Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (85% or 90%)
1 medium carrot, finely grated (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 (28 oz) cans crushed Roma tomatoes (I recommend Contadina)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp dried sage
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 - 1 cup chicken or beef broth, to thin sauce if desired
freshly, finely grated Romano and Parmesan cheese or Mizithra cheese for serving


Directions:
In a large non-stick sauce pot, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Crumble ground beef into pot (approximately 1 inch pieces). Brown beef, stirring occasionally (I was always taught to stir constantly but this makes your beef gray, let it brown on bottom and only stir occasionally), until cooked through. Drain ground beef, reserving 1 Tbsp fat in pot. Place browned beef in a food processor and pulse until finely ground, about 15 seconds, set aside. 
Saute carrot, onion and garlic in reserved fat over medium high heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat (this will reduce splattering) and stir in 2 cans crushed Roma tomatoes, remaining 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, sage, bay leaves, salt, pepper and browned beef. Return pot to low heat and simmer uncovered, 5 - 8 hours (yes minimum of 5 hours), stirring occasionally. 
Add broth to sauce to thin sauce if desired (at about 4 hours sauce will be pretty thick so if you want it any thinner just add broth to desired consistency. Also, once it reaches the thickness you want you can cover it with a lid to reduce further condensation). Remove bay leaves and serve sauce warm over pasta garnished with grated cheeses and additional chopped fresh parsley or basil if desired.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

A quick and easy recipe that can be poured over a dish or used as a dipping sauce. A recipe for sweet and sour sauce using black rice vinegar can be found here.

Yields about 1/2 cup

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup white or rice vinegar (Note: rice vinegar gives better results)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons water

Preparation:

Mix the vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Mix together the cornstarch and water, add to the other ingredients and stir to thicken.

(If desired, you can add 1 green pepper, cut into chunks, and pineapple chunks as desired after adding the cornstarch. For a thicker sauce, increase the cornstarch to 4 teaspoons while keeping the water constant.)

Reader Comments:
You have probably heard this before but I tried your sweet and sour sauce using rice vinegar, and absolutely love it. My daughter is allergic to some red food colourings so we generally avoid sweet and sour.  (Your recipe) was soooo good I decided to make a second batch ; unfortunately I was now out of rice vinegar. Well...white vinegar just doesn't cut it girl !!!  I am now going to make sure there is rice vinegar at all times in my pantry.

Chicken Pasta With Mango Sauce

Servings -04


INGREDIENTS
• 8 ounces uncooked rigatoni pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 onion, sliced and separated into rings
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 mango - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rigatoni pasta, cook for 8 minutes, until almost done, and drain.
2. Heat 1/2 the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet, and cook 10 minutes, or until juices run clear. Remove from heat, and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet, and cook the onion and green pepper until tender. Mix in the garlic, ginger, and mango, and continue to cook and stir 5 minutes, or until mango is soft. Gradually mix the heavy cream into the skillet, and cook 5 minutes, until thickened.
4. Return the chicken to the skillet. Stir in the partially cooked pasta, and season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir 2 minutes, until ingredients are well blended and pasta is al dente. Mix in the cheese. Garnish with parsley to serve. 

Pappardelle With Umbrian Ragu Sauce

Yield: Serves 6

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 2 hrs

A thick and meaty pork ragu is the perfect sauce for fresh pappardelle pasta.

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1 Carrot, Peeled & Finely Diced
2 Celery Stalks, Finely Diced
1 Medium Onion, Peeled & Finely Diced
4 Garlic Cloves, Peeled And Minced
1 Pound Ground Pork
4 Ounces Finely Chopped Prosciutto
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2/3 Cup Dry Red Wine
2 (14 Ounce) Cans Chopped Tomatoes
Salt & Pepper
Dash Red Pepper Flakes
1/3 Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
1/3 Cup Chopped Fresh Basil
Pasta:
4 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Semolina Flour For Pasta
1 1/2 to 2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Directions:

For the sauce, heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan and cook the celery, carrot, and onion over medium heat until tender.
Add the ground pork and chopped prosciutto and cook until the meat is no longer pink and has begun to brown.
Add the garlic and cook an additional couple of minutes.
Next add the wine and cook until it has almost completely evaporated.
Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, basil, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for an hour and a half until the sauce has thickened.
For the pasta, mound your flour on a large pastry board, or the counter, and make a well in the center.
Break the eggs into this well, and start to scramble each egg with a fork as it is being added.
Start to incorporate the eggs and flour by slowly bringing more flour in from the inside edges of the well.
Continue adding the flour to the eggs until they are no longer runny.
Using your hands now, bring the outside edges in, forming a large mass on your board.
Use only the amount of flour needed to form a soft ball.
Begin to knead the ball of dough as you would bread, pushing it down with the heel of your hand, and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and satiny, for about 8 minutes.
Wrap the prepared dough in plastic wrap, and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
Cut the dough into 4 pieces and take one piece to work with keeping the other pieces wrapped in plastic wrap until needed.
If rolling by hand, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and begin to roll the dough out into a rectangle dusting with flour as needed.
The dough should be about 1/8 of an inch thick.
If using a pasta roller, begin to roll the dough starting at the widest notch, dusting it with flour as needed to keep it from sticking.
Continue to roll the dough, turning the knob to decrease the diameter until you get to the second last setting.
Run the dough through this setting once more, then lay flat to cut.
Once your dough is rolled out to the proper thickness, using either a sharp knife or fluted pastry wheel, cut into 3/4 to 1 inch strips.
Lightly dust the dough as you separate the strands and continue to cut the remaining dough.
Use the pappardelle within 1 hour of making it or it may become brittle.
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until it is al dente and drain, then return the pasta to it's pot and add a large scoop of the sauce, tossing the pasta to coat.
Serve the pasta in individual bowls with a scoop of additional sauce and freshly grated Pecorino cheese on top.

Duck's Breast Dressed in Nuts and Herbs with Raspberrie's Sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings: 2 ducks' breasts, 4 raspberries jam's tablespoons, 1 lime's juice, 20 grs of toasted ground almond, 20 grs of ground walnuts, 2 teaspoons of provence herbs, 3 or 4 olive oil tablespoons, some black ground pepper and thick sea salt.

• Heat a big pan and when it's very hot add the 2 breasts. First do the fat skin one and when it's brown, do the other side. Notice that it leaves a lot of oily fat; to avoid boiling the breast in its own fat, first cook one - empty the pan from the oil - and do the other after. Once they brown in both sides, reserve.
• Preheat oven at 200ºC.
• Prepare the walnuts, almonds and herbs and throw them in a mortar and smash until you get small pieces, add the olive oil and some salt. Reserve.
• With a kitchen brush or with a spoon, add the nuts mixture to the breasts. Both sides should be covered.
• When the oven has achieved 200ºC place the breasts in a Pyrex glass container and over the middle rack. Have for 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile prepare a sauce with the raspberries jam, the lime juice and a sprinkle of ground black pepper.
• To serve the dish: Cut the breasts in slices, drop some thick sea salt on top and add the raspberries sauce to one side of the plate. Mix all ingredients while eating. The contrast of flavours is spectacular!