Marcella's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

As you may or may not have heard, Marcella Hazan, who first properly introduced Italian cooking to Americans, died last year. She was for Italian cooking what Julia Child was for French cooking. They both inspired many professional and amateur cooks, me being one of them.

I kind of came late to the party when it comes to this recipe. People have been praising it for years! One my clients used to and still does rave about a tomato sauce but I didn't know it was THIS tomato sauce. It's from "The Essentials Of Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan. So this past weekend I had the opportunity to make it.

The secret to this sauce is very simple: 1 onion and butter. That's it! No fancy ingredients. And you most likely have these in your pantry already.

Just put everything in a pot and simmer. The only word I can think of to describe this sauce is, lush. It tastes lush. It just melts in your mouth. Please give this tomato sauce a try.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
(from Marcella Hazan's "The Essentials of Italian Cooking")



28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, halved
salt to taste


Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and keep simmering for 45 minutes. Stirring occasionally. I simmered mine for an hour and a half because I had the time. Season with salt. Serve with your choice of pasta

m xo



Pork Meatballs

I love when I got to my local grocery store and there is a big selection of organic or natural meats. There are always the usual cuts of chicken like thighs and breast, but when I find beef and pork cuts, I stock up! There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to make beef stew, going to the grocery and not finding it. So I buy as much I can to fit in my little freezer.
These little meatballs were really tasty and tender. I used grated zucchini and because of that they do give off some water when they are baking. I just drained the tray halfway through and continued baking.
I served these with a yogurt sauce I threw together with what I had on hand.

Pork Meatballs

1 lb. ground pork
2 slices whole grain bread
1/4 cup almond milk
1 small zucchini, grated
1/2 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeño, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Soak the bread in the almond milk. Wring out the grated zucchini to extract most of the water. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Form into 2 inch balls and place on a lightly greased pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup yogurt
a splash of lemon juice
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint

Mix everything and serve!

m xo

Johnny's Granola

My husband John's go-to breakfast on the weekend is yogurt and granola. During the week it's a granola bar. No exceptions! He has been having a granola bar for breakfast for as long as I've known him. Only recently has he switched up his weekend breakfast to YOGURT and granola. Not a far stretch, I know. Ahhh, you gotta love him!
Granola is pretty easy to make. It's basically oats, whatever nuts and  dried fruit you like and some spices. I add shredded coconut because John likes it.
The dried fruit and coconut doesn't go in until the granola comes out of the oven, otherwise it would burn.
Just keep on eye on the granola because it could easily burn (or you could forget it) as I learned the hard way one summer. I put a batch in the oven and went out and sat on my stoop right outside the kitchen, chatting with my nieces. As I'm sitting there, I could smell something burning but thought it MUST be one of the neighbours. And I just kept talking and talking. Finally it hit me!! OMG!! My granola! Well needless to say I don't think I made granola for the next year. I was pissed…at myself of course. Hahaha!

Granola with Coconut and Cranberries

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slices almonds
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup wheatgerm
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 300F.
Throw all the ingredients except the cranberries and coconut in a bowl and mix until combined. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 45- 55 minutes. Give it a stir after 30 minutes. When it is golden brown and your house smells amazing, it's ready. Take out of the oven and add the dried cranberries and coconut. Cool and store in air tight containers. I store mine in mason jars.

m xo

Heart-Beet Gnocchi

I don't remember exactly where I saw these gnocchi. It could have been on a cooking show. In a magazine article. On Pinterest. Or one of the many food blogs I look at every night. I don't even remember the exact recipe except that they were made with ricotta. What I do know is that I couldn't wait to make them!
And guess what? I made them just for me for lunch. Crazy! Right? But I'm worth it! Hahaha. I mean I did have lots of leftovers. I didn't boil all the gnocchi, just enough for one. This recipe easily feeds 4 people. I'm going to save the rest for my nieces and my nephew, Nicholas who LOVES gnocchi!
Please don't be intimidated with homemade pasta. These are super easy. From start to finish, it took one hour. And I mean I was eating them within an hour.
I'm calling these Heart-Beet Gnocchi for the obvious reasons: they are red and I think they would make a wonderful Valentines day meal.
I made these with brown butter and grated parmesan cheese. Normally I would have added fresh sage to the butter but my sage is buried in my garden under 5 feet of snow.
You can make these with a tomato sauce, a meat sauce or a cream sauce. Whatever floats your boat!
I really hope you try making these!

Heart-Beet Gnocchi

1 lb full fat ricotta
1 1/2- 2 cups flour
1 large egg
2 small beets (a little bigger than an egg), roasted, peeled and cooled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Place the beets in a food processor and puree. In a bowl mix together the pureed beets, ricotta, egg, salt and nutmeg. Start by adding 1 1/2 cups of the flour first. You might need more if your beets are a little bigger, which is no big deal, just add more flour.

Try not to over mix or the gnocchi will be tough.
Once the dough has come together, place on a floured surface and gently work until you have a soft ball adding additional flour so the dough is not too sticky.
Flatten the ball into a disc, about an inch thick, making sure your surface is always lightly floured.

Cut into 1 inch strips and roll using fingers of both hands to form a rope.

Once you have the rope, with a sharp knife, cut into 1 inch pieces.

