Pasta Bolognese

I was watching Jamie Oliver one night and he was cooking this recipe. It looked absolutely fantastic so I decided to make it.

I copied the recipe exactly, no additions or omissions, and it turned out oh so good! You can see his recipe here.

I used some brisket which I got at Marin Sun Farms. I had never cooked with brisket before, but the salesman at Marin Sun Farms convinced me that it would be delicious in this dish. He was right!

This is a great pasta sauce, or use it as a basis for lasagna.




Ingredients
2 strips of bacon or pancetta
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
olive oil
2 heaping teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 lbs beef brisket
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
Fresh Basil
Parmesan Cheese
Spaghetti, Penne, tagliatelle or other pasta


Finely slice the bacon or pancetta in a large stock pot.

Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery. I pulsed mine in a food processor, which was quick and dirty!

Heat some olive oil to a large stock pot and add the bacon or pancetta and oregano. Stirfry for a few minutes until the pancetta or bacon is cooked.

Add the vegetables to the pan and stir fry for 7 minutes, or until softened.

Stir in the brisket or meat and brown, breaking it up with you spoon as you cook it.





Add the canned tomatoes with their juices.

Fill one of the empty cans of tomatoes with water and add it to the pot.

Give it a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Add a swig of red wine.

Add chopped basil and continue to stir. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover with the lid slightly askew, stirring every now and then.

Remove the lid and continue to cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sauce looks like it is drying out, add a little water.







































Remove from heat after 30 minutes. Grate the Parmesan cheese and add half into the pot.

Serve immediately or let cool and freeze.

Just before serving, add remainder of the grated Parmesan cheese.

Herb Stuffed Tomatoes

This Provecal style starter is quick to prepare and delicious! Serve it with a little salad of seasonal leaves and a few pieces of broken robust goat's cheese. I got this recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty. My fiancee had mentioned the book, so I got it one year for her for Christmas. I didn't know that it was all veg food! But it is actually really tasty and he has a wonderful balance of flavor and texture. Serves 4 as a starter course.

Ingredients
4 medium tomatoes (ripe but firm)
1 large onion, finely chopped (easy to do this in a food processor)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (easy to do this in a food processor)
12 wrinkly black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
30 grams panko or homemade breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped oregano
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped mint
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped capers
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 320 F/160 C.

Trim the top part of tomato and discard (or chop it up and make into a small salsa). Take a small spoon carve out the flesh and most of the seeds, leaving a clean shell. You can discard the scoped out flesh or add a little shrimp or chicken stock to the scooped out flesh and seeds to make a nice little broth as a side dish.

Lightly salt the inside of the tomatoes and place upside down in a colander, to drain some of the liquid out.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium pan. Add the onion, garlic and olives and stir fry for 5-6 minutes on low heat, until the onion softens and loses its raw aroma/taste.

Remove the onion/garlic/olive mixture from heat and place in a bowl. Add breadcrumbs, herbs, capers and some pepper and give it a good stir. Taste and add salt if you wish.








Fill the insides of the tomatoes with the herb stuffing, pressing down very gently as you go. You want to have  a nice little dome of stuffing on top.

Place on a greased pan. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the tomatoes soften.

Serve hot or warm!