Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

I could have kept eating and eating and eating last night. And i did.
I had some leftover pasta when i made lasagna the other day which i cut into fettucini noodles and dried out to be another night's dinner. I also had some leftover roasted tomato that didn't make it into the lasagna's sauce. I combined these things, along with leftover veggies in the fridge and freezer and the ricotta i had from making mozzerella to become a most decadent and delicious meal. Here's the jist:

• Fettuccine noodles made with whole wheat flour, salt, dried basil and truffle oil
• Dried noodles took about 5 minutes to cook in salted boiling water
• Delicious sauce
• Roasted tomatoes



All stirred up and saucy-delicious

• Tomatoes, garlic, onions, salt, olive oil roasted at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until caramelized
• Fresh tomatoes - blend the tomatoes together in a blender then put into a pot to begin heating up
• One diced onions
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• Drizzled truffle oil
• Chopped zuccini
• Chopped mushroom
• Diced roasted or fresh hot peppers
• Dried basil and oregano
• Salt and pepper
• Buddy's Natural Chicken Sausage (or any fresh, low fat chicken sausage)
• Fresh ricotta cheese

You could swap in about any veg you wanted to this sauce and could even use canned tomatoes, a staple for dinners around here (but i'm so thankful for some fresh ones this season). I added the squash and mushrooms at two different times to have some that were mushy and some with some shape left.  Note that i have given no amounts on the tomatoes or ricotta. I had about half a pint of roasted tomatoes on hand and added 3 normal sized tomatoes. I think there was about a half cup of ricotta from my mozz making. I tried to make the amount of sauce that would be good for two guilt-fully eating adults. Could have fed two plus a kiddo, or three with a side salad. The only thing that's important on how this sauce was made is to wait until the very end to add the ricotta so that it doesn't boil. Wait until everything is cooked to your liking and turn down the heat to low before stirring in the cheese.

Fresh noodles piled high with delicious!

I have never been able to eat cream sauces due to my inability to eat pasteurized milk. This homemade ricotta was from raw milk and was very moist since i only drained it for an hour or so. Perfect for adding to a sauce and digestable for me. Every last bit was lapped up by finger or tongue! That's how we roll in this house: if the food tastes good, you darn well better lick your plate!

Review: Buitoni Pasta

Darn Tasty! 

I was graced with a coupon to try out Buitoni pasta recently, and i have nothing bad to say about it. The ingredients were fairly close to natural food, for a packaged item. The filling was decadent but delicious. The caloric value was a bit high, but a good amount to split with a hungry husband. The pasta wasn't quite as filling as it was fattening, but still a fun weeknight treat, and easy to prepare. The pasta would have been highlighted better if i had topped it with simple butter or perhaps garlic infused olive oil, but i like tomato sauce so i made some of that and served the hubby with mostly pasta and a little sauce, me with mostly sauce and a little pasta.

I think i will take this pasta as inspiration for my next homemade ravioli recipe: mushrooms, basil and ricotta, with perhaps some homemade mozzerella and homegrown garlic? Sounds good to me! Can't wait to have fresh basil growing again - it's on its way!

"Bison Balls"

Yes, this post title was aptly named by my husband. But hey, that's what they are!
I happened  to find some relatively inexpensive bison meat at the market the other day and planned to use the second to last baggy of stored homegrown tomatoes to make some spicy bison meatballs. We've been having a bit too much pasta lately, so i'm not sure what i'll serve them over, but i'm sure it will be delicious and hopefully have some leftover for sandwiches during the week.

• 1 pound bison meat
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs with some ground up oatmeal mixed in
  
• 1/2 cup (or more) finely diced onion 
• 3 cloves finely diced garlic
• one egg scrambled
• hot chillies to taste (add lots!)
  
• salt and pepper
• mixed dried herbs: rosemary, basil, oregano, allspice
  
• drizzle truffle oil
• 2 splashes Worcestershire sauce
  

Mix up all ingredients but the meat and egg, add the meat and mix well with your hands. Make a little reservoir and scramble up the egg (this saves dirtying another bowl) then mix the egg into the meat mixture. Form into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a pan with space between each.

Heat oven to 400 and bake about 15 minutes, turning once until browned. I found the balls to be quite soft, so take care while turning.

Meanwhile cook down yummy tomato sauce with plenty of hot peppers and garlic added. My frozen tomatoes already had onions and basil added, I added about 1/4 cup of mixed tomato paste from last night's pita pizzas, a good splash of red wine, some garlic, and lots more salt and pepper. If i do this again, I will be adding a lot more spice to both the balls and the sauce.  The tomato was cooked down with the skins still on, so after bringing to a simmer i blended the sauce up with the immersion blender to create a nice, thick, rich sauce - watch out for splatters!.
I still don't understand why people feel the need to add olive oil to tomato sauce.

When finished, add the meatballs to the sauce and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes or until your pasta or whatever else is ready. You could serve this on bread, on pasta, or as i ate it on potato. I would have preferred to serve it over a bed of sauteed kale, but my kale is lame this year. I served topped with some homemade mozzarella.

Notes:
This was delicious, don't get me wrong. I can't eat red meat, yet this was great and i did not get sick: god bless lean, antibiotic free bison! The sauce was delicious, it would have been better over pasta, but i'm trying to avoid pasta when i can (for dinner at least). The bison balls themselves were delicious, moist, firm, flavorful - i didn't notice the truffle flavor much, and they weren't nearly as spicy as i thought they'd be. Next time i will load up with a lot more spice. I also majorly missed having a green ingredient in my dinner. Not used to eating mostly meat and sauce. Tonight I will be eating nothing but green to make up for it, good thing i have lots of lettuce and spinach in the garden for the taking.