Eggplant Bolognese

-



Eggplant Bolognese


"Dial up the nutrition in a family-friendly dinner—pasta and meat sauce—with sauteed eggplant, pepper, onion, and zucchini." This is what I received this AM in my in box from "Dinner Tonight from Everyday Food from Martha Stewart" I receive daily recipes from them and cook what appeals to me! On a side note it is 100+ degrees here today but this appealed to me and I was out on my 'Circle of H---' buying for Daniel's upcoming 25th Birthday weekend at the lake.

Turns out this was FABULOUS and all Kevin kept saying was "This is delicious" that was said during servings 2,3, and 4!! All photos were from his new camera.


Serves 8.


  • 8 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large eggplant (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), finely chopped (I used what I had on hand)
  • 1 zucchini (about 8 ounces), quartered lengthwise, sliced inch thick crosswise
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 1 pound ground beef chuck ( NOPE its ground turkey) (don't u feel better about extra servings)
  • 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes (ok so TJ's marina sauce)
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 pound rigatoni or other short tubular pasta
  • Parmesan cheese, shaved (optional) -NOT OPTIONAL!
  • Also topped with fresh basil and would be great with ricotta if I had that on hand!

Directions

  1. In a Dutch oven or large (5-quart) saucepan (used my PC family skillet) with a lid, heat 6 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add eggplant (peeled with my PC serrated peeler--LOVE IT)
  4. cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.
  1. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.
  2. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan; reduce heat to medium. Add onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic.
  3. Season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened, 7 to 10 minutes.

  7. Add beef/ground turkey; cook,
  8. stirring and breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 5 minutes. ( I then ground it with my PC mix n chop --GREAT TOOL)
  10. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, add tomatoes, oregano, and eggplant to beef-vegetable mixture; season with salt and pepper.
  13. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low.
  14. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick and eggplant is tender, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  1. Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain; serve topped with sauce and, if desired, Parmesan. AND FRESH BASIL!! Not pictured below but was great with it.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Siri Daly's Sticky Ham Sandwiches/ Sliders GUEST BLOG

-
Image
Guest blog recipe by Katie for her friends party on New Years Eve. Siri demoed this on THE TODAY SHOW.  She said they were a huge hit and did't last long! 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 1 tablespoon dry mustard 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon poppy seeds 1 package small sweet Hawaiian buns 1 pound sliced ham 1 pound sliced Swiss cheese 1. In a medium saucepan, bring butter, dry mustard, Worcestershire, brown sugar and poppy seeds to a boil in a saucepan.  Lower heat and let simmer for a few minutes. Set aside.   2. Slice buns in half and assemble sandwiches by adding desired amounts of ham and cheese. Place in a small baking dish (it helps if they fit snugly in there) and pour sauce all over, using a spatula to make sure they are all coated.  Cover with foil and let marinate in fridge for at least one hour, or overnight.  3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325ºF. 4. Bake sandwiches for 10...
Read more

Mario Batali's Penne alla Vodka

-
Image
We made this for dinner tonight and Kevin kept raving about the smoky flavor to it and suddenly stated you need to blog this (which I already intended to). After he went back for his final last bite finally packed up the leftovers for his lunch tomorrow. We will be making this again ... and again!     6 slices Bacon 2 cloves Garlic (thinly sliced) 1 can Tomato Paste 1/4 cup Vodka 1/2 cup Heavy Cream Pinch Nutmeg 1 pound Penne 1 piece Parmigiano Reggiano (for grating)   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook penne 1 minute short of the package instructions. Drain, reserving some pasta water for sauce. In a large saute pan, cook bacon over medium heat to render out fat. Cook for about 10 minutes until cooked but not too crispy. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook until garlic is fragrant and tomato paste darkens Stir in the vodka and cook for a few minutes to meld the flavors. Add cream and season with nutmeg and salt to taste. ...
Read more

Michael Symon's Ricotta Meatballs

-
Image
YUM YUM YUM !!! Michael made this back in May on the Today show and again finally getting around to making it! I made the full recipe - which made 22 meatballs. I prepared it to thru the browning meatball stage then saved 4 for meatball subs the next day and froze the rest in small b atches to have over pasta or his Mascarpone polenta in the future. We wished we had more than we did for the meatball sub lunch and Kevin kept commenting how good they were. We will definitely be defrosting for pasta this week!! I took a bite so you could see how fab the meatballs were. UPDATED PIC of meatball on fresh pasta! Pomodoro sauce 1/4 cup olive oil 1 small onion, finely diced (about 1 cup) 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 small bundle fresh oregano 1 small bundle fresh thyme Two 15-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed with your hands Basil, to garnish Meatballs Olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup mince...
Read more