Fettuccine with mushroom Bolognese

One of my joys as a Mom is having a shared passion with my children. For us (Ian and I) that would be cooking and baking. He is very enthusiastic to help around the kitchen especially tasting. 

His interest was caught by the commercial of Chef Curtis (feed your family under $10) on how to make Fettuccine with mushroom Bolognese. Ian loves pasta and he knows that I like to work on a budget. It's a win-win situation. I promised to help him by chopping the ingredients. 

Fettuccine with mushroom Bolognese

(original recipe)

Ingredients:

1 small brown onion,finely chopped
3 Tbsp Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
250g cup mushrooms, sliced
500g  minced regular beef
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
400g can Italian diced tomatoes
350g fettuccine
3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 loosely packed cup of fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Procedure

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan until hot. Cook onion and garlic for 2 mins, then add the carrot and cook for 1 min, or until just softened. Add mushrooms and cook for 2

mins. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Add the beef and stir over high heat for 3 mins, or until lightly browned and no lumps of meat remain.

3. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, allow to bubble for 1 min. Add the tomatoes.

4. Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine according to packet directions. Remove 1 cup of the pasta water carefully and add it to the sauce. Cook the sauce for a further 10-12 mins, until slightly thickened. Turn off the heat and add the extra virgin olive oil. Drain the fettuccine.

5. Add the fettuccine to the sauce in the pan and mix well. Scatter over the basil. Divide between four bowls and serve with the Parmesan cheese.

Ian and I had fun cooking. I was amazed with his enthusiasm and attention to details (e.g., measuring the volume and weight of the ingredients). He is also gifted with a sensitive palate, he knows what seasonings and spices to add. Well done, Ian!!!

As a homeschool mom, I think cooking a great tool to teach math (measurements), science (chemical reactions and nutrition), reading and comprehension (following instructions), and creativity (food presentation) to name a few. 

Word of Encouragement:
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Pasta Primavera

One of my goals is to eat more vegetables and fruits for health reasons. Approaching 30-ish is a wake call that I am maturing (in all aspects especially physically) faster than I thought. How I wish I can age like wine – the older the better.

Going back to food, I went to the supermarket the other day and packed my grocery cart with loads of vegetables. For tonight, I decided to try Pasta Primavera which I saw once in a cooking show. I cooked it artfully – in short – by “eyeballing” (without measuring).

Pasta Primavera

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini

(remove seeds and cut into strips)

1 small squash

(remove seeds and cut into strips)

1 medium red bell pepper

(remove seeds and cut into strips)

Extra Olive oil

Salt and pepper

400 g Penne Pasta (cooked)

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees F. Cut all the vegetables into strips with equal thickness so they will cook at the same time. Transfer them to a baking sheet. Put salt and pepper. Pour about 2 tbsp of extra olive oil and mix them by hand so that all the vegetables will be covered by oil. Bake for 20 minutes (or until the vegetables are soft).

Mix the vegetables with the pasta. Top it with parmesan cheese (optional).

It was tasty but guilt free :) I'll continue to search for more recipes like this.
 
Yummy!

Cannelloni with Ground Beef Filling

While watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, our taste buds were aroused by the Cannoli of Marie (the mom of Raymond). Funny thing we thought Marie said the dish was Cannelloni. To satisfy our hunger, we decided to give it a go – Cannelloni for our family dinner. A totally new recipe for me.

As described by Wikipedia, Cannelloni are rectangular are rectangular pasta sheets that are rolled into a cylindrical shape encompassing a filling
I looked at my cookbooks but unfortunately, I didn't find any Cannelloni recipe. So, I looked for different filling recipes for fresh pasta. Walaah! I found the recipe that I believed suited my needs from How to Cook Everything of Matt Bittman. I modified it according to my palette and available ingredients. Here’s my own take:

Cannelloni Meat Filling

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 minced medium onions

½ kilo Ground lean beef (sirloin)

1 cup red wine (I used my left over wine from Christmas)

Salt and ground pepper to taste

5 cloves of roasted garlic*

¼ cup minced parsley (better if you use flat leaf parsley)

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (preferably freshly grated)

1 egg

¼ cup bread crumbs (preferably homemade)

Pasta Sauce

2 cups Italian Spaghetti sauce

2 cups béchamel sauce

Instructions:

Pour the olive oil in a medium, deep skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until it is translucent (around 2 minutes). Add the ground beef and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up any lumps.

Add the wine with salt and pepper then turn the heat to very low. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened.

Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Cool thoroughly, and then stir in the parsley, parmesan, egg, and bread crumbs.

Fill the Cannelloni pasta immediately and arrange it on a single file on a baking dish.

Pour the Italian Spaghetti sauce then béchamel sauce. Cover the baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes at 375F (please follow the cooking instructions at the back of the Cannelloni package).

* I decided to use 5 cloves of roasted garlic because I love the sweetness and unique taste of garlic once it’s roasted. (I learned this from Martha Stewart, one of the people I admire).

The package of the Cannelloni recommended baking the dish for 20 minutes, however, after trying one pasta tube I found it a little hard so I cooked it again for another 7 minutes.

At first, I thought I overcooked my beloved Cannelloni. As dinner started, I looked at each one on the table as they passed around my Cannelloni. I felt like I didn't blink an eye until Tomas, my brother-in-law, gave his verdict, "umm, yummy".  And everyone gave their yummy-proval. Yeheey!

For tonight, I think I made it. Goodnight for now!

Cook, eat, celebrate, and love!!!