marinara sauce

Marinara sauce has been a love of mine since I was a kid sharing family meals at Anna Maria’s, a beloved family-owned Italian restaurant in Santa Monica. Marinara over shells is my favorite, but I have been known to eat it just by the spoonful. Never have I a made a worthy version from scratch, until now.

This recipe incorporates celery and carrots. And while I’m not sure how authentically Italian these ingredients may be, they seem to be valuable additions to the tomatoes, delivering a rustic flavor. I substituted half of the tomatoes for fresh tomatoes and wine. This sauce is hefty, despite being meatless.

adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis’ marinara sauce recipe

serves 4-6

½ cup EVOO

2 small onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp freshly ground pepper

1-28oz. can Hunt’s crushed tomatoes

4 fresh, large paste tomatoes, sliced

1 cup red wine

2 dried bay leaves
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

to make your sauce:

*heat oil over medium high heat and sauté onions and garlic for 10 minutes

*add carrots, celery, salt and pepper, and stir occasionally another 10 minutes

*add tomatoes and remove from heat

*blend with immersion blender

*bring to simmer, add bay leaf and red pepper

*cook on low heat, uncovered, for one hour

*remove and discard bay leaves before serving

serving suggestions:

*freshly grated parmesan and homemade garlic bread, buon appetite!

butternut squash soup

Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook and an immersion blender have been on my wish list for some time and when I received both as birthday presents, I couldn’t wait to use them. Searching her book for a soup recipe with blending in mind, this one seemed spot-on for a fall afternoon.

Garam masala provided depth of flavor to this thick, savory soup. Most likely owing to the dark vegetable stock, the russet tint was not entirely appealing. G.P. offers a vegetable stock recipe, but I opted for store-bought. Another grocery item to save time is the peeled and diced butternut squash available at Trader Joe’s.

Since everything will be blended, there's no need to toil over perfectly-sized chopped veggies. The immersion blender was quick easy to use. It has become my new favorite kitchen gadget and I’m looking forward to more applications. This recipe was sized just right for two people with leftovers for an entire other meal.

A native of Central America, Butternut Squash is easy to grow. Due to its nutty taste and orange flesh, this winter squash is considered a type of pumpkin and used as such in Australia. Butternut squash is an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin E, as well as a good source of fiber, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, and potassium.

adapted from ‘Butternut Squash Soup’ from My Father's Daughter

serves 4

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 large yellow onions, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

½ tsp sea salt

several turns of fresh ground pepper

½ tsp Garam masala

6 cups butternut squashed, peeled, seeded, cubed

32 oz. vegetable stock

to make your soup:

*melt butter in the olive oil over medium heat

*add onions and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally

*stir in salt, pepper, Garam masala and heat for another 2 minutes

*add squash, stirring occasionally for another 10 minutes

*add vegetable stock and bring to a boil

*lower the temperature and simmer for 20 minutes

*remove from heat for 15 minutes

*blend soup with immersion blender

*heat for another few minutes, salt to taste, and serve

serving suggestions:

*a fried green tomato salad and sweet vinaigrette would nicely complement the savory nature of this soup. also, cheesy croutons would be a most welcome addition.

white bean & chicken chili

It’s fall ya’ll! And I had house guests last weekend, so I made one of my favorite cold weather soups. This dish is always well-received and the leftovers are absolutely delicious. I recommend adding one more jalapeno for an additional kick and making cheesy jalapeno cornbread to go along with it.

The last time I made this chili, instead of simmering for 30 minutes, I baked the chili at 250 degrees for about an hour. The broth/wine proportion and volume is open to interpretation. I’ve made this without wine and/or with less liquid volume and still had great results. As always, home-grown, locally sourced, free-range, and organic ingredients make everything better!

serves 6-8 
1 onion, diced
1 fresh jalapeno, diced
1 rotisserie chicken, bones removed, chopped
28 oz. petite diced tomatoes
3 (15oz.) great northern white beans
14 oz. fresh salsa (I used Jack's Special Medium Salsa)
24 oz. chicken broth
1 cup white wine
½ bunch cilantro, chopped
juice from ½ of a lime
1 Tbsp. cumin

to make your stew: 
*sauté the onion and pepper in a little olive oil until softened
*add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil
*reduce heat and simmer, covered, for at least 30 minutes

serving suggestion:
serve with cornbread, sour cream, shredded cheese, and sliced jalapenos

poulet en cocotte bonne femme

The end of Septemeber has arrived without my having posted any recipes. And while I have been cooking, mostly soups, nothing has seemed worthy of publishing here. In a moment of nostalgia I realized I neglected to post the first dish ever attempted in my dutch oven, roasted chicken.

