GardenFresh Tomato Sauce!

My neighbour has gifted me with several pounds of fresh tomatoes from her garden, so I'm going to make a boatload of fresh tomato sauce! Woot! Plus! It was National Vegetarian Day! Done!

Lasagna: SHV

Technically, this should be called the Somewhat Healthier Version Made for Someone That Doesn't Like Lasagna, i.e. SHVMFSTDLL. That's a little wordy, even for me. Basically, it means that I don't (can't) use onions in a visible form or any ricotta cheese whatsoever. And here we go!

You will need:

8 oz extra-lean ground beef
Salt, pepper, oregano and dried basil
1 medium onion, grated or chopped finely
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-156 ml can tomato paste
1-796 ml can diced tomatoes (or two lbs fresh)
6 whole grain whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 oz light mozzarella cheese
1 oz parmesan cheese (NOT the powdered stuff)
1 oz light mixed cheeses

Not pictured: Cheese!

Not pictured: More cheese!

This is one of those handy recipes you can prep as you go, yay! So, first brown the beef and drain. Usually I start with onions, but you just can't never tell how much fat is in ground beef, even if it's marked extra-lean. Drain all that off! After you have, sprinkle on some salt, pepper and oregano. Break the meat up as much as you can. Unless you like a lumpy lasagna, in that case fill yer boots.

I am grating my onion into the pan, should you not have a spouse that cannot stand the texture of said onions, you could just cut them into a small dice. Either way, cook them for about 3 minutes until they are almost soft. Add in the garlic, cook for another minute. Just one!

When you can smell the garlic, add in the tomato paste and sprinkle on some more dried oregano. Cook for 5 minutes more.

Add in the diced tomatoes. If you are using fresh, you would probably have wanted to have chopped them into a small dice by this point. This is also a good time to start cooking your noodles! To the sink for water!

Season with oregano, bay leaves and dried basil; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Drain the cooked noodles and put them in a bowl of cold water, set aside.

Spray a 10 x 13 pan with spray and pour 1 3/4 c of sauce into the bottom.

Place 3 of the noodles in an overlapping layer across the sauce. Mix the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses together. Reserve a little bit of the parmesan for the top. Sprinkle half over the noodles.

Repeat with the rest of the sauce, top with the last three noodles and then the rest of the cheese. Bake for 45 minutes in the 350 degrees oven, I added the final ounce of cheese 10 minutes before it is done.

I cut this into 6 pieces at 265 calories each. Add a salad, maybe a slice of garlicky toast and bam! Under 500 calories! We rock!

Enjoy!

The stuff that fell out the sides I threw on top
 

Vegetarian Wednesday: Curried Hummus and Tomato Lentil Soup

I have tried approximately 40-hundred hummus recipes, this is a combination of a few. I haven't been able to get a decently creamy spread, so I am upping the oil a little tiny bit and making sure my pureeing is nice and mushing. Also, who doesn't love lentils?? Not I! Wait, that's too many negatives, I can't work out whether I just said I liked them or not. I love them! We all should! Yay for vegetarian Wednesdays and the tornado that didn't come!

For the hummus, you will need:

1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, grated

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 Tbsp curry (see recipe below)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 c water

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 and a half lemons)

Salt

2 540 ml cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil (optional)

For the curry powder, you will need:

1/2 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 tsp chili flakes (use less if you are into milder curry. baby)
1 tsp green cardamom seeds (about a dozen pods worth)
6 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger

To extract the cardamom seeds, flatten them with a large knife by whacking them with the wide part.

Heat a small frying pan over medium heat and cook the whole spices (cardamom, cumin, cloves, coriander) until you can smell them, 30 seconds to a minute.

Let cool and dump everything else into a spice grinder. You COULD also use a mortar and pestle, give yourself a few more minutes for that. And a gold star.

Pulse a few times for the cinnamon stick, then add in the cooled whole spices and just keep pulsing until it looks blended.

Back to the hummus!

Heat oil in a non-stick saucepan over med-low heat. Cook the onion for 2 minutes. Add the garlic for 30 seconds. That's it! Add in the curry powder and cumin seeds, cook for another 30 seconds until you can smell 'em. 

Dump the garlic mixture and everything else into a food processor or blender, blend like crazy until it is all smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. This is where you can add a little extra water or perhaps 2 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil, until you are happy with the texture.

You are going to get about 3 cups, and a decent serving is about 1/4 c, which works out to about 82 calories. 

And now for the tomato soup. You will need:

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped finely

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 lb tomatoes or I can 28 oz diced tomatoes

3/4 c split lentils

5 c chicken or vegetable stock

Salt, pepper

First off, if you are going to use fresh tomatoes, you will want to peel, dice and seed them in advance. To do that, bring a deep-ish pot of water to boil. Get a big bowl ready filled with lots of ice and some water. Remove the green stem and cut an "X" across the bottom of each tomato.

Using something amazingly useful like a spider (the non-gross leggy one) dip each tomato individually into the boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute, until you see the cut edges start to peel upwards.

