I want to say again that I am so thankful that I have readers for this blog. It really gives me a great deal of joy to chronicle my own and others' food adventures here and know that they will be enjoyed and appreciated.
My latest adventure is another new take on a recipe from The Northend Italian Cookbook. (I recently discovered, the 4th edition. It's not like it was a big secret, I just usually don't take the time to read the dozens of pages of forwards and dedications and introductions and summaries that seem to accompany all published books, including even cookbooks and books of knitting patterns.) The original recipe was for a Bolognese sauce, which is the authentic version of what we all usually think of when we picture the "meat sauce" part of "spaghetti with meat sauce". Now, let me state for the record once again that I do not think that eating meat is intrinsically evil, especially if the animal in question was humanely raised and humanely led out of this life so that we could enjoy and benefit from it. But, I think it is an uncontestable statement to say that we should all probably eat less meat for a variety of reasons, not the least of which because we are making ourselves FAT and are giving ourselves heart conditions and colon cancer. So, I modified this recipe to be a good "weekday/meat free" alternative, but you could use the meat of your choice in place of the substitute I offer, which is....carrots.
I know. I'm a card-carrying member of the nut club in your minds now, right? Carrots? Carrots? Yes, carrots. "Why carrots?" you may ask. Because...and here is another personal revelation...I think meat substitutes are nasty. They start life almost flavorless (not taking into account their own natural flavors, which are usually odd, to say the least) and with a variety of textures to appall. So I tend to avoid them in my cooking and in my eating. So, since I've lately been exploring ways of cooking and eating less meat without sacrificing my favorite foods and flavors, I've been exploring vegetable options to replace the texture and role that the meat portion of some of my favorite recipes. The eggplant experiment in my personal experience, wildly successful. For further support of eggplant, I offer you this example: I once cooked some fried eggplant for a former boyfriend, who came across it later and ate it, totally unaware, he told me afterwards, that it was not the fish I had meant to cook. So, with that in mind, I bring you:
Creamy Carrot Bolognese Sauce
4 large carrots, peeled and cubed*
1 small onion, chopped the Italian way (into slivers rather than cubes)
1 28oz (850mL) can ground or crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 sprigs fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste, red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste
2/3 C. white wine (I used the aformentioned muscato)
cooking oil (olive oil, if you have it)
1/2 C. (120 mL)
about 1lb (450g) hot cooked pasta (I actually put it over cooked split peas with flavorful success, but I admit that this is a little more experimental than most people are willing to be when it comes to their Italian staples)
Heat the oil in a saucepot over medium heat. Add in the carrots and let them sizzle and cook for about 5 minutes. You can actually chop the rest of the things that need to be chopped while this is happening and cut your total preparation/cooking time down. Anyhow, after the carrots have had their time in the saucepot hot tub alone, toss in the onions and garlic and let them sizzle with the carrots for another 2-3 minutes. Add in the wine. Let it reduce, another 2-3 minutes. Add in the crushed tomatoes, parsley, and the seasonings. My canned tomatoes came with some added salt, so I actually didn't put in any additional salt at all and that was just right. Put the cover on the saucepot, reduce the heat to medium-low (a fastish simmer) and let it cook, stirring it every so often, for about 15 minutes. You can use this time to find your pasta in the cabinet (emphasis find if you live in a place with limited cabinet space in the kitchen) and get it cooked and drained. At the very end of the cooking time, remove the sauce from the heat and add in the cream, stirring it to blend. The end! Serve it over your pasta. It's good just the way it is, although some parmesan is never amiss with most Italian dishes. This makes a good bit of sauce. I made a full batch and set some aside to use for eggplant parmesan.
_________
*Cubing carrots is not as hard as it sounds. After you get them peeled, instead of cutting them from end to end into disks, cut each individual carrot into 2-3 sections, making your cuts where the carrot obviously changes sizes as it tapers from the big end to the small end. Then, cut each section in half. Cut each half into 3 strips longways. Holding all the strips together, cut from end to end. These are not perfect cubes, mind you. This is not the haute cuisine cordon blue mirepoix carrot cutting method. This is just the simplest way to get carrots into cube-like pieces.
