Let's Do Etalian

             It's not pronounced EYEtalian.  My family is not from EYEtaly!

 

 

 I studied Italian when I studied opera.  I still can't put a sentence together, but I do know how to pronounce it. The Italian language has a couple of quirky rules and then the rest is spelled phonetically.  When I hear Eyetalian, it's like chalk on a blackboard. A very large blackboard.

Here's your lesson for today.

Gnocchi.  Come on, give it a shot.  Ganoki.   Ganucchee.    It's actually pronounced like the "gn"lasagna. (If you say la-zag-na, there is no hope for you. Have someone else order for you in a restaurant while you pretend to look intently at your menu.)
The "gn" is a "nyo" and the end, "chi" is pronounced "key".  Nyokey.
One of the odd Italian rules is if there is an "h" ignore it and there's a hard "k" sound. Go figure.

Enough of that, let's get to the food!
Pasta.  In the world of "dieting" it's a nasty word.  Remember, I don't diet, I make my food nutrient dense.
I love both pasta and pizza and I eat it often.

For my spaghetti dish, I make an unbelievably delicious roasted vegetable red sauce. I use an organic pasta and sometimes I will choose a whole grain pasta.  If you are gluten free, brown rice pasta does well, just make sure DON'T overcook it!!  In fact, check it about two minutes early so it doesn't turn into mush.

Roasted Vegetable Sauce

Olive oil (two times around the pan)
2-3 cloven grated garlic
1/2 med. chopped white onion
1 large portabello mushroom, finely diced
2 cans fire roasted chopped tomatoes (I use Muir Glen) pulsed into a finer dice)
1 large can tomato puree. (add a little water if sauce is too thick)
1 cup chopped roasted red and green peppers, eggplant and tomatoes (instructions in a previous blog dated 2/28/18)
3-5 T good balsamic vinegar (to taste)
1-2 T Italian seasoning (to Taste)
1-3 T organic sugar  (to taste)
salt and fresh ground pepper
fresh torn basil

Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. I use my enamel coated dutch oven.

Add the garlic and onion. Saute about 3 minutes stirring often so it doesn't burn. Add mushroom and continue to cook down another three minutes or so.
Next, add the fire roasted tomatoes and the puree.  Add the balsamic and the rest of the ingredients except the fresh torn basil.  Continue to cook over medium heat until you see tiny bubbles form.  Lower temperature to simmer. Cover and simmer at least 1/2 hour , stirring occasionally.  If you're not in a hurry, you can continue to simmer for a couple of hours.  Just make sure you check and stir the sauce occasionally.
Cook pasta to al- dente. Do not rinse!! In fact, if you add some of the starchy water to the sauce, it helps the sauce stick to the pasta better.
Top pasta with sauce and toss to coat. Top with GOOD, REAL Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. (vegan parm if you do not use dairy)

How to roast vegetables can be found in the  2/25/18 blog entry.

WARNING !!

Please do not buy the stuff in the green can.  It makes me cry.

 Toss fresh torn basil on top. Serve with extra sauce. Buon appetito.