Easy Spaghetti Bolognese

Easy Spaghetti Bolognese

 

So, it's a summer day and I am really craving a great red sauce, real Italian style, hearty. I have just finished baking a couple batches of my English Muffin Bread and it's LOVE Italian Style! This pasta dish is so easy and so delicious, you won't ever want to buy a jar sauce again, yes I promise you, it's true!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 16 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 1 12 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 Tbsp sugar
•  1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves crushed garlic

Method

1. In a saute pan, add Olive Oil, meat and onions and garlic, brown meat, drain fat. 
2. Add tomatoes, water and sugar and seasonings, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 25 minutes. You will smell the fabulous aromas. 
3. In a large pot of salted water bring to a boil, add spaghetti, cook at a rolling boil for 8-10 minutes until pasta is Al dente, drain water. 
4. Cover pasta with a scoop of meat sauce. 
5. Add grated Parmesan cheese and basil. 
6. Enjoy! Nettie. This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs!
   
   
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Clam Linguine

This is pure unadulterated Comfort Food. This is the pasta that I was raised on. This is the way my Grandpa made Clam Linguine and the way my Mom made Clam Linguine and the only way I know how to make it. When hubs in charge of dinner, this is his go to recipe. He reminds me so much of my Grandpa. Grandpa was a singer and poet and Irish, so is hubs, and Grandpa would love it that this is hubs favorite recipe. Grandpa is with us when we make his Clam Linguine, I can hear his laugh.  This was what I requested my Mom to make for me as my last supper before I was a mother when I was in labor with my son. It is a simple recipe, but don't leave out any of the ingredients. One time hubs made it without parsley and my heart ached for that parsley....I just had to make it again that weekend because the flavor combination is perfect, crunchy, salty bacon, caramelized garlic, black olives,  chopped clams, not whole,( we have tried and it just doesn't cut it), butter, olive oil, crunchy, fresh taste from Italian flat leaf parsley all together smothering AL dente linguine. Anytime, lunch or dinner, with buttery garlic bread and tossed green salad, and of course a glass of Pinot Grigio! Abundanza!!

Chop 4-5 garlic cloves, saute in Olive Oil on medium heat. After a couple minutes, add 2 cans chopped clams, add one can chopped black olives. Turn heat to low, let simmer.

Add 1/2 pound of crispy bacon ( I like to cook bacon in the oven, hubs prefers cooking bacon in the wok outside on the BBQ, drain on paper towels, I usually make one pound and by the time the kids nibble on it before dinner, there is about 1/2 pound left to add to the sauce.) Add chopped flat parsley, I added dried parsley this time, just not the same, trust me on this one, I have been eating this pasta for over 40 years! Gently mix ingredients for sauce, place over AL dente Linguine. Perfecto!

Sauce is ready! No need to add salt, just some fresh ground pepper.

Clam Linguine at perfection. Trust me, you may never go back. This recipe has been linked up to these wonderful blogs! :

<a href="http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx199/darnold23/Miz-Helen-Badge-ALT5.jpg" border="0" alt="Miz Helen’s Country Cottage" /></a>

Easy Summer Caprese Bread

Summer in Maine! I really appreciate the warm days in Maine. I didn't appreciate it when I lived in L.A., everyday was a warm day. No sir, I didn't and I am sorry for that. But boy- oh - boy, let me tell you how beautiful it is here. It seems like everyone from the South is visiting for a reprieve from the hot sticky weather. Coastal Maine has cool sea breezes, low humidity, and my basil plants are bursting!
So I made Easy Caprese Bread. 

Ingredients:

• Baguette
• Buffalo Mozzarella
• Tomato
• Basil
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Grey Salt
• Provencal Spice 
• Cucumber

Directions:

1. Slice baguette into thin slices.
2. Slice mozzarella into thin slices.
3. Slice tomato into thin slices- I see a pattern here!
4. Place a slice of bread on platter, then a slice of tomato, then a slice of mozzarella. Top with a piece of basil. 
5. Crush garlic on top of Caprese Bread.
6. Drizzle Olive Oil. 
7. Combine grey salt and Provencal spices and crush with your fingers over the top. 
8. Repeat the process to make as many Caprese Bread as you like, one platter or two, depending on how many people you are serving.

Sliced up cucumber to dip into the oil, salt and spices.

                                               Grey Salt from Provence, France

Un-pickled Cucumber.

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                                                             Basil Pot.

Caprese Bread with a bottle of Cellardoor Winery's Chardonnay. Art Label by artist R. Kirk Moore.

Love the women's faces on the vase.

                                               A favorite Summer Flower. Black Eyed Susan's..

I have linked up with these fabulous blogs!: