Tag: Comfort Foods

Comfort Food on a Budget ~ Gemelli Pasta with Salame

So it happens, today is Sunday and the paycheck doesn’t arrive until Thursday. There’s a bit of this and that left over to expand into enough meals for five days. Winter has arrived in the Northeast and on this cold, sunny day, we make the best of it.

PREPARATION
Always, be sure the hands, surfaces, knives and kitchen ware are clean.
Always, allow the ingredients to come to room temperature prior to cooking

Recipe: 30 minutes to cook and serve

The leftovers include:
1/3 Columbus Chorizo salame
2 ounces BelGioioso Four Cheeses (Asiago, Fontina, Parmesan, Provolone)
1/2 bag frozen Hannaford brand peas
1/2 box Hannaford brand Gemelli macaroni
Herb Blend Salt Free Frontier All Purpose Seasoning

As the peas and pasta are cooking on the stovetop, mince the salame. In a bowl, combine salame, cooked peas and garlic (to taste).

The pasta is cooked al dente. It should be firm to the bite. Save some of the pasta water and drain into a collander. DO NOT RINSE. The secret to good pasta is to not rinse. While it is still hot, blend in cracked pepper, herbs and cheese. Stir until combined. Blend in the salame and peas mixture. Blend the two well.

Columbus Chorizo salame has a bit of heat to it with smoked paprika and garlic. The salame is fresh, gluten and msg free. BelGioioso Four Cheeses are lovely blended into any pasta or on pizza. The taste is smooth and melts beautifully on hot macaroni. No salt  is added to this recipe. There is no need. Frontier Salt Free Herb Blend provides excellent flavors to compensate.

This meal will have some heat to it and be flavorful on the tongue.

For a single person, it’s meals for several days. For a family, it’s one fantastic comfort food dish. What looked like a small amount of foods became an abundant one dish meal.

Serve on a warmed plate with a dry red Italian wine. At the last minute, squirt on some lemon juice. È delizioso!

Italian Meat Loaf ~ Comfort Food Deluxe

Winter is starting to move on here in central Massachusetts. The daylight hours grow longer as we roll steadily toward the spring equinox. Tis’ the season for cooking! A lovely comfort food is meatloaf. Today, enjoy a traditional budget saver with an Italian twist.

Vi piace un po’ di sapore della Sicilia. Enjoy a little taste of Sicily adding a dash of fennel and Nero d’Avola wine.

Italian Meat Loaf

2 1/ lbs. lean ground beef
1 lb pork sausage
2 cloves of garlic
*1 small finely diced shallot
*1 medium shredded carrots
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
*dash of fennel seeds
*1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp salt
*1/4 to 1/2 cup of bread crumbs or 1/2 cup cooked white rice
*1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1/2 cup crushed tomato
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 ounces Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

dashes of cumin, rosemary, fresh cracked black pepper and/or red pepper flakes

Serves six adults

Cooking Tips

I recommend a fine shred for the aromatics of garlic, shallot, and carrot. The reader may substitute onion for a stronger taste. The parmesan cheese is improvisation as are other items on the list with this asterisk symbol * before the ingredient.

All the ingredients should be at room temperature when this dish is being prepared for cooking. Put everything out on the kitchen counter at least a 1/2 hour before preparation.

A cooking tip I brought back from Sicily is to finely grind the spices and herbs together in a mortar and pestle. No one flavor dominates a Sicilian dish, there is a blend of several subtle flavors well minced together. Saute the aromatics first, allowing them to cool completely, before blending all the ingredients together.

Place in a meatloaf or bread size pan brushed with olive oil. Cook in the oven at 375 F for about 60 minutes. After cooking, let the meatloaf rest outside the oven for about 1/2 hour. Any cooking oils or liquids will be reabsorbed into the dish making it extra scrumptious.

I used Stemmari Wine 2015 Nero d’Avola variety in the recipe. The reader should be certain the wine is dry red. Serve this dish with fresh Italian bread, green beans and a glass of this Sicilian wine for a lovely mid-winter evening meal.

Si Mangia Bene e Vive Bene! Buon Appetito!