Tuscan Turkey Chili

Although a hearty bowl of chili is crowd favorite in colder months, once in a while I just get a craving that I can shack, regardless of the season. This week, I wanted something strong in protein with veggies but really wanted to avoid my normal go-to starch of choice: pasta a la meat sauce. After a few (or many) minutes surfing pinterest, chili came to mind. My mouth was immediately watering!

It's pretty much the perfect meal: heavy on meat and beans and has a great blend of veggies. Plus, you really don't need to have it with anything else. To lighten the dish a bit and keep bikini ready, I took a tuscan twist rather than your average beef and kidney bean flavor. It was delish!

Recipe:
1 tablespoon olive Oil
2 onion, chopped
2 bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 can tomato paste, 6 oz. 
1/4 cup chili powder 
2 teaspoon cumin 
2 15 oz cans white beans
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook onions, peppers, and garlic and cook until soft.
2) Add turkey and cook until browned.  Add Tomato paste, chili powder, and cumin and cook, stirring for 2 min. Finally, add beans, tomatoes and their juices,  salt and pepper.  Simmer until thickened, 20 min.

Martha Stewart's One Pot Pasta!

If you've been on Pinterest anytime in the last few months you've probably seen this recipe. I mean, come on... A full homemade pasta dish in one pan? You can't be serious. I was dying to try it but had my concerns with how it would turn out with gluten free corn noodles. I figured "what's the worst that can happen?"  It's sad to say this but I was thoroughly disappointed. I completely forgot how starchy corn noodles are. Now that I'm always cooking g-free I rinse my noodles in scalding hot water after cooking. This recipe does not allow for that.

When I was finished, I ended up with a gel-like, starchy, tomato-y substance. Gross! I promise to try this again after doing some research on the best g-free option. In the meantime, I would encourage you to try with regular wheat noodles! I can't imagine Martha would steer general public wrong.

Recipe:
12 oz linguine pasta
1 15oz can of diced tomatoes with liquid
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions: 
1) Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.
2) Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated.
3) Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with parmesan cheese.

Despite my messy outcome, I loved putting this meal together. It came together so beautifully that took step-by-step pics. (Well, beautifully until the end.) 

 

The final product - a sad mess!

Ragu Bolognese

When I think of comfort food pasta is always the first thing that comes to mind. For the last several years I've always tossed together any ground meat I had with some store bought sauce and was happy. But last week, all of that changed! There is nothing better than a meaty, bacony, thick bolognese sauce to warm every inch of your stomach. I could shovel this sauce in my mouth, it's so good! I can honestly say, this recipe is 100% worth the 2 and 1/2 hours it takes to cook. Enough with the words... read this recipe and get in the kitchen!!

Recipe:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup butter
1 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced celery
1/4 cup minced carrot
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped pancetta bacon
1/2 cup milk
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups beef broth, gluten free

Directions:
Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and carrots until soft. Add veal, pork, beef and pancetta, and cook until evenly brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Pour in milk, and cook until liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. If you'd prefer, you can use 2 and 1/2 pounds of meatloaf mix instead. Once all meat is added, stir in tomato sauce and beef broth. Cover, and simmer 2 1/2 hours.