My latest adventure is another new take on a recipe from The Northend Italian Cookbook. (I recently discovered, the 4th edition. It's not like it was a big secret, I just usually don't take the time to read the dozens of pages of forwards and dedications and introductions and summaries that seem to accompany all published books, including even cookbooks and books of knitting patterns.) The original recipe was for a Bolognese sauce, which is the authentic version of what we all usually think of when we picture the "meat sauce" part of "spaghetti with meat sauce". Now, let me state for the record once again that I do not think that eating meat is intrinsically evil, especially if the animal in question was humanely raised and humanely led out of this life so that we could enjoy and benefit from it. But, I think it is an uncontestable statement to say that we should all probably eat less meat for a variety of reasons, not the least of which because we are making ourselves FAT and are giving ourselves heart conditions and colon cancer. So, I modified this recipe to be a good "weekday/meat free" alternative, but you could use the meat of your choice in place of the substitute I offer, which is....carrots.
I know. I'm a card-carrying member of the nut club in your minds now, right? Carrots? Carrots? Yes, carrots. "Why carrots?" you may ask. Because...and here is another personal revelation...I think meat substitutes are nasty. They start life almost flavorless (not taking into account their own natural flavors, which are usually odd, to say the least) and with a variety of textures to appall. So I tend to avoid them in my cooking and in my eating. So, since I've lately been exploring ways of cooking and eating less meat without sacrificing my favorite foods and flavors, I've been exploring vegetable options to replace the texture and role that the meat portion of some of my favorite recipes. The eggplant experiment in my personal experience, wildly successful. For further support of eggplant, I offer you this example: I once cooked some fried eggplant for a former boyfriend, who came across it later and ate it, totally unaware, he told me afterwards, that it was not the fish I had meant to cook. So, with that in mind, I bring you:
Creamy Carrot Bolognese Sauce
4 large carrots, peeled and cubed*
1 small onion, chopped the Italian way (into slivers rather than cubes)
1 28oz (850mL) can ground or crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 sprigs fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste, red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste
2/3 C. white wine (I used the aformentioned muscato)
cooking oil (olive oil, if you have it)
1/2 C. (120 mL)
about 1lb (450g) hot cooked pasta (I actually put it over cooked split peas with flavorful success, but I admit that this is a little more experimental than most people are willing to be when it comes to their Italian staples)
Heat the oil in a saucepot over medium heat. Add in the carrots and let them sizzle and cook for about 5 minutes. You can actually chop the rest of the things that need to be chopped while this is happening and cut your total preparation/cooking time down. Anyhow, after the carrots have had their time in the saucepot hot tub alone, toss in the onions and garlic and let them sizzle with the carrots for another 2-3 minutes. Add in the wine. Let it reduce, another 2-3 minutes. Add in the crushed tomatoes, parsley, and the seasonings. My canned tomatoes came with some added salt, so I actually didn't put in any additional salt at all and that was just right. Put the cover on the saucepot, reduce the heat to medium-low (a fastish simmer) and let it cook, stirring it every so often, for about 15 minutes. You can use this time to find your pasta in the cabinet (emphasis find if you live in a place with limited cabinet space in the kitchen) and get it cooked and drained. At the very end of the cooking time, remove the sauce from the heat and add in the cream, stirring it to blend. The end! Serve it over your pasta. It's good just the way it is, although some parmesan is never amiss with most Italian dishes. This makes a good bit of sauce. I made a full batch and set some aside to use for eggplant parmesan.
_________
*Cubing carrots is not as hard as it sounds. After you get them peeled, instead of cutting them from end to end into disks, cut each individual carrot into 2-3 sections, making your cuts where the carrot obviously changes sizes as it tapers from the big end to the small end. Then, cut each section in half. Cut each half into 3 strips longways. Holding all the strips together, cut from end to end. These are not perfect cubes, mind you. This is not the haute cuisine cordon blue mirepoix carrot cutting method. This is just the simplest way to get carrots into cube-like pieces.
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