch the food and not let anything go to waste.  

I love using sardines because they are wonderfully healthy little fish, and inexpensive.  They have omega 3s and are low in mercury, which is always a concern these days when eating fish.  

Ingredients: 

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 can good olive oil packed sardines

1 pound spaghetti (I substituted zucchini noodles)

sea salt

1 bunch parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

optional: dried chili flakes

Heat olive oil in a deep frying pan big enough to hold the noodles.  Once the oil is warm, add the onion and garlic and cook until it's soft but not completely tender, 5 to 10 minutes.  Add the sardines and their olive oil and let them fry in the pan, breaking them up with your spoon.  Add the zucchini noodles and cook another minute until the noodles have softened.  Toss in the parsley and chili flakes, if you are using them, at the last minute.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Pasta

Vegetables are abundant right now and it is so fun to walk through the market and pick up all kinds of colorful veggies.  Once I get them home I have to come up with a multitude of ways of using them before they go bad.  Enter zucchini pasta.  Summer squash are my favorite food right now and with the help of a julienne slicer you can turn zucchini, or any summer squash, into pasta noodles.  I haven't eaten actual pasta in a long time, so I don't even notice the difference.  The sauce mixes with the noodles and it is just a plate of veggie deliciousness.

Zucchini Noodles: I always peel the zucchini, but I don't think this is totally necessary.  I think it makes the noodles softer and closer to a pasta type consistency.  Then use the julienne slicer to create beautiful long noodles.  Sautee them in a pan with a little butter/oil for about 2 minutes to soften them just a bit.

Sauce:  The options here are endless.  I like to use ground pork, but ground beef would be good as well.  Brown the meat in a sauté pan with a little oil.  You can add some garlic and onions if you want.  Next comes the veggies.  Since fresh tomatoes are so abundant right now I use fresh garden tomatoes, but canned tomatoes would work, too.  I also like to add red peppers and green onions for some extra flavor and veggie goodness.  Chop and toss the veggies in with the meat and let is cook together for about five minutes.  Toward the end of the cooking process add some sweet basil.  This is the do not miss ingredient.  It is such a wonderfully fresh and fragrant addition to the pasta. Right now fresh basil is cheap and all over the place.   I keep buying it and then need ways to use it up throughout the week.  This pasta pile up is a great solution.  It is so sad to throw past it's prime basil into the compost heap.

Have fun with all those beautiful summer vegetables.

Paleo meatballs

I totally stole her photo because I am still without camera.

I made meatballs for the first time this week. It was an exciting event - inspired somewhat by a dinner months ago at Crystal and Venessa's. Venessa had made these stunning meatballs that were totally scrumptious. I perused recipes for awhile, and settled on one that I give a definitive five stars. The spicing is like no other pasta I have had - kind of sweet, but not, and full of cumin?!  It also was a terrifically low stress way to do meatballs because you brown them a little and then finish them off in the sauce. So they look good all surrounded by the tomato sauce, even if you maybe made some lop-sided ones that crumbled a little and are not so spherical.

The original recipe, called "Not your typical grandma's paleo meatballs" from a blog called "Caveman Strong" recommends that you serve the meatballs and sauce on steamed kale or spinach. I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I had no cilantro and minimal parsley, and I had chopped tomatoes rather than "crushed" ones. Also, the sauce will look pretty liquid-like when you add the meatballs, but don't worry because it will cook down and thicken up over the 15 minutes that the meatballs cook. I ate mine over grated raw zucchini, but I'll totally try it on some greens too. Really - these spices are SO good together!

Zucchini noodles

Zucchini as noodle = genius! It is a great way to use up the ever-prolific zucchini, does not require purchasing a packaged anything, is GF, and looks amazing. oh yeah!

Before embarking on this recipe, I was worried that the "noodles" would fall apart, or that the whole pasta dish would just taste like zucchini sauce - which while not bad, was not what I was going for. Instead, the zucchini takes on a noodle form that is really zucchini-ish. It holds its own flavor rather than blend in with the sauce AND keeps a noodle shape that you can twirl up on your fork!

I followed a recipe from the New York Times and it used a veggie peeler to peel thin strips from the zucchini. Other recipes talked about mandolines and skinny julienned strips, and I have neither a mandoline nor the patience to cut such uniform tiny noodles. They look nice though, and I think you could go raw that way: just salt and sweat them for 30 minutes.

For these I peeled each zuke down to the seeds - you'll know when you get there because they get harder to peel. Also, the directions to saute in olive oil for just 3 minutes seem critical - it gets your peeled slices somewhat translucent and al dente like, but not at all overcooked. (Also keeps your noodles from losing their integrity! they don't get mushy at all.) I topped mine with a quick sauce of mushrooms, tomatoes, sausage, wine, fresh basil and oregano, and pepper flakes. Really really yummy and very filling. I like the original recipe's light topping of just parmesan, salt and pepper too.

