So, I've once again been blessed by the generosity of a dear friend and her insanely abundant garden. This time, Roma Tomatoes. Oh Romas, how I love thee. This was delicious as a side dish for literally anything. We had it with Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (which was also a gift from this same friend - and equally delicious!).
Roasted Tomatoes
Original recipe by Ina Garten
Adapted recipe by Kitchen Groovy
12 plum Roma Tomatoes, halved
1/4 C good olive oil
1 1/2 T aged balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the tomatoes start to caramelize and the flavores are concentrated.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tomatoes are abundant this time of year - this is a must have delicious new side dish to try out!!
Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy
Enjoy and live with gusto!
In the past, I have made my own spaghetti sauce, and I've had success with it. But, I haven't had anything that was SO great and incredible. Except this one. It is really good. I mean really, really good. The sauce is a simple sauce, nothing complicated or overly done. For something like this, I don't want anything that is going to try to draw attention to itself with fancy ingredients. This is simply put, a beautiful recipe. Thank you Ina Garten.
The meatballs are a bit more time and labor intensive - so feel free to do something different if you're in a hurry. But, what ever you do - DON'T SKIP THE SAUCE!
On another note - my family loves a lot of sauce on their noodles, and I always felt that Ina's recipe never provided enough sauce. So, I have doubled the sauce recipe :-)
Real Meatballs and Spaghetti
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten
For the Meatballs:
1/2 lb. ground veal
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 C fresh white bread crumbs
1/4 C seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 T chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 extra large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil
For the Sauce:
2 T olive oil
1 whole white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 C good red wine, such as Chianti (I used a Malbec, as this is my favorite wine)
2 - 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 T chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
3 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
For Serving:
1 1/2 lbs. spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
DIRECTIONS
For the Meatballs:
Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg and 3/4 C water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2" meatballs. You will have 14-16 meatballs.
Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large 12" skillet (I used a large Dutch oven) to a depth of 1/4". Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium heat, turning carefully with a spatula or fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil bud don't clean the pan.
For the Sauce:
Heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper.
Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 25-30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan cheese!
Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy
Enjoy and live with gusto!
Hellooooo!!!! Today is the first day of school for our family (except my kindergartner who starts tomorrow) and I feel as though life will finally return to normal once again! I love summer, but boy was this last one a summer to go down in the history books in terms of craziness. I am sad to see my kiddos gone during the day, but I am definitely welcoming a life of routine.
Our family was at a friend's house for a BBQ, and I was tasked with making this side dish. I had no idea that this is what I would be making. Of course, I was excited to help with the meal prep! And, this dish was SO good, I just had to share it ASAP!
(I have no idea where the recipe came from, so I am not able to give credit where it is due - sorry!)
Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes
1 pound asparagus, trimmed
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 C halved grape tomatoes (we used 3/4 C grape tomatoes, 3/4 C roma tomatoes, chopped)
1/2 tsp. minced fresh garlic
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 T crumbled goat cheese
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1. Cook asparagus in boiling water 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic, cook 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, cook 3 minutes. Stir in salt. Arrange asparagus on a platter; top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and pepper.
How easy is that!!??
We used a combination of grape tomatoes and roma tomatoes - and the chopped romas sort of "melted", for lack of a better term which gave more of a sauce type mixture. Personally, I really liked it that way as I prefer that texture vs. just straight tomatoes that are intact. Yes, it's a quirk of mine.
The picture is not the best - I wasn't expecting to blog about this particular recipe and didn't have my camera with me. However, my phone did a decent job, don't you think?!
Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy
Enjoy and live with gusto!
