Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

There were a few beautiful red bell peppers in my refrigerator, and we were about to go away for the weekend.  I had already had them for several days, and the idea that they might be spoiled by the time we got back from our trip was just too depressing.  I had the genius idea of roasting them, figuring it would buy me a few more days.

Now that we're home, I decided to use the roasted red peppers to make a pasta sauce.  But you need not stop at pasta with this one, my friends.  This sauce is spicy and sassy.  Saucy, if you will.  It would do wonderful things on top of meat, chicken, fish, or yes, pasta.  It could jazz up a platter of grilled vegetables.  It could jazz up your life, in fact.

The diced fire roasted tomatoes I used already had spicy chilies in them, but if you have regular fire roasted tomatoes without chilies, you might want to add red pepper flakes or cayenne, or some other source of heat.  This sauce is velvety smooth, and the heat helps to give it an edge that it craves.  And you will crave it too, I promise.


Home made roasted red peppers are a beautiful thing, but of course you can use the jarred ones, too.  Just drain and rinse them first.

Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

makes about 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3 roasted red bell peppers, chopped

one 14.5 ounce can of diced fire roasted tomatoes with chilies

a pinch of dried oregano

salt

2 teaspoons good quality balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat the oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat.  When it's hot, add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about one minute, until fragrant and starting to turn golden.  

2.  Add the bell peppers and the diced tomatoes with their juices.  Stir to combine, then season with oregano and salt.  Bring to a bubble, then stir in the balsamic.  Reduce to a bare simmer.  

3.  Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes so the flavors can marry and the sauce heats through, and thickens just slightly.  Turn off the heat and let sit for a minute.

4.  Transfer the sauce (carefully) to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Serve hot over pasta, meat, or veggies.

Enjoy!

Lemony Spinach Pesto

This is another variation on pesto that is simple and tasty.  It's jam-packed with refreshing lemon flavor and will happily grace whatever meat, pasta, sandwich, or other edible material you choose to put it on.  I would recommend something a bit more interesting than plain pasta, though, as it can get a bit monotonous (but I feel that way about most pestos, so don't take it the wrong way!)

A big fresh bunch of spinach and a lemon join forces to make this fun and zippy sauce.  Grill up some chicken and slather it on, it would be great!

Lemony Spinach Pesto

adapted from Giada's Everyday Italian

makes 2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (tightly packed) spinach leaves (about 2 ounces)

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

zest from one lemon

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons total)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or a bit less)

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Puree the spinach, pine nuts, zest, and lemon juice together in a food processor.  With the food processor on, stream in the olive oil just until the mixture takes on a pesto-like texture, smooth and creamy but still somewhat textured.

2.  Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.  Use however you like, it will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two. 

Enjoy!

White Bean & Sage Hummus

White beans are one of those ingredients that I've grown to love more and more as I experiment with them.  They have a mild flavor, but a fantastic texture that lends itself so well to soups and dips.  Here is an elegant variation on hummus, featuring white beans and my very favorite herb, sage. 

I made this recipe up as I went along, tasting here and there and adjusting accordingly.  It came out pretty fantastic.  It's healthy, hearty and delicious.  You could easily make a meal out of it with some veggies, or spread it on a tortilla and make a wrap with some veggies and/or meat of choice.   We had company today, and the general consensus definitely seemed to be favorable!

White Bean & Sage Hummus

makes about 2 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon tahini

4 or 5 leaves of fresh sage

pinch of cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Place the beans, lemon juice, tahini, sage, and cayenne in a food processor and puree until mostly smooth.   With the processor running, stream in the EVOO until desired consistency is reached.  It should be smooth, but still nice and thick, like hummus.

2.  Season to taste with salt and serve immediately, or cover and store in the refrigerator for a day or two.

Enjoy!

Fig Spread

Fig season is still in full swing, and I brought home a beautiful basket of them from my CSA to prove it. The fresh fig is a bit of an oddball, and while it goes beautifully with certain ingredients (arugula, goat cheese, honey, to name a few), I was starting to run out of ideas of what to do with them. I love their flavor, but I don't particularly love eating them straight up. I need them to be an ingredient, not the whole dish.

I found this recipe in Heidi Swanson's beautiful book, Super Natural Cooking, and it seemed like the perfect solution. A jam that is not quite a sweet and not quite a savory, so it can be used in a variety of situations. Perfect for a cheese plate, in a sandwich, or just on toast, this is a sophisticated and delicious spread that you can use in all sorts of ways.

If you haven't experimented much with fresh figs, this might be a good entryway for you. I am already looking forward to using mine up.

Fig Spread
adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking
makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. fresh black mission figs, stemmed and diced
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

1. Toss figs and lemon juice in a bowl, and stir in honey and black pepper. Let sit for 10 minutes. The mixture will get soupy.

2. Put the fig mixture into a heavy pot over medium heat and bring to a slow, gurgling boil. Cook, stirring frequently, until figs start to reduce and thicken, about 10 to 15 minutes. Mash them up gently with a potato masher if desired. Stir in sesame seeds and remove from heat.

