Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Viva Italia lunch !

I've stopped eating meat for a while and then suddenly it hits me, a graving for some old-fashioned red meat, but with a delicious sauce, to smother over some pasta or rice.
Yes, that's what I'm totally into right now and with the prospect of having a meatless spring to "clean" ourselves for Greek easter, I think this is a fabulous choice to put on our dinner table !
A great meal for a Sunday lunch, easy on a weeknight, food that everybody loves somehow...
All you have to do is to get the ingredients, put them all together and let the sauce simmer by itself.
This dish can be served with anything from mashed potatoes to your favorite pasta. I am serving it with brown rice, just as great I would say. Side dishes could be some braised baby carrots, a green salad or green peas? Let your imagination lead you on that one...


Ingredients:
1 kilo minced meat (pork mixed with veal)
400 gr chopped tomatoes
250 gr cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
3 tblsp. olive oil
1 red onion (chopped)
4 garlic cloves (minced)
pinch of:
oregano
marjoram
sweet chilly pepper
cinnamon
Some salt and fresh black pepper
1 large glass of water
250 gr. mozzarella di bufala  (cut into chunks)
To serve:
handful of grated parmesan cheese
fresh basil !


Start with heating up  two spoons of olive oil in a large casserole.
Add the onion and fry it slowly until it has a golden color. Then you add the garlic, stir a few times and remove both from the pan.
Add the last spoon of oil and now saute the meat. While you cook it make sure to break up all the pieces into little ones, the meat should brown evenly and get a light crust while you cook it.
After about 5 minutes you add the onion and garlic mix again to the pan.
Now stir in the tomatoes, the spices, the water and season.
Leave the sauce to boil at medium heat for about 15 minutes. Then you add the cherry tomatoes, stir a few times more to soften the pieces and take the casserole of the heat.
Stir in the chopped up mozzarella pieces and preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Place the casserole in the middle of the oven and cook for another 10 minutes or so, just enough for the cheese to melt and give that extra touch to your delicious sauce.
When your meat is in the oven you can work on your side dishes and your pasta, rice or whatever you have chosen to serve this with.

Enjoy it like I did !
Serves 4-6

With love,
esther.