Recipes:Here are some of my favourite cooking recipes.
The Spag Bol is a variation of the famous Italian Spaghetti Bolognase Sauce.
Variations abound as there cooks on earth.
I believe that a dish should be tasty and give as much sensation in its taste as in its perfume.
You will find these recipes very tasty and rewarding to eat.
Enjoy with a light red table wine or your favourite red wine.CB
Spag Bol Sauce.DeMystified and simple.
Feeds 4 very big people.
Ingredients:
Diced meat
Lamb, Pork, or Beef : 600 grammes.
1 bulb of garlic: All the cloves!
( or to taste or preference )
1 large onion.
1 small sized eggplant
50 - 100 grammes of mushrooms
1 medium head of broccoli
1 large carrot or small sweet potatoe
1 head of celery leaves
1 small Capsicum Green
Balsamic Vinegar
Red Wine.
2 - 6 Large Silverbeet leaves
A generous serving of Parsley
Half to 1 kilo of fresh tomatoes Dice finelyAlso sprinkle some Fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds ( small quantity ) at the beginning with the onion and garlic etc
Finely cut ginger can also be put in at the initial phase as well
Extra Virgin Olive Oil for frying
Filtered water: to need.
1 teaspoon of iodised salt
Peppercorns to taste..the following herbs:
add to taste.
Fresh Basil
Fresh Sage
Fresh Oregano
Fresh Thyme
Fresh RosemaryIf you cannot access fresh herbs start growing your own.
They do well in pot plants near a sunny spot.
While they are growing use dry herbs but fresh is best.
How it all goes together.
In a deep pot ( at least 3-5 litres in volume )
fry, in a generous volume of extra virgin olive oil, the garlic, onion, mushroom and eggplant. ( you can add water to the mixture as you go from here to stop the ingredients burning).
When half cooked add all the herbs.
fry medium vigorously stirring all the time to ensure that nothing sticks.
Add a few mills of balsamic vinegar and small quantity of red wine.
A few minutes later add the diced meat and turn the heat down very low with the lid on the pot. Occasionally spread the meat out evenly to ensure no clumping.
When the mixture is nearly apparently dry add:
The freshly diced fresh tomatoesAdd Broccoli finely chopped ( include the stork as it is also filled with nutrients ).
Add finely grated carrot
Add Finely chopped celery head with leaves
Add Finely chopped Silverbeet leaves ( or spinach leaves ).
Add Parsley
Add Red Capsicum
Add Iodised Salt to taste
Add Pepper to tasteEven add a small amount of cayenne or chillies to taste
During this process keep adding water to keep the mixture well bulked.
Once the cooking is underway add: Tumeric ( to your preference ); Ginger and mustard.
Allow from one to 2 hours to simmer slowly adding water and stirring as necessary.
When the Sauce is nearly ready its time to cook the pasta.
The Pasta!
Boil water in a generously sized big pot: 6 - 10 litres of water.
Add a generous sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil
Add a lean sprinkling of iodised salt.Once the water is boiling vigorously add pasta ( macaroni or spaghetti or fettucini)
about 150 grammes per person.Boil until the pasta is al-dente
Generally with spaghetti this is when the spaghetti rests on the convection currents of the boiling water.
For macaroni it is when the macaroni stands up in the convection currents.Generally 8 minutes is adequate for spaghetti and 9 - 11 minutes for macaroni.
Serving.
Drain the water from the pasta using a colander. Shake the colander to get all the water out.
With the boiling pot now empty place the drained pasta into this pot and add a generous ladle of sauce fluid to the pasta.
Mix some of the sauce fluid into the pasta to give it an even colour.Serve on your favourite pasta plate and add a small quantity of sauce into the plate then add pasta quantity to suit and then dress the pasta with a generous amount of sauce.
Garnish with some more parsley and freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese.Eat and Enjoy!!!!
Cook a generously sized Sauce as described above.
Lasagna has a very bad name since It was served in restaurants.
It just isn't that sort of dish.
It has to be made fresh.Ingredients are optional but it can get out of hand if you make it too rich.
Lasagna is essentially a layered 'pie' sort of dish.
Lasagna noodle forms the layers and filling is placed between these layers.
It is the filling that makes a lasagna.Fill.
Cold White Sauce
This is made using one dozen eggs mixed with 1 kilo of ricotta cheese and half a pint of milk and 50 grammes of parmesan cheese.
Mix with a mixmaster, or equivalent electrical or mechanical appliance, until the Cold White Sauce is even and not clumpy.Veggies.
Shelled Peas
Finely Chopped Broccoli
Finely Chopped Cauliflower
Finely Chopped Silverbeet
Finely Chopped Capsicum
Finely Chopped Carrot
Finely Chopped Zucchini
Finely Chopped other favourite vegetables.Rich Bits
Finely Chopped Salami
Finely Chopped Turkey
Finely Chopped Chicken
Finely Chopped boiled eggs
Finely Chopped Ham
Finely Chopped favourite meatsFish Bits
Oysters
Baby Clams
SeafoodCheeses
Mozzarella
Parmesan
Romano
Assembly
In the bottom of a large flat lasagna pan pour a generous amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Place the first layer of Lasagna Noodle.
Add sprinklings of all ingredients per layer topping each sprinkling with the Cold White Sauce and then the Spag Bol Sauce.
At the top of each layer before placing another layer of Lasagna noodle sprinkle the Mozzarella Cheese.
Another layer of Lasagna noodle and repeat the process until the pan is full.
On the top layer add a generous sprinkling either of Parmesan or Romano Cheese.Cover the pan with a lid or Aluminium Foil ( a lidded pan is better ).
Place in a pre-heated oven at 250 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 175 degrees Celsius for another hour or two.
You will know when it is cooked. The perfume suddenly permeates the whole neighbourhood somewhat between one and a half and two hours after the baking commences.
Alternatives to the Lasagna Noodle include using finely chopped spinach or silverbeet leaves as the layer separator, Finely sliced Eggplant or even cooked Macaroni.
The options are all up to the imagination.Serve with a gutsy Red Wine!
Serve on your favourite big dish.
sit back and enjoy the music