In Cucina

There was a lot of action in the kitchen yesterday.  First thing was breakfast.  I had put some corned beef in the crock pot the night before so we could have some corned beef hash and eggs. I never knew what good corned beef hash could be until I made my own.  I will never eat that awful canned stuff again. Most diners don't even make their own anymore and that is very sad.  It's frankly not that hard and well worth the effort.

We usually have leftovers for lunch, so I spent my day cleaning.  The kitchen had a good scrubbing coming and I gave it!  Deciding that if I am going to be a Domestic Goddess, I had better get a schedule started and stick to it.  I cleaned and cleaned.  It feels good to have a really clean kitchen to cook in.

As the day was a rather chilly one for July, I decided that we could handle a heartier meal.  Pasta with tomato sauce and italian sausage.  As I avoid chemicals and processed foods, this means starting with good tomatoes.  I had a couple store bought ones starting to turn and a bunch of ripe garden tomatoes as well.  I wanted a very rich flavor to stand up to the sausage, so. i decided to roast the tomatoes first.  Looking back, I think a sheet pan would have been a better choice to give the tomatoes more room.  Aslo, I think next time I will deseed and dejuice the juicier ones.  But they still did their job.  I sprinkled them with olive oil, oregano, rosemary and salt.  Put them in the oven for about 45 minutes.  I think I will try a higher temp that 350 next time as well.

Now to construct the sauce.  Onion, garlic and the sausage go in first.  I use both hot and sweet sausage.  Get that browned up and add the next layers.

Chopped bell peppers -I like the little ones for more choice in uses and they have good flavor.  The tomatoes and the juices, and a cup of good red wine.  I like chianti for sauce, but anything you will drink, except the sweet stuff, is fine.  More spices, salt and some red pepper flakes.  We like it spicey!

This all needs time to cook down and thicken.  It isn't one of those sauces that cook for hours, mind you, but the longer it cooks the richer the flavor.   i start my pasta water now and by the time the pasta is cooked and ready, so is the sauce.

It was a yummy and satisfying dinner served with salad and some wine.  Well, hubby had the wine.  I am supposed to avoid that too, so I figured the addition to the sauce was enough for me. And we have leftovers for lunches!

Hoping to keep up with my cleaning schedule well enough to make each day's zone take very little time and not have to rush to clean when we have people come over.  Wish me luck!

Ciao!

Birdie in cucina