Gnocchi with Sliced Mushroom and Beef Ragout

We had a lovely dinner of potato gnocchi with hearty beef ragout with sliced button mushrooms and fresh spinach.

When the beef ragout has reached a simmering point, stir in sliced button musnrooms. Turn off heat.

Place spinach on top of the warm gnocchi and spoon the ragout over. Enjoy!

Hearty Beef Ragout

I made a beefy ragout in advance last night knowing that I had to rush out earlier today to view an apartment.

My nephew (previously a non-beef-eater-now-a-convert) rated it a 9 while Barry gave it 9 1/2...10; 0 being inedible and 10 being PERFECT!

Here is my recipe (I eyeballed the quantity actually) :

HEARTY BEEF RAGOUT

300gms beef chuck cubes
1 yellow onion (peeled and diced)
1 tsp sugar
100gms streaky bacon
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
About 300 to 350ml beef stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
5 peeled canned pomodoro tomatoes (must be Italian origin - I like La Valle)
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
3 green chillies (de-seeded and cut into broad strips)
1/2 to 3/4 cup red wine
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Season beef cubes with salt and pepper (not too much).
1. Heat olive oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Add in diced onion. Stir till fragrant but not browned. Add in streaky bacon.
2. Stir in beef cubes. Fry lightly to just seal in the juices. Drizzle in the flour to coat the beef evenly. Add in sugar. Stir.
3. Add in stock, chillies, garlic, tomato paste, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and bay leaf.
4. Allow mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour, stirring constantly and breaking up the canned tomatoes at the same time.
5. Add in red wine and continue to simmer till mixture has reduced by about half, or depending on how thick you like your stew.
6. Discard bay leaf if not consuming ragout on same day.

So, I came home from work today and heated up the ragout and boiled a pot of water with some salt at the same time.

Sliced carrots, cut broccoli into florets and sliced some capsicum while (some button mushrooms would have been great but I didn't have any) while waiting for water to come to a boil.

Tossed the cut vegs into boiling water with some olive oil, carrots in first.

Removed vegs after a minute or two and let drain. Let water boil again and tossed in angel hair pasta (paperdelle would be better though but I was in a hurry - angel hair pasta cooks fast!). Removed pasta from water and let it drain.

Placed pasta onto plates. Topped with the vegs and ladled ragout over.... Dinner ready within 15 minutes!

Also good with potatoes, polenta, crusty bread or even on its own! A rich, thick brown stew with fork-tender gravy-soaked beef cubes with a very slight tang and a hint of spiciness from the near-mush green chillies. The red wine adds depth and dimension to the ragout while the Italian herbs, bay leaf and garlic provided the flavour balance.

A great comfort food. Perfect on a cold wintry night. DELICIOUS!

Homemade Meat Sauce

Our usual pasta sauce is minced beef cooked in a bottle of Prego's. Lazy, eh?

I have some minced beef left over from making beef burritos yesterday and decided to make meat sauce but this time, from scratch.

It's not an elaborate recipe.... I looked up online at various recipes, picked out the common ingredients and omitted what I do not like to eat, like celery. And below is my version :

300gms of minced beef (I used lean beef version)
1 yellow onion - chop half finely, the other, more coarse
4 tomatoes - pureed (I used a grater, skins excluded)
1 carrot (about 4 inches) - grated finely
1 red pepper - chopped
1 green pepper - chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
dried basil
dried oregano
1 bay leaf
freshly cracked black pepper
salt (optional)

1. Heat up the olive oil in a saucepan and fry onions till translucent.
2. Maintain medium heat. Stir in carrot, peppers and tomato paste. Let it come to a boil and then stir in beef.
3. When beef is cooked through, pour in (this is the BEST part!!) red wine. Stir well.
4. Add in tomato puree and season with basil, oregano and the bay leaf.
5. Let simmer over low heat for about half hour, stirring occasionally. Sauce will thicken.
6. Season with black pepper and salt, if required.
7. Remember to discard bay leaf after cooking.
The pasta sauce is yummily, naturally sweet from the beef and veggies... Delicious! I had loads of fun tasting the sauce every now and then while it was simmering away, between sips of the red wine... Hic!

Chilli Tuna Pasta

Have a can of tuna, will survive!

The fridge was empty so last night, I made chilli tuna pasta for dinner.



Ingredients :
1 can of 185gm chilli tuna (I use Ayam brand)
1 jar of 400gm traditional pasta sauce (I use Prego's)
1/2 of a yellow onion

Pasta of your choice (I like angel hair, so angel hair it was)- cooked till al dente

Method :
1. Drain as much oil as possible from tuna and put the meat in a saucepan. Add the pasta sauce and chopped onion. Simmer for about 15-20 mins at low heat till onion is soft. Stir frequently.
2. Serve on cooked pasta with grated Parmesan cheese and also garlic bread if like.

Isn't this easy? Watch out though - SPICY!!

Pesto Angel Hair Pasta

It has been nearly a week since I moved into Barry's... 6 days to be exact; out of which I was away travelling for 2 days.

Strange...been caught by the cooking bug...Bought two thick cookbooks compiled by Woman's Weekly : Food We Love and Great Fast Recipes.

Haven't tried any yet but will do so soon.

Anyway, I made Pesto Angel Hair Pasta for dinner last night - DELICIOUS!!! Am not really a fan of cream in cooking but added sparingly as in this case, tastes yummylicious. My recipe as follows (For 4-5 person) :

INGREDIENTS

1. 3 chicken breasts (no skin)
2. Half pack of angel hair pasta
3. A bunch (encircle them with your tips of forefinger and thumb touching each other) of asparagus
4. 2 bell peppers (any colour) the size of your fist
5. 2 tbsp of cream (I use Bulla)
6. 3 tbsp of basil pesto (I use Agnesi)
7. About 15-20 white buttom mushrooms (I love shrooms!!)
8. Sundried tomatoes (8 slices)
9. Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
10. Some extra virgin olive oil
11. A tsp of chopped garlic
12. 1/2 cup of dry white wine (if desired)

METHOD

1. Cook pasta till al dente in a pot of water with some olive oil - drain and set aside

2. Heat some olive oil in non-stick pan. Lay the smashed chicken breasts and sprinkle some salt and black pepper. Turn after 3 mins and do the same. Remove and leave to cool. Cut into desired size.

3. Roast bell peppers - then remove from oven and put in plastic bag. Once cooled, remove skin and chop coarsely.

4. Break asparagus into 1 inch lengths and slice mushrooms.

5. Heat a bit of oil in a deep pan. Fry garlic and sundried tomatoes till fragrant.

6. Add in asparagus. Then the chicken pieces followed by shrooms and roasted bell peppers.

7. Stir in cream and white wine. Leave to boil. Add in pesto. Reduce heat. Add in pasta. Mix well.

8. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove and serve.

Easy peasy.