Tag: Italian recipes

Lentil Bolognese Sauce

Carol 19 Comments

You know I like to cook with lower fat  for a healthier diet. Today I’m offering a vegetarian Bolognese sauce when you sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on it. If you need a vegan version, drop the cheese. Bolognese sauce is traditionally a meat sauce with tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Today’s pantry recipe replaces the meat with lentils and mushrooms. It requires lentils, mushrooms, herbs, and crushed tomatoes to make a go-to-sauce for pasta, stuffed peppers, and even lasagna.  Add a little dry red wine (or white) to the simmering sauce; the alcohol will burn off. Wine adds another note of deeper, richer flavor. This is a great inexpensive week night meal that’s ready in less than 50 minutes.

Broader pastas have been used in Italy with Bolognese sauce, but you can use the pasta of your choice. Use whole wheat pasta, gluten-free pasta, or even zucchini spirals or spaghetti squash. Feel free to adapt the recipe to meet your family’s taste. 

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Easy Chicken Marsala In 40 Minutes

Carol 15 Comments

It’s been one week since my surgery, but it seems like a long, hard week. Immediately after surgery I experienced less pain than before surgery for a couple of days. Since then I’ve had periods of intense pain almost daily. I see little improvements but this is going to be a long slow recovery I fear. Thanks to all of you for your support and kind messages. I do appreciate them. Today I have a fast recipe for an Italian dish.

If you like Italian food, you may have enjoyed Chicken Marsala in a restaurant. It’s an Italian-American dish of  of lightly breaded and browned chicken cutlets and mushrooms in a rich Marsala wine reduction sauce. The ingredient that makes this recipe so identifiable and delicious is the Marsala wine that’s used to prepare the sauce. 

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Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce

Carol 7 Comments

If you’re wondering what to cook while in quarantine, today’s pantry recipe requires ground meat, herbs, crushed tomatoes, and milk to make a go-to-sauce for pasta, stuffed peppers, and even lasagna.  Bolognese sauce is a meat sauce with tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Most of us aren’t used to adding dairy to tomatoey, meaty sauces, but adding milk to your bolognese adds such a richer depth of flavor, and results in much more tender meat. Add a little wine to the simmering meat; the alcohol will burn off but the wine adds another note of flavor.

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