New York Style Pizza Sauce (Adapted from Serious Eats)

I adapted the recipe below from the Serious Eats New York Style Pizza Sauce recipe.

Ingredients:

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 medium cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Kosher salt
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and split in half

1 teaspoon sugar*

Instructions:

Blend tomatoes in a blender until slightly chunky.  Set aside.

Combine butter and oil in medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Add garlic, oregano, and large pinch salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, onion halves, and sugar*. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to lowest setting (bubbles should barely be breaking the surface), and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 1/2, about 1 hour. Season to taste with salt. Allow to cool and store in covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.


* I did not need the sugar in my sauce as the tomatoes were not that acidic but some tomatoes may need it.

Ancho Pork and Hominy Stew

We had this stew for dinner last night with some warmed corn tortillas and steamed broccoli sauteed with garlic and red pepper.

Adapted from Cooking Light. Original recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons ancho chile powder
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound boneless pork chops, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 1/2 onion, chopped
  
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (20-ounce) can hominy, drained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

Preparation

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; set 3/4 teaspoon spice mixture aside. Add pork to remaining spice mixture in bowl, tossing well to coat.

2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork mixture to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove pork from pan; set aside. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and continue to saute for 2 more minutes or until you smell the garlic. Return pork to pan. Add reserved 1 1/2 teaspoons spice mixture, broth, hominy, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes.

Grilled Chicken Cheesesteak

I have lots of peppers and onions in the fridge due to the weekly produce allotment that i receive. So, I offered to make grilled sausage and peppers for MTH last night. He wasn't in the mood for sausage but asked what else could we have with peppers and onions. Chicken cheesesteaks somehow came to mind. Here's what we did:

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
garlic salt
oregano
red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper
1 green pepper
1/2 Vidalia onion (ok so this was actually from my parents)
1/4 yellow tomato (whatever your have on hadn will do)
mozzarella cheese (not the kind in water)
parmesan cheese
2 hoagie rolls

Directions:
Preheat the grill. PLace the whole pepper and pieces of onion on the grill. The onion will only take about 5 minutes. The pepper about 10 minutes (until it's somewhat blackened). Use the garlic salt, oregano, red pepper flakes and black pepper as seasonig to your liking. Grill the chicken. Toast the rolls on the grill. Construct your sandwich as you please - I put the cheeses, green pepper, onion, tomato and mustard on mine. You could add a pickle too.

Homemade Lasagna (About 1 hour)

We usually go out to eat on Saturday nights but this week, we went out on Friday night and then ate in on Saturday. On my blog, you can read about the dinner out here (link coming soon) and you can read MTH's review here (link coming soon).

Here's the quick lasagna that I made last night. Note that it feeds enough for an army so be prepared for leftovers if there's only two of you like me and and MTH.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
29 oz petite diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato paste
oregano, to taste
salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste
16 oz skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
Parmesan cheese (use how much you like)
mozzarella cheese (use how much you like - I tried not to make it too cheesy)
12 lasagna noodles, boiled

Preparation:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the ground meats until almost no pink remains. Add the onion and green pepper. When they are translucent, add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Add the spices to your taste. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes. Taste again and add more spices if necessary. Mix the ricotta, egg and Parmesan cheese.
In a 9x13 pan, start with a small amount of sauce (2-3 spoonfuls). Place 4 noodles across the pan. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers ending with sauce ensuring that the sauce covers all the noodles. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Let set for about 10 minutes before serving.

Bean Soup (15 minutes prep with 30 minutes simmering)

This recipe is officially called "North Woods Bean Soup". It's adapted from a recipe in the January 2002 issue of Cooking Light. I've put my changes in italics. This soup took me only about 15 minutes of actual hands on preparation. The rest was just simmering. I was really impressed because I was able to go work out, come home and start the soup, take my shower and then presto - dinner was served!

Ingredients:
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
dried oregano, marjoram and thyme, to taste
black pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste
2 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
smooth kale

Preparation
Heat a large saucepan coated with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and kielbasa; sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 minutes. Add the broth, dried spices, peppers, and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups of the soup in a food processor or blender, and process until smooth. Return the pureed mixture to pan. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Add the kale, stirring until kale wilts.

Folded Red Pepper Tortilla Pizza (About 15 minutes)

I was trying to find something to make for lunch today with ingredients we had on hand. These pizzas came out great.

Ingredients:
Flour tortilla
Red pepper pesto*
Mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni
Red pepper flakes
Dried oregano

Preparation:
Turn broiler on high. Place tortilla in pan. Spread a couple of teaspoons of red pepper pesto onto the tortilla as if on pizza dough. Add your toppings (mozzarella, pepperoni, red pepper flakes and dried oregano, in my case). Cook under the broiler until bubbly and starting to brown. Fold the tortilla over halfway (will look like a soft taco). Cook until browned. Turn over and repeat. Enjoy!

As usual, you can try out all different types of toppings. It's a great way to use up leftovers in an entirely new way.

* We used Bella Cucina Red Pepper pesto
Click here. It was part of my birthday gift from MTH's parents.