Remove and immediately put into the bowl filled with ice water. Do them all; after they are all blanched the skin should just peel right off. In theory.

The tomato Polar Bear dip

Brr

They practically peel themselves

Cut the tomatoes across the middle:

And use a small spoon to scrape the seeds out inside the revealed tunnels. A sharp spoon, like a grapefruit spoon, is awesome for this, but you can also use a paring knife on any parts if they get unruly. Bye glutamates. Sigh. 

Somewhat de-seeded

Roughly chop and do the rest of your prep. Chop your onions, press your garlic, have a ball. If you are using canned tomatoes, then, um, open it. 

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat; cook the onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, cumin, coriander tomatoes and lentils, cook for another 4-5 minutes.

Add in the stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-45 minutes until the lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and let sit on a raised wire rack to cool slightly. Use a food processor or blender to process the soup until smooth. If you are going to use a blender, remove the center plastic plug in the blender lid and wrap tightly with a large kitchen towel. One that will hopefully not show tomato stains. This will vent the steam somewhat. You may also have to do the soup in batches. You can use an immersion blender if you like, but it will not be as smooth. A food processor can only take so much fluid, so keep an eye on your levels. This sounds like fun, doesn't it?? It will totally be worth it.

Pops right out

Using one of my bread towels

And a food processor, because, hey, there it was on the counter from the hummus

Return the soup to the same pot, rinsed out, and warm to eating temperature. I added some stock at the end to get it to the consistency I wanted; she was a leetle thick. I used fresh tomatoes (but I didn't seed them entirely because nutrients) and I came up with 4 servings at 140 calories each. Added in some homemade bread and butter and bam! Under 500 calories and veggie fantastic.

Enjoy!

Equipment Corner

A couple of quick notes; I never understood those adjustable measuring spoons until I did my first spice blend and realised how invaluable they are for lots of tiny dry ingredients. I also broke one of my garlic presses today, which I did not even know was possible; that one looked pretty sturdy and it will be my replacement.

I wanted to include a mortar and pestle, especially since I ended up using one today, but that is something you really want to be able to grope in person. You want one that feels good in the hand, has a nice and heavy pestle and is rough inside. No smooth interiors! Rough will help those spices break down much faster. And I'm out!

Monday: Sausage & Pasta Bake

The weather is miserable here right now and I wanted something hot and tomatoe-y and meaty and so I came up with this elegantly named dish. I was hoping for a good warm week but it looks like more rain for the next three bloody days. ANYway, here is what I whipped up.

You will need:

2 c whole wheat shaped pasta, like fusili, or penne or macaroni
2 tsp olive oil
4 Italian sausages, I have the type without casings
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 large green pepper, chopped finely
1 large red pepper, chopped finely
2 Tbsp red wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp Oregano, divided
2 tsp dried basil, divided
1 tsp chili flakes
Salt, pepper
4 oz mozzarella, in chunks, not shredded
1.5 oz Parmesan cheese, NOT that powdery stuff
4-5 leaves fresh basil

First, boil your pasta, drain and set aside; preheat your oven to 350. Chop all your veggies (you can also do this while the sausages are browning, but then you might have to wait and hey, let's just do them now. Please? It soothes me).

Heat the olive oil in a large-ish heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook the sausages, turning so that they brown on all sides. I am using a mild sausage, so I am adding my teaspoon of chili flakes right now so that the sausages are nice and spicy. If you are using spicy sausages, that may be overkill, unless you are into that sort of thing. No judgement here, only love.

Once they are somewhat browned, about 5 minutes, remove and set aside.Make sure at some point you poke them with something sharp. Those chubbies are hiding a lot of flavour inside. That sounds wrong.

Add in your chopped peppers and onion, stirring occasionally and cooking for 4-5 minutes, until starting to soften. Add in your garlic and cook for one minute. Just ONE!

Slice your sausages and thinly as possible and add back into the pan. Turn the heat up to medium high.

Deglaze your pan with the red wine and scrap the bottom with your flat-edge wooden spoon. Or reasonable facsimile.

When the wine is almost gone, add in the tomato paste and a teaspoon each of the dried basil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. 

Cook, stirring, for two minutes or until it starts to stick to the pan. Add in your tomatoes, the rest of the dried basil and oregano and bring to a boil. Taste and add salt and pepper as required. If you got a little crazy with the chili flakes earlier, you can add a teaspoon of sugar or so to help bring that down.

Lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes, covered, stirring every now and again. Remove the lid and cook for another 5. Lay your drained pasta at the bottom of a large oven-proof casserole dish with a lid. Dump the tomato mixture on top, then stir in the mozzarella chunks and Parmesan cheese.

Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, removing the lid for the last 10. Slice your fresh basil leaves into ribbons, stir in just before serving.

I separated this into 5 portions at 400 calories per, which is not bad, considering it includes all four food groups. I was going to add a small salad but decided the peppers would probably see me through. And so they did.

The money shot, as it were

Enjoy!!