VM Meat Sauce

My VM Meat Sauce is a super versatile! You can use it as a pasta sauce, a poached eggs in sauce, chicken & eggplant parmesan,  add more sugar and its sloppy joe sauce, add some chili flakes and its a spicy sauce or my favorite use lasagna.  It's a simple dish that's great for weeknight meals!

Buen Provecho!

Dice half a onion.

I use a microplane to grate the garlic.

Brown onions & garlic.

Add meat and brown. Add dried herbs, oregano, thyme & basil.

Cook until all bits of meat are caramelized (brown).

Add Worcestershire sauce and with a wooden spoon scrap up the nice flavor bits on the bottom.

Add a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes.

I like a bit of brown sugar in mine. Completely optional. Stir and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes on medium low heat, allowing the sauce to thicken and flavors to marry.

VM Meat Sauce:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
 1-2 cloves, grated
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp each of basil, thyme & oregano
1 28oz can crushed tomato
1 -2 Tbsp brown sugar (optional)
Oil for cooking

1. Add oil to a high wall skillet. Brown onions and garlic, add salt & pepper.  Once veggies have softened and brown add ground beef, season with salt and pepper. Brown beef.

2. Once beef is brown and caramelized add dried herbs, Worcestershire sauce and crushed tomatoes. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add brown sugar, totally optional. Simmer on medium low heat for 10 -15 minutes until sauce thickens. Season to taste.

3. Serve with your choice of pasta, eggs, lasagna, bread or any other way you like! Enjoy!

Pasta Carbonara

 My hubby's favorite cuisine is Italian. He loves spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, ravioli, tortellini, particularly any pasta dish. He had never had carbonara. This is a crime. He needed to try this deliciously creamy dish. One of the many things I love about carbonara is that you don't need tons of ingredients. Spaghetti, garlic, bacon, parmesan and eggs are the basics. Traditionally in place of bacon is pancetta, but I love the smokiness of the bacon. The other liberty I've taken is added cilantro in place of parsley. I'm Latina and I love cilantro, it's my parsley, but feel free to use what you like, that's the best part of cooking you get to be creative!  

Regardless of what herb or bacon you use this dish is the most decadent plate of pastas I've had. I recently got the opportunity to visit Rome, bucket list check, and had the pleasure of tasting Carbonara in it's home country and it was amazing! This recipe brings me back.

Carbonara is a simple dish with a bit of technique, nothing hard I promise.  Just follow the road map and you to will find yourself in Rome.

Buen Provecho!

Spaghetti

garlic, 1-2 cloves

Egg Mixture, eggs, parmesan, salt, pepper

The best sound, crisping bacon.

Lovely bits of goodness.

Creamy Carbonara. Yum!!

Pasta Carbonara: yields 4 serving

Ingredients:

1lb spaghetti
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1-2 garlic, minced
4-5 slices of bacon, chopped
handful of Cilantro & Parsley, chopped
Salt n Pepper to taste

Road Map:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2.  Place a small pan over medium heat. Crisp up bacon and drain bacon on paper towel. Reserve bacon fat.

3. When water comes to a roaring boil add a handful salt and spaghetti. This is your only chance to season the spaghetti. Cook until al dente,  about 7-10 minutes.

4. In a bowl mix eggs, Parmesan, salt, pepper and herbs. Set aside.

5. Once spaghetti is done, reserve 1 cup of spaghetti water, drain pasta.

6. With a microplane grate garlic to pan with bacon fat, careful not to burn garlic. You only want to infuse fat with garlic.

7. Add spaghetti to bacon fat making sure to cover each strain with bacon fat. Remove from heat. 

8. Whisk a 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water to eggs, this tempers the eggs to avoid scrambled eggs.

9. Add egg mixture into spaghetti and coat. Add reserved bacon & serve.

10. Sprinkle chopped herbs & extra parmesan if you like.

11. Enjoy!! Buen Provecho!