Spaghetti and (Turkey) Meatballs

I've been exploring my Christmas gift to myself: Nigella Lawson's new cookbook, "Nigella Kitchen". I really like her style of cooking and her recipes are usually good ones. Her recipe for Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce was on the menu for this week.

It turned out pretty well. I like the idea of using turkey, it's a healthier alternative to ground beef or sausage for the meatballs and I found it plenty flavorful. Her idea of cooking the meatballs in the tomato sauce rather than frying them keeps the turkey moist and tender. (Although I have to admit a small part of me missed the crusty brown exterior of a fried meatball!)

My only complaint on this recipe is perhaps the runny consistency of the sauce, even after boiling for 30-40 minutes. Likely next time I will add less water, which I have modified in the recipe. I like a nice, robust tomato sauce with my pasta. The sauce here was very flavorful, just not thick enough.

SPAGHETTI AND TURKEY MEATBALLS (modified from Nigella Kitchen)

For the Sauce:

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

1 celery stalk, washed and quartered

2 T olive or veg oil

1 clove garlic

1 tsp dried thyme

28 oz can diced tomatoes plus 2/3-3/4 can full of water

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt or 1/2 tsp table salt

pepper to taste

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground turkey

1 egg

3 T unseasoned dry breadcrumbs (baking aisle or homemade)

3 T grated Parmesan cheese

2 T finely chopped onion and celery (from tomato sauce ingredients)

1 tsp Worcesteshire sauce

1/2 tsp dried thyme

Put onion and celery pieces in food processor and grind to a mush. Or, dice by hand. Reserve 2 T for meatball mixture.

In heavy large saucepan or Dutch oven, warm oil and garlic until garlic is fragrant. Add onion and celery mixture and thyme and cook at moderate to low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

Add the canned tomatoes and 2/3-3/4 can full of water. Season with sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir and let it come to a boil then turn the heat down to simmer gently.

Put all ingredients for the meatballs into a large bowl, including salt to taste (I suggest about 1 tsp kosher salt) into a large bowl and mix together gently (don't overmix as it will make the meatballs dense and heavy). Use gloves if you're squeamish!

When the ingredients are mixed, use a teaspoon measure to take out generously heaped teaspoon-sized balls and roll gently between the palms of your hands. Put the meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet as you go. You should get about 50 little meatballs.

Drop the meatballs gently one by one into the simmering sauce, in concentric circles working around the outside of the pan to the inside. Let the meatballs simmer 30 minutes, until cooked through. If necessary, stir very gently once or twice, being careful not to break up the meatballs. While cooking the meatballs, bring water to boil and cook spaghetti (can also serve over rice).

Ladle meatballs and sauce over hot pasta and enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake

I've always thought Red Velvet Cake sounded so luxurious. With the proliferation of the trendy "gourmet cupcakes" I think red velvet has come back into fashion a little. In any case I've been hearing/reading about it in my foodie mags. So I decided to give it a try for a fun, festive Valentine's Day dessert.

I actually had a tough time finding a recipe, there are not as many recipes out there as I thought there would be! But I was saved by my favorite foodie blog, www.smittenkitchen.com

I modified the recipe slightly, which I will note below. Red has always been my favorite color and I love that this cake is red! I also love that it's chocolate. The best of both worlds. Some of the recipes I looked at had a puny Tablespoon or two of cocoa. This recipe has 1/2 cup. But, even if you're not a huge chocolate cake fan it's not too strong. Believe me.

The texture of this cake (moist but still with a nice firm crumb) was perfect, as was the flavor. I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but it fit well with this cake and the amounts were proportional (enough frosting, not too much). We'll definitely be making this again sometime . . .
RED VELVET CAKE
Adapted from www.smittenkitchen.com
**Note: I halved the amount of red food coloring. The original called for 6 T. My cake was still plenty red enough for me. I also baked it in 2 cake pans instead of the 3 called for in the recipe. Mostly because I don't have 3 cake pans. I then cut each layer in half sideways to have 4 layers to look fancy with frosting between!)**
1 T soft unsalted butter
3 1/2 c cake flour (really important, don't substitute)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 c canola oil
2 1/4 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2-3 T red food coloring (I bought the 1.? oz bottle of red coloring and used it all, it ended up being around 2 1/2 T)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c buttermilk (can substitute 1 1/8 c milk+2 T lemon juice, let stand 5 min)
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350. Use butter to thoroughly grease bottom and sides of 2 (or 3 if desired) round 9" cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment or wax paper and smear with additional butter or spray with nonstick spray.
Whisk cake flour, cocoa, and salt in small bowl.
Place oil and sugar in bowl of electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Running machine on low, slowly add red food coloring so it won't splash too much. Add vanilla. Add flour and buttermilk alternately in 2 batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
Place baking soda in small dish, stir in vinegar, and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
Divide batter among pans, place in oven, and bake until cake tester comes out clean. For 3 pans, 40-45 minutes. For 2 pans, about 55-60 minutes. Let cool in pans 15-20 minutes then remove from pans and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 c (1 stick) butter at room temperature
3 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy, then add sugar and vanilla. Beat until well combined.

Pasta and Tomato Sauce with Bacon and Parsley

Looking for a tasty way to sauce up some of our favorite Wegman's pasta, I ran across this recipe.

This pasta is the real thing, imported from Italy. It's our favorite.
Nothing like a little bacon to make everything so very tasty!
The recipe is from cooksillustrated.com.
I'm sure this would be great on any pasta you can find, although I like the shape of these (sort of corkscrews) to grab hold of the bits of tomato and bacon.
PASTA AND TOMATO SAUCE WITH BACON AND PARSLEY
1 (28-oz) can diced or whole tomatoes packed in juice,
or one quart bottle home-canned tomatoes
4 oz bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (trust me, the little bit of heat is subtle but great)
2 T chopped fresh parsley leaves (I used flat-leaf)
1/4 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 pound pasta (an awkward amount, but more dilutes the sauce)

1. Drain and reserve liquid from tomatoes. If using whole or home-canned tomatoes, dice tomatoes by hand or pulse gently 3 times in food processor to roughly chop. If necessary add reserved liquid to tomatoes to total 2 cups (my chopped canned tomatoes made 3 cups without liquid). Discard remaining liquid.
2. In 10" skillet, fry bacon over medium-high heat until crisp and brown. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate, pour off all but 2 T bacon fat from pan.
3. Process garlic through press or dice, into small bowl. Stir in 1 tsp water. Heat garlic/water and red pepper flakes in bacon fat over medium heat about 2 minutes (garlic should not brown). Stir in tomatoes and simmer until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Stir in parsley, bacon, sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt.
4. Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente in large pot of boiling, salted water. Reserve 1/4 cup of cooking water, drain ipasta, and transfer it back to cooking pot. Mix in reserved cooking water, sauce, and remaining 1 tsp salt. Cook together over medium heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly, and serve immediately.