Eye-talian food

I LOVE me some Italian food.  Love anything with pasta, sauce, cheese, meat.  Yuuuumm.  The only things that I really don't like Italian are the seafood dishes.  I like shrimp, crab and lobster; fish and calamari, no way, Jose.

I could - and have - made a weekly menu consisting of manicotti, spaghetti, fettuccini carbonara, chicken marsala or picatta, and the resultant leftovers. 

One thing that I have been unable to master is a really good red sauce.  A chunky one, with meat and tomato pieces.  A rich, deep sauce, one with character and body.  The Hubster has an Italian aunt, who is known in the family for making incredible sauce.  I had it, on meatballs that she made for a funeral, and it was so-so.  Just a plain red sauce, nothing to rave about.  Every time I try to make a sauce, The Hubster suggests using her recipe.  I don't have the heart to tell him I didn't particularly care for her version.

I've tried to make homemade sauce, and it's not great.  I frequently buy a jar of sauce and add stuff - sauteed mushrooms, peppers, meatballs, etc.  It's good, but not homemade.  It's one of the few things that, as a pretty accomplished cook, I haven't been able to master.

Recently, I have become a fan of Giada De Laurentis on the Food Channel.  Her Everyday Italian show has good recipes - although a bit too much in the way of sex appeal for me.  I can do without the clevage shots and such.  The show, though, is calm and restful, and every single thing that I've made of hers is great.  I bought her cookbook.  I am ashamed to say that I paid the list price of $30 - I see it's almost half that on Amazon now.  Grrrrr. 

Looking through, I saw a recipe for simple bolognese sauce.  It looked yummy, without many ingredients. I made it last night, for the base sauce for my manicotti (also from the cookbook), and it was delish.  I made it my own with a few small twists.

Saute a cut up onion and four or so cloves garlic in olive oil, poured two times around the pan. (she said two cloves  - I buy the large jar of precrushed stuff in oil, so I just scooped out a bunch)  After a few minutes, add one carrot, minced.  (I used a handful of baby carrots, crunched up in a chopper).  Add a pound of ground beef, when the carrots are tender.  Chop meat finely as it browns.  Drain off fat, and add 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes (28 ounces each) and one smaller can (14 or so ounces) of diced tomates with basil and garlic added.  (The recipe just calls for one 28 ounce can of crushed, but it looked very thick to me and I just kept adding until it looked right.)  Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley and 8 leaves basil, chopped, as well as salt and pepper.  (I didn't do this - instead, I used Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash, and Tomato and Garlic Mrs. Dash - and I added about a tablespoon of each, maybe a bit more.  Until it *looked* right - which I know is hard for non cooks!) Simmer on low for an hour or so.  Stir in 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

This was really good.  I made beef and sausage manicotti with this, homemade wheat bread (which was a rainy day activity with an incredibly active Gabe and Emma, and carpool kid) and cut up cucumbers.

Comments

[Stephanie C.]

Mmm, I love Giada, too; her cookbook is so pretty, doncha think? You've GOTTA try her basic risotta; I've made it twice, now, and I really, really love it.

[Cara]

I guess I should have known to read a post about "Eye-talian food" right before lunch. YUM!