Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

Roasted red pepper is both delicious and healthy, and makes a great pasta sauce! So, try this roasted red pepper sauce at your next dinner party and let me know how much you love it!

Ingredients:

2-3 Tblsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Red peppers - 2 large or 3 small
1 can of diced tomatoes
Fresh Basil
1 box  or bag of your favourite pasta

If you have a gas stove, char the peppers by placing them on the open flame and turning them as they "blacken", until all sides of the peppers are charred. If roasting in the oven, place the peppers on a cookie sheet, in a hot oven (400-425 degrees F), and turn as they char, until all sides are charred. Place the peppers in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside.

Fill a large pot with water for the pasta and bring to a rolling boil. Salt the water generously, and boil the pasta until al dente.

In the mean time, heat up a sauce pan, and add the olive oil. Chop the onion and add it to the oil and stir  until the onion is translucent. While the onion is cooking, take the plastic wrap off the bowl with the peppers, and gently peel the skin off the peppers. Place the peppers in a food processor, or blender and set by the sauce pan with the onion in it. Add garlic to the onion, and as soon as it becomes fragrant, add the red pepper puree, and the can of tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Once the pasta is cooked add it to the sauce and toss gently. Chop up or tare the basil on top. Grate some parmesan cheese on top if desired.

Serve with a side salad, and crusty bread.

Feedback is welcome!

Roasted garlic white bean dip

This dip is not only tasty but healthy too! It is also so easy to make you will have it whipped up in less than five minutes!

Ingredients:
1 head of roasted garlic, garlic squeezed out and mashed  (see note below)
1 can cancelling beans, drained
Juice of half a lemon
Grated lemon rind from 1 whole lemon
Bunch of parsley
Salt and pepper
Olive oil, 1/4 cup or so
(Splash of water if needed)

Put all the ingredients n a food processor and pulse until smooth- add the water to desired consistency.
 Serve with crackers, pita chips or make your own crostini.

Enjoy!

note: to roast garlic, cut the top of a whole head of garlic in half, and place the halves on a piece of tin foil. Add a splash of olive oil and coarse salt and gather the tin foil up around the garlic. Place in the oven at 350 F for a bout 45 minutes. When the garlic  is soft and cool enough to handle squeeze it all our of the peel and mash with a fork.

Easy Week Night Beef Stroganoff

I tried this recipe the other night and was easy and fast! and good too! The left overs the next night were convenient too - it's an easy recipe for a week day dinner!

Ingredients: 


1 pound round steak, cut into small strips 


2 tablespoons butter


2 tablespoons flour

2 Cups or so of beef broth

1 small onion, minced


1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced


salt and pepper to taste


1/4 cup white wine 


1 small container sour cream


dash of nutmeg

egg noodles

Quickly fry steak strips in saute pan over medium high heat until lightly cooked. Remove from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add sliced mushrooms and brown them. Remove from pan and keep warm with the beef strips. Lower heat to medium and cook onion in butter until soft. Add the wine and stir for a couple of minutes. Be sure to scrape all of the bits at the bottom of the pan! Add the flour and mix for a couple of minutes with a whisk. Add the beef broth and keep whisking until it thickens. Return meat to the pan and add salt, pepper, sour cream and nutmeg. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve over noodles.

Serves 4

Paula's Easy Everyday Recipes: Paula's Spaghetti Carbonara

Paula's Easy Everyday Recipes: Paula's Spaghetti Carbonara: It's time for a good old Italian family favourite...well...this Italian (and half Canadian) family favourite anyways! I hope you will enjoy ...

Paula's Spaghetti Carbonara

It's time for a good old Italian family favourite...well...this Italian (and half Canadian) family favourite anyways! I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do! It's Carbonara with a twist!


1 box spaghetti (500 gm)
1 1/2 cups or so cubed pancetta
2 egg yolks
1 small container mascarpone cheese
1 cup (or a little more) freshly grated parmesan cheese
fresh parsley, chopped
fresh oregano, chopped
nutmeg
salt and pepper

Fill a large pot with water and boil. Add your pasta and cook al dente. Meanwhile, in a saute pan crisp up the pancetta and set aside (keep it warm though). In a large heat proof bowl combine the egg yolks, marcarpone cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, a touch of nutmeg, salt and pepper (pepper is great in this recipe, so, feel free to be heavy handed with it if you like it!). Stir so it's all combined.

Once the pasta is cooked, take out a 1/2 cup of the hot cooking water and slowly mix into the egg yolk mixture, whisking all along (this will temper the egg yolks so you won't be scrambled egg in your sauce!). Add the pancetta. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Stir.  Enjoy!

Try it and let me know what you think!

Cheers!

Baked Bean Chili

The weather is getting colder and all we really want to do in cozy up in front of the fire and watch movies wrapped in a blanket! Well, that's all I want to do anyways! Comfort food is on the forefront of my culinary brain nowadays and this chili recipe is very comforting. It's a little different from the chili we are used to but if you just try it once, you will love it!

This recipe is simple and easy to play around with, so, have fun with it - add a little more of what you like and a little less of what you don't! And it is easily doubled and easy to freeze!



1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb bacon, chopped
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
splash olive oil
2 cans tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tblsp chili powder
1 tblsp cumin
1 tblsp paprika
2 tblsp hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 can canellini beans (or white kidney beans)

Coat the bottom of a saucepan with olive oil and add the bacon - cook until a little crispy. Add the ground beef until cooked through and no longer pink, stirring and breaking up the meat. Add the onion and cook until translucent and then add the garlic until you can just smell it. At this point, add you brown sugar, stirring it in, the molasses, the chili powder, cumin, paprika, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste - stir the ingredients until well mixed in and you can smell the spices. Add the tomatoes and let the chili simmer for 45 minutes or so. Add the beans and let simmer another 15-20 minutes. Enjoy it with fresh rolls! yum!

Please let me know if you try it and what you think of it and like I stated above, play around with the recipe and make it your own!

Love you all - happy eating!
Paula

super easy caramelized onion, sun dried tomato and ricotta ravioli

Okay - I am going to give you the easiest "home made" ravioli recipe ever!!! The ravioli are made with won ton wrappers! So easy and so delicious! Here is the recipe - enjoy!

Won ton wrappers - you may use the small round ones or the small square ones.
1 tub (500gm or ml) of ricotta - you can use the low fat one as we will add lots of flavour!
1 sweet onion, sliced thinly
olive oil
butter
1 clove of garlic, minced finely
a few leaves of fresh thyme
sun dried tomatoes (in oil), minced very small
salt and pepper
1 egg, in a small bowl, whisked

In a medium hot frying pan, melt butter with olive oil. Add the onions and fry, slowly until the onions turn golden and soft. Add some salt and pepper. Place in a bowl and set aside.

In a second bowl, mix the ricotta, the clove of garlic, fresh thyme, sun dried tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add the onions, and mix well. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Lay out the won ton wrappers on a board, and place a tsp of the filling in the middle of the wrapper. Brush the sides of the won ton wrappers with the egg and close, cross wise for the square ones, making triangles, or in half for the round one, making sure to squeeze out any air. Set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and let dry. At this point, you can either boil them in water, and serve with your favourite sauce, or you can freeze them to use at a later time!

So easy, and sooo good!
Cheers!