Pork Bolognese

Um, here comes recipe #2 from Martha. I dunno. There the magazine was, there I was with all the ingredients in it, and suddenly meaty pasta was sounding SO good. And I have to admit, I have never used a recipe when making tomato-based pasta dishes before. I usually just throw things in with tomatoes and call it good.

But this. This is another story. I mean, there is wine, chicken broth, milk, bacon, AND meat. I had just made my own broth after cooking a chicken in the crockpot, and I happened to have left over wine, and meat and bacon in the freezer. I've also been working a lot lately and packing both lunch and dinner, which necessitates creative food composition and larger quantities. This is comfort food for meat eaters, it made the kitchen smell amazing, and the leftovers were delicious.


Serves 8
3 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 pounds ground pork (or other meat)
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 c. dry white wine
1 1/4 c. whole milk
1 can (28 oz) tomato sauce
2 c. chicken broth
1 bay leaf
5 sprigs fresh thyme
coarse salt and fresh pepper
cooked penne, for serving
grated parmesan, for serving

1. In large dutch oven or heavy pot, cook bacon over medium until fat is released (5 min). Add onion, carrot, and celery; cook until soft (6 min). Raise heat to medium-high; add pork and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned (7 min). Add tomato paste; cook until pork is coated (4 min).
2. Add wine; cook until reduced by 3/4. Add 1 c. milk; cook until reduced by 1/2. Add tomato sauce, broth, bay leaf, thyme, 2 1/2 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Stir in 1/4 c. milk. Serve sauce over pasta, topped with cheese.

*My changes: I used some homemade sausage (part venison, part bacon), had kind of bad wine that I am not sure if it was dry or not, and did not have fresh thyme. It was still good. So was the quinoa pasta I used, btw.

Penne alla vodka and stuffed mushrooms

This pasta dish is from a cookbook I've mentioned before--Vegetarian Classics--that I really love but sometimes forget about among my zillion or so cookbooks. I'm now inspired to make her other pasta recipes, because this one is both easy and delicious.

I had the stuffed mushrooms at a party a few years ago, and they've since become my go-to dish for a fall or winter potluck. Read Giada's recipe here.

Penne alla vodka:

2 T. olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t. red pepper flakes (I used quite a bit more)
1 1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
1/4 c. vodka (I used more but then fretted that it tasted too vodka-y)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 pound penne
2 T. minced fresh parsley
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Make pasta.
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil; add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, salt, and vodka, and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and keep warm until the pasta is ready. Drain pasta, return to pot, and mix in sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and cheese.

Turkey noodle soup with homemade egg noodles

After purging most of the cream puffs, fudge, cookies, chex mix and other super healthy leftover x-mas food, we were left with a Ziplock bag of turkey. E was craving soup, and I was about to buy a bag of frozen egg noodles to make mom's turkey noodle. Luckily, I had the following sudden insight: hey, wait a minute, those suckers can't be that hard to make. Less than 30 minutes later, we had a very tasty pot of turkey noodle soup and not a drop on our new aprons.

Egg noodles:
Mix 2 C flour, a pinch of salt, 2 eggs (beaten), 1/2 C milk, and a tablespoon of butter for about 5 min. Let sit for 10. roll and cut into desired shapes. Toss them into hot soup and boil for a few minutes.

couscous!

So I took a brief hiatus from the blog (but not entirely from cooking) in order to finish up a semester of student teaching. Charming as those kiddos were, they really cut into my time for culinary adventures. Alas, it's been all about easy around here, and couscous has been a welcome addition to the regular rotation. It's quick, it's easy, it's cheap, and it's tasty, right?
Here are two recipes from my straight aunt Martha. While you might not use them to dazzle your dinner guests, it's possible you'll find that you happen to have all (or at least most) of the ingredients on a cold winter night, thus preventing a last-minute run to the grocery store.

#1 Couscous with chicken and orange
1 cup couscous
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 navel orange, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
coarse salt and ground pepper

In a medium bowl, pour 1 cup boiling water over couscous. Cover and let sit until tender, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. In another medium bowl, combine chicken, pistachios, orange, mint, oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Toss couscous with chicken mixture.

I'm quite sure we had neither mint nor pistachios, but it hit the spot anyway.

#2 Couscous with spinach and onions
1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
some spinach, chopped
1 cup couscous
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt, pepper, whatev.

In a saucepan, cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until tender. Add the broth and spinach. Bring mixture to a boil and stir occasionally. Add in couscous; stir to combine. Cover, remove pan from heat, and let stand 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add remaining ingredients; stir to combine.

more fun with eggplant!

What's that? The last eggplant dish I posted sucked, and you're still swimming in eggplant?
Try this- it's really tasty.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/01/rigatoni-with-eggplant-puree/