This simple French dish was a perfect first challenge and the results were nothing short of mouth-watering success. What better way to start a dish than bacon and butter? I remember this recipe taking some time to prepare, but the end result was well worth the effort. I'm glad I thought of this, I plan on making it again soon!

adapted from Julia Child’s recipe

serves 4-6
4 oz. bacon, chopped into large chunks
2 pads of butter
a small whole chicken, washed and drained (giblets and neck removed)
12 small potatoes, quartered
3 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, chopped into large pieces
handful of fresh rosemary
handful of fresh thyme
a bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic

to make the dish:
*preheat the oven to 325 degrees
*chop the bacon into large chunks
*add bacon to dutch oven on medium high heat and stir until mostly cooked
*set bacon aside and add a pad of butter
*place chicken in melted butter, brown the skin, flipping often (approximately 10-15 mins.)
*add cut potatoes to a pan of cold water, bring to a boil and remove immediately
*bring carrots and onion to a low boil for five minutes in a separate pan
*remove chicken to a plate and some of bacon fat from dutch oven
*add another pad of butter to dutch oven and stir in potatoes, coating well
*season the inside of the chicken with rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic tied in a washed cheesecloth
*season the chicken with salt and pepper
*set aside most of the potatoes from the dutch oven, and add the chicken
*add the remaining potatoes, carrots, onion, and bacon around and partly covering the chicken
*put the lid on the dutch oven and bake for 22 minutes per pound of bird
*let the bird rest 10 minutes before serving

spicy spaghetti

i love this spicy spaghetti! add some chopped tomatoes from the garden; this is a great way to use home-grown produce. quick and easy, this dish went from chopping to serving in just 30 minutes. i'm looking forward to the leftovers!

also, this meal is very inexpensive. if you grow your own peppers and basil as i have, each serving of this dish costs about $1.00. for the money, this meal was satisfying, healthful, and tasty!

adapted from Jamie Oliver’s recipe

serves 4-6
2 cloves garlic
1 pound dried spaghetti (i used Capellini)
1 fresh red chile
olive oil
small bunch of fresh basil
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup fresh spinach, stems removed
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
4 oz. fresh grated parmesan cheese

to make your pasta:
*peel and finely slice the garlic
*finely slice the chile
*pick the basil leaves off the stalk and put to one side
*finely chop stalks
*bring large pan of salted water to a boil, add spaghetti, cook according to package
*put dutch oven on medium heat, add 2 lugs of olive oil
*add garlic, chile, and basil stalks, stir
*when the garlic browns, add most of the basil leaves and canned tomatoes
*turn the heat up to high for one minute
*season with salt and pepper
*drain spaghetti in colander, transfer to the dutch oven, add spinach and stir

serving suggestion:
serve in bowls topped with torn remaining basil leaves and parmesan cheese.
Chianti works well with this meal.

red, white, & blue cobbler

this quick and easy dessert is perfect for July 4th weekend; add a little ice cream and it’s red, white, and blue! personally, i think cobbler makes a great breakfast too.

adapted from Allrecipes.com

serves 6
4 Tbsp. butter
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. baking pwder
1/3 tsp. salt
¾ cup milk (I used 2%)
3 cups sliced fresh berries (I used strawberries and blueberries)
1 Tbsp. sugar

to make your cobbler:
*adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 350 degress
*put butter in your dutch oven (or at least 2-quart pan), set in oven to melt butter and then remove
*whisk flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking pawder, and salt in a small bowl. Add milk; whisk to form a smooth batter.
*pour batter into the dutch oven (with butter), then scatter fruit over batter, and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. sugar
*bake until batter browns and fruit bubbles (50-60 minutes)

serving suggestion:
serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream

cheesy baked pasta with spinach & artichoke

this simple, healthful recipe was quick to prepare and yielded a wonderfully cheesy result. any opportunity to grate fresh parmesan is a welcome one, and i think it adds so much more flavor to any dish over the store-bought pre-grated variety.

i thought the meal was hardy enough as a main course, but this recipe could easily be a side item as well. next time, i will try using some lemon pepper and/or lemon thyme in this dish as i love the combination of lemon and artichokes.

adapted from Real Simple’s recipe

serves 4
8oz. whole grain mini penne (or other short pasta)
14oz. can artichoke hearts, rinsed and quartered
9oz. package frozen creamed spinach, thawed
¼ cup fresh grated parmesan
2 cups grated mozzarella, divided
Fresh ground black pepper

to make your pasta:
*cook pasta according to directions, drain, and return to pot
*add artichoke hearts, spinach, parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella & ¼ tsp. pepper, stirring to combine
*heat broiler
*sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the top of the pasta and broil until cheese is browned in spots, about 2-3 minutes

serving suggestion:
with a crisp salad