Now take that gnocchi and place your thumb on it and gently push down and away from you. It essentially creates a little groove for the sauce to adhere to.

As you continue rolling, cutting and forming the gnocchi, make sure you place them on a lightly floured tray.

At this point you can refrigerate them until you are ready to cook.
Bring a big pot of water to a boil and salt liberally or as Mario Batali likes to say, it should taste like the sea. Drop in the gnocchi and stir carefully. They will be at the bottom of the pot but as soon as they all come up, they are ready.

Drain and add brown butter and parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Brown Butter 

Brown butter or beurre noisette is literally translated, hazelnut butter. It's butter that is cooked until it is brown. What you are doing is toasting the milk solids and developing a deep nutty flavour.
To make brown butter, simply melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Preferably stainless steel so you can see the butter change colour. Continue until it boils and begins to brown. There will be specks at the bottom of the pan, those are the milk solids. That's what you want. It's ready when it is a dark, honey colour. Take off the heat and throw in the gnocchi.
You can use this butter on so many things like fish and steamed vegetables. Even sweet dishes like cakes and cookies. Yummy!

m xo

Quinoa Stir Fried "Rice" with Baby Kale

I made this stir fry using quinoa instead of rice. I like that it has more protein than rice therefore more satisfying. I made my quinoa the day of but if you have any leftover, definitely use it! I made my stir fry a little spicy too. Adjust to your liking.
I used baby kale but if you can't find it or don't like kale, feel free to use baby spinach.
I find a bowl of this stir fry to be very comforting.

Quinoa Stir Fry with Baby Kale

2 cups cooked quinoa
2 eggs, beaten
4 generous handfuls of baby kale
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 small red hot chilies, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
sesame oil

Heat a wok or nonstick pan with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Pour in eggs and cook until it sets up. You can scramble or leave it as an omelet, it doesn't matter because it's going to break up when you incorporate it back into the stir fry. Transfer to a plate.
Heat another tablespoon of sesame oil and drop in kale and cook until wilted. Remove from the pan.
Place the pan over high heat with another tablespoon of sesame oil. When hot, add the onions, garlic, chilies, ginger and carrots. Stir constantly for 30 seconds. Stir in quinoa, cooked eggs, kale, soy sauce and hoisin. Cook for another 30 seconds. Ready to serve. I like to sprinkle on a few sesame seeds to finish.

m xo

Roasted Carrot Soup

Wow! My cold is still hanging around. Feel much better but there are still lingering symptoms. Anyway, a girl still has to eat and I've been really wanting to make a carrot soup especially with this polar vortex (huh!!)  that we have been experiencing.
I decided to roast the carrots because it gives the soup more depth and flavour. Plus the cumin adds a nice smokiness to the soup. This is pretty easy to put together and delicious! The addition of the pistachios and greek yogurt adds a little bit of protein…and it looks so pretty. That's totally up to you, it's just as good without it.
I made this with chicken stock but you could totally make it with vegetable stock to make it vegetarian.

 Roasted Carrot Soup 

2 lbs carrots, peeled, roughly chopped
1 red onion, quartered
1/2 tsp whole cumin
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbl olive oil

Olive oil
1 leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
5 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1 orange
Greek yogurt, optional
Chopped pistachios, optional

Preheat oven to 450F. On a sheet tray combine the carrots, onion, cumin, salt and olive oil. Lay the carrots in a single layer and roast for 35 minutes.
In a pot sauté leeks in olive oil for 15 minutes then add the garlic. The leeks take a little longer to cook and if you add the garlic too soon, it could burn it. Add the coriander and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add the roasted carrots, stock and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Blitz the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in orange juice. Serve in soup bowls and dollop with Greek yogurt and a few pistachios.

 

Stay healthy!

m xo

Nigella's Sambuca Kisses

I haven't had a chance to be in the the kitchen for the past few days. I've been under the weather. Nothing serious, just a really bad sinus infection, but I woke up Super Bowl Sunday feeling a little better after being in bed 3 days  and wanted to make a little something to bring to my sister who lives next door. One of the perks of living next door to my sister Antonella is that I can call over and she sends me care packages like turkey soup or blueberry muffins. She's always cooking and baking up a storm because she has 3 kids.
I've been wanting to make these fritters since I saw Nigella make them on her show. They are from her cookbook, Nigellissima. They are super easy to make and take no effort at all.
Not exactly Super Bowl fare but a very nice snack to go with my afternoon espresso.
I had to make these twice because my husband made the mistake of buying reduced fat ricotta. No bueno! They weren't as fluffy and had no taste in my opinion. Poor guy had to go out again for ricotta.

 Sambuca Kisses
(from Nigella Lawson's "Nigellissima" cookbook)

1 egg
1/2 cup full fat ricotta
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sambuca liqueur
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
vegetable or canola oil for frying
powdered sugar to serve

In a bowl mix together egg and ricotta. Add flour, baking powder, sambuca, sugar and orange zest. Beat until combined. Nigella says to heat oil until you drop a little piece of bread in and it frizzles.. You only need a couple inches of oil. Drop in teaspoon sizes of batter. No more than 4-5 at a time and you want to keep an eye on them so the oil doesn't get too hot. They are ready when they are golden. Drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when ready to serve. These are best served warm. So good.

m xo