Filetto di Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce)

Gina shared this lovely tomato sauce recipe on her Weight Watchers blog in February of ‘09.  I just got around to making it last week, and you’ll see why on Monday ;)

Her friend’s recipe does call for Tuttoroso imported tomatoes, but I was unable to find those in my local grocery store.  Thus, I used San Marzano tomatoes.   I also halved the recipe.  Additionally, in the small amount of cooking that I’ve done, I’ve also found that adding more carrots to a tomato sauce helps with a sweeter taste.  Thus, at the end, if you’d like the sauce a little sweeter, you might try adding more carrots before trying to add some sugar.  Just a Krista Kooks suggestion.

This is a fabulous tomato sauce, and I think you’d be hard pressed not to love it!

Ingredients
Servings: 4
1 (28 oz) can San Marzano tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1/4 large onion finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
1/4 cup fat free chicken stock
fresh basil

Directions
Saute garlic in oil, add onions and carrots and saute on medium-low for about 2-3 minutes, until soft. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and simmer 45 minutes on low.

Add fresh basil last 10 minutes (herbs will become bitter if cooked more than 20 minutes). Julia always adds herbs into the sauce near the end.

Taste for acidity, if sauce is a bit tangy (acidic) then add 1 tbsp of sugar. For a calorie free way to cut the acidity in the sauce add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza and Devilish Chicken and Cool Green Beans

Change on 9/12/10- Gluten Free notes for the chicken dish at the bottom of this post.

Ok, so I know it's been a REALLY long time since I posted, but I have been cooking. So I have a back log of yummy recipes to show. Woohoo!

First up is another pizza. Well...when you're married to a pizza lover and a buffalo chicken lover, why not make a Buffalo Chicken Pizza? I didn't really have a recipe for this; I just kind of made it up. I did pretty much the same thing for the dough as my last pizza, and the sauce was pretty similar, too. I put both Blue Cheese crumbles as well as a shredded cheddar and mozzarella blend on top. For the buffalo chicken, I created a sauce from Tobasco sauce believe it or not. It was kind of surprising to me. I finished it off with sliced green onions, and here is the result!

And my taster enjoyed, but he got a little tongue burn from being too excited to eat it!

Next up is a recipe that I've made before. Henry's parents and littlest sister came into town one weekend, and I made this Devilish Chicken and Cool Green Beans from my Rachael Ray 30-minute Get Real Meals cookbook, so I decided to make it again since we liked it so much. It's rare for me to make things twice, so you have to know this is good for me to make it again.

Mmmmm....as it simmers!

OH boy! The green beans are a steamin'. I added these little guys as a compliment to dinner, and my compliments go to Mr. Pillsbury. Haha! I just really wanted to use my small bar pan from Pampered Chef. Thanks Ronnie, Teresa, Ash, and Chase!As it was plated, Henry was drooling I'm pretty sure...
Ok, so that's all for now, but I do have more to show you :) They will be more of the sugary kind, so be prepared! For all who thought, "Oh she's not cooking since she got a job," oh no no. I'm still at it, just not posting as often. More to come though!

New: It's December 2nd, and my sweet friend Courtney has just made me realize that I have not included the recipe for this Devilish Chicken. So sorry all! Please enjoy this recipe, as it's most definitely a reasonable yummy one! From Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Get Real Meals...

Devilish Chicken and Cool Green Beans

Yields 4 Servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons EVOO

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon dry mustard or 1 tablespoon spicy mustard

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 to 8 ounces each

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, quartered lengthwise, and sliced into thin strips

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth

1 to 1 1/2 lbs green beans, stem end trimmed

10 fresh mint leaves, chopped

A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons cold butter

Directions

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of EVOO (twice around the pan) over medium-high heat. Mix the paprika and mustard with some salt and pepper and season chicken breasts on both sides. Add the seasoned chicken to the skillet and brown on the first side for three minutes, flip, and then sear the second side, 2 minutes. Remove the chicken and reserve on a plate under a foil tent. To the pan, add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock to the vegetables and bring it to a simmer. Add the reserved chicken back to the pan and cook for 10 minutes more, turning the chicken over every now and then.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the cool green beans. Heat a medium skillet with the remaining tablespoon of EVOO, then add the green beans, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken stock and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the green beans are tender. Add the mint and half of the parsley.

Remove the chicken from the skillet to a platter. To finish the sauce, turn the heat off and add the remaining parsley and butter, stirring to melt the butter. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve both the chicken and green beans immediately.

Make it Gluten-Free!
-Ensure that your chicken stock is gluten free.  Some brands are gluten free while others are not.

Homemade Pizza

Henry has never, in over 4 years together, had my homemade pizza. So, I finally decided to make it for him. Now, I don't make pizza the same way every time, but here is how I made it today.

First, for the dough, I used this recipe from the Kitchen Aid Mixer book that the mixer comes with. I really ventured out, I know. Below is someone who has posted the recipe online. It's also good to use corn meal on the pizza pan before putting the crust on it.
Crusty Pizza Dough http://www.recipezaar.com/64860

Then I made the sauce using a tomato sauce recipe from my Fannie Farmer cook book. The recipe has been posted by someone here.
Tomato Sauce http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/2526/tomato-sauce.html

Finally, I had some spinach on hand that I cooked up in a small skillet with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. I used my rolling pin to spread out the pizza dough and placed it on my Pampered Chef large stone. I covered it in olive oil and spread cornmeal over the oil. After placing the dough on the stone, I covered the dough with the tomato sauce I cooked.

Also, I took a small glass bowl and poured about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into it. I added the following by eyeing it, but I'm guessing at the amounts that I placed into the glass bowl; Tarragon leaves (1/8 teaspoon), Garlic Powder (1/4 teaspoon), Oregano (1/4 teaspoon), and Paprika (1/8 teaspoon). I mixed together these ingredients and used a basting brush to to spread over the crust of the pizza. I then placed the crust with sauce in the oven for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, I removed the pizza from the oven and added the cheese, pepporoni, Asiago cheese and cooked spinach. The Asiago and spinach were only on one corner of the pizza. See the picture.
I needed to make sure the pepperoni was ok, too.

This is what the pizza looked like after it came out of the oven for 12 minutes!




Now it's time to eat.