3. Let sit 5 minutes, taste, and add more pepper if needed. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold. Will keep in the fridge for about one week.

Enjoy!

"Spring" Asparagus Puree

I know it's odd to have a springtime recipe this late in the summer, but strangely, asparagus is still in season. I don't know if it's global warming, or just clever farming, but I got asparagus in my CSA bag again this week (so no, it's not imported from some parallel universe where it's still spring). See if you can still find it at your farmers' market - otherwise, store this recipe for next spring!

This really is another type of pesto, but it's much more robust and filled with bright flavors. Asparagus and spinach are the showmen, and they are accompanied by the hint of a lemony zing. You can make this puree and have it with pasta, or use it as a pizza sauce, a bruschetta topping, or even a dip.

If you're a fellow asparagus fan, get it while it still lasts, and make this sauce!

"Spring" Asparagus Puree
adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking
makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch asparagus spears, trimmed and halved
1/2 bunch spinach leaves
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
pinch of sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and salt it. Cook the asparagus pieces for about 2 or 3 minutes, just to blanch them. Drain.

2. Put blanched asparagus, spinach, garlic, parmesan, and pine nuts in a food processor. Puree, and stream the oil in while the processor is running. Continue to process until smooth.

3. Stir in lemon juice and salt. Serve.

If you're using this as a pasta sauce, thin it out with just a splash of the starchy pasta cooking water. Enjoy!

No-Cook Pizza Sauce

"No-cook" is a slight misnomer, since of course when you bake the pizza that this sauce graces with its presence, there will inevitably be some cooking. But a sauce that looks this gorgeous, tastes this vibrant, without simmering on the stove even in the slightest? Yes, please.

If you like your pizza really saucy, you will like this sauce. If you're secretly disappointed when you go to one of those "gourmet" pizza joints and the slice you order has tomato rounds instead of sauce, you'll like this sauce. Come to think of it, whoever you are, you'll like this sauce. It's rich, it's tomato-laden, it's zesty - look no further.

Grab one of those whole wheat pizza doughs from your market, slather on this sauce and some fresh mozzarella, and you've got dinner.

No-Cook Pizza Sauce
adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
makes 2 12" pizzas worth (or 1 extremely saucy one)

INGREDIENTS:

5 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, mostly drained
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk. Put on a pizza, bake it, and eat!

Enjoy!

World Famous Guacamole

The point of this blog is supposed to be for me to share my adventures in trying new recipes that I've never made before. I've cheated a few times, but never quite as badly as I am cheating this evening. I just couldn't help but share. Tonight I present, my friends, my world famous guacamole.

I won't claim that it is unlike any other guacamole recipe. There isn't really a secret ingredient, per se. There is nothing revolutionary about it. But there is something magical about it. I don't always make it the same way, but somehow it always comes out deserving of praise.

For one thing, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to the ingredients in guacamole. I don't believe in buying pre-pureed avocado in a plastic pouch. I don't believe in spice packets. I don't believe in stirring in jar salsa. All of these things might be tasty, but to me the goal of guacamole is something incredibly fresh. So while my recipe may not be literally world-famous, I think if you make it and taste it, you might agree that it ought to be. Just maybe.

A side note: I don't really like raw onion in my guacamole, but it does add an extra zing, so if you're a fan, by all means, add about 1/2 a diced onion.

World Famous Guacamole
makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

2 ripe medium-sized avocados
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
chili powder to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Scoop flesh out of avocados into a bowl, and mash with a fork. Do not mash it until completely smooth, you want a few lumps. Stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper.

2. Add jalapeno, cilantro, and tomato, and stir to incorporate. Sprinkle with chili powder and just barely stir it in. Serve cold with chips, bread, or whatever floats your boat.

Enjoy!

Easy Marinara Sauce

I've posted a marinara recipe before, but this is one I can highly recommend as an incredibly easy, quick, and delicious go-to. If you're going to make pasta, lasagna, pizza, anything that requires (or prefers) a hearty tomato sauce, this is the sauce to throw together.

I've also included a serving suggestion - meatball subs! That's what we used this sauce for. (Well, part of it, anyway). We used spicy chicken asiago meatballs that we got at Costco and put them on beautiful demi baguettes that I picked up at the farmers market, topped with some grated mozzarella. They were delicious! And here's a peek:









This recipe comes from the almost-always-reliable Ellie Krieger - I tweaked it a bit to give it a tad more umph. So add this one to the file, or you can memorize it. And use it the next time you want to make something delicious and easy that is still at least semi-homemade.

Easy Marinara Sauce
adapted from Ellie Krieger's "The Food You Crave"
makes about 2 cups of sauce

INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons EVOO
1 small onion (or 1/2 large onion), finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (preferably organic)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat EVOO over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.

2. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about 20 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Use as you see fit! Store leftovers for a few days in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.