Tomorrow, my girlfriend is coming over to spend the day at my apartment. While we were hanging out yesterday, I made a comment about cooking dinner for her. As soon as the words left my mouth I realized they were a mistake. Now, I know my way around the kitchen. I can cook most things over an open fire but I haven't actually made a legitimate meal in months...
I need your help! I knows she loves Italian food. Anyone have advice on what I should make? Any recipes?
3/4 lb. chicken or turkey sausage, casings removed
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
1 can (28 oz.) tomatoes in puree, tomatoes coarsely chopped and puree reserved
Salt, to taste
1 lb. penne pasta
1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Directions:
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into bite-size pieces, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Stir in the basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Add the tomatoes and puree and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt.
Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil a baking dish.
Bring a large pot three-fourths full of water to a boil over high heat. Salt the water, add the pasta, stir well and cook until barely al dente (tender but firm to the bite), 10 to 12 minutes. Drain well.
In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the sauce, the ricotta and fontina. Spread in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Bake until the cheeses are melted and the tips of the pasta are crusty, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot. Serves 6 to 8.
Stir the oil and herbs in a small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the cutlets with the herb oil. Heat a heavy large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Add the cutlets and cook just until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Spoon the marinara sauce over and around the cutlets. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mozzarella over each cutlet, then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of Parmesan over each. Sprinkle the butter pieces atop the cutlets. Bake until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.
Just ad some sourdough bread (or a baguette if sourdough isn't your bag) with a side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (1:1) and you will, most definitely, be getting some tonight.
Fry (or bake or grill) up some Talapia. Easy and delicious. All you need to season is some salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Would probably go well with some dirty rice or something, something you can get in a box where you can follow the directions. It's not hard to throw something simple like that together.
" Those microwave mashed potatoes almost always pass as the real thing. "
No they do not, I can personally attest to this. "
You're buying the wrong ones. Or the people trying to trick you are. "
How hard are mashed potatoes that you can't just make them from scratch?
Peel, boil, butter, cream, salt, mash, done.
Never have I had boxed mashed potatoes and thought they passed for the real thing. It's like someone trying to tell you that Tofurkey tastes like real turkey.
" Those microwave mashed potatoes almost always pass as the real thing. "
No they do not, I can personally attest to this. "
You're buying the wrong ones. Or the people trying to trick you are. "
How hard are mashed potatoes that you can't just make them from scratch?
Peel, boil, butter, cream, salt, mash, done.
Never have I had boxed mashed potatoes and thought they passed for the real thing. It's like someone trying to tell you that Tofurkey tastes like the real thing.
Uhm. Boxed mashed potatoes are made of dried potato flakes. It's not like they are made of beans or something. They don't have the taste or the texture of the best homemade mashed potatoes, but they do in fact taste like mashed potatoes (that's what they are). They're pretty damn good if you season it up with some butter and garlic powder, and yeah, it's a hell of a lot easier to make.
Grill up some burgers. If you truly are a man, then the ability to cook slabs of meat should be in your genes. And if she's some sort of vegetarian...Then I say dump her and get a girlfriend that isn't a hippy! ;)
You know, you could always just tell her the truth and that you don't know how to cook.
Or...Make up some lie about how something came up and you can't cook dinner that day. Say that your long lost uncle that you never told her about was found in a ditch, and that you need to visit him in the hospital all day.
" Those microwave mashed potatoes almost always pass as the real thing. "
No they do not, I can personally attest to this. "
You're buying the wrong ones. Or the people trying to trick you are. "
How hard are mashed potatoes that you can't just make them from scratch?
Peel, boil, butter, cream, salt, mash, done.
Never have I had boxed mashed potatoes and thought they passed for the real thing. It's like someone trying to tell you that Tofurkey tastes like the real thing.
Uhm. Boxed mashed potatoes are made of dried potato flakes. It's not like they are made of beans or something. They don't have the taste or the texture of the best homemade mashed potatoes, but they do in fact taste like mashed potatoes (that's what they are). They're pretty damn good if you season it up with some butter and garlic powder, and yeah, it's a hell of a lot easier to make. "
Easy? Yes. Tasty? Noooo. But that's just my (not so) humble opinion. I'm sorry, I don't like my food freeze dried. I'm a dick.
" Those microwave mashed potatoes almost always pass as the real thing. "
No they do not, I can personally attest to this. "
You're buying the wrong ones. Or the people trying to trick you are. "
How hard are mashed potatoes that you can't just make them from scratch?
Peel, boil, butter, cream, salt, mash, done.
Never have I had boxed mashed potatoes and thought they passed for the real thing. It's like someone trying to tell you that Tofurkey tastes like the real thing.
Uhm. Boxed mashed potatoes are made of dried potato flakes. It's not like they are made of beans or something. They don't have the taste or the texture of the best homemade mashed potatoes, but they do in fact taste like mashed potatoes (that's what they are). They're pretty damn good if you season it up with some butter and garlic powder, and yeah, it's a hell of a lot easier to make. "
Easy? Yes. Tasty? Noooo. But that's just my (not so) humble opinion. I'm sorry, I don't like my food freeze dried. I'm a dick. "
Only if you like mashed potatoes. I'm saying if you think they don't taste like mashed potatoes (which they are), your mind is playing tricks on you.
" Those microwave mashed potatoes almost always pass as the real thing. "
No they do not, I can personally attest to this. "
You're buying the wrong ones. Or the people trying to trick you are. "
How hard are mashed potatoes that you can't just make them from scratch?
Peel, boil, butter, cream, salt, mash, done.
Never have I had boxed mashed potatoes and thought they passed for the real thing. It's like someone trying to tell you that Tofurkey tastes like the real thing.
Uhm. Boxed mashed potatoes are made of dried potato flakes. It's not like they are made of beans or something. They don't have the taste or the texture of the best homemade mashed potatoes, but they do in fact taste like mashed potatoes (that's what they are). They're pretty damn good if you season it up with some butter and garlic powder, and yeah, it's a hell of a lot easier to make. "
Easy? Yes. Tasty? Noooo. But that's just my (not so) humble opinion. I'm sorry, I don't like my food freeze dried. I'm a dick. "
Only if you like mashed potatoes. I'm saying if you think they don't taste like mashed potatoes (which they are), your mind is playing tricks on you. "
I'm sorry, you're not going to convince me on this one. Their dry, their powdery, their not good. I've had them multiple times in multiple kitchens and while they are never inedible I can always tell and am always left wishing they were fresh.
Well I don't know much about Italian food. However, there's a lot of things you can dish up with Top Ramen that turns it into pretty damn good food. What I do is cook up some hickory chicken breast, slice them up, chop up some green onions, and mix them in with some creamy chicken top ramen.
There are like 4 italians currently in this house i'd ask them, but i'm too damn lazy, i could also call my mother or dad, but i'm also too damn lazy for that, gimme bout hmmm uhhh 5 hours and i'll get back to you.
@SpikeSpiegel: The answer is simple. Go out and buy a meal, set the table with some candles and flowers, then dirty up some pans and put them in the sink so it looks like you cooked a meal...Trust me I do it all the time with my gf.
, chopped
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