A. Meat Sauce

- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

- 3 large carrots, peeled & finely chopped

- 1 large onion, diced

- 4 large cloves garlic, minced

- 1 green bell pepper, diced

- 16 ounces lean ground beef

- 8 ounces ground pork

- ¾ cup red wine

- 2 cans, or fresh (28 ounces) diced tomatoes

- 1 tablespoon tomato paste

- 1/2 tablespoon ketchup

- Course kosher salt (Diamond Crystal Brand) and fresh, or dried, Italian herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme).

INSTRUCTIONS

In a 10 or 12 inch heavy-bottomed stainless steel or cast-iron skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until sufficiently pre-heated. Add onion and carrots, season slightly with a healthy pinch of kosher salt. Sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes.Add garlic and bell pepper. Continue cooking until garlic is fragrant but not scorched.Increase heat to high. Add beef and pork and cook, breaking apart the meat with a wooden spoon until mostly browned. Approximately 10 minutes.Add wine and deglaze. Boil off the wine until it is mostly evaporated, 3-4 minutes at least.Stir in tomatoes with all liquid if using canned. Reheat to boiling and then reduce heat to medium-low.Add ketchup and tomato pasteSeason with more salt and select italian herbs to your liking.Simmer the now mostly completed sauce, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened sufficiently.Preheat oven to 375.B. Béchamel

- Metal whisk

- 2 tablespoons butter

- 3 tablespoons flour

- 2 cups of milk, heated to just under a boil

- Salt and white pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

In a 2 or 3 quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat.Once butter is completely melted and covering the bottom of your saucepan, blend in the flour by small amounts, stirring frequently with whisk.Once all flour is blended in, continue cooking for 2 minutes without browning or coloring the mixture.Remove from heat. Allow to slightly cool and then pour in the heated milk in one swift motion. Immediately and quickly blend the mixture together with whisk.Return saucepan to the stove over medium-high heat and continue stirring quickly until the sauce comes to boil.Boil for about 1 minute, while stirring, until sauce is thick enough to coat and cling to the back of a spoon.Remove from heat and season slightly with kosher salt and white pepper. Careful not to over-season as to avoid overpowering the dish.If sauce is too thin, boil it down while stirring continually until reduced and thickened. If sauce is too thick, simmer and thin out with milk added in a tablespoon at a time. If sauce is lumpy, either strain or blend it and then simmer for a few minutes.C. Filling

INSTRUCTIONS

- 1-2 cups freshly made béchamel

- 7 ounces, approximate, ricotta cheese

- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese.

In roughly equal parts, combine all ingredients, stir well, and taste.Reserve some parmesan to both top unbaked lasagna and garnish completed lasagna.D. Assembly

INSTRUCTIONS

- 1 package (8 to 9 ounces) of no-boil lasagna noodles.

In the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish, ladle about 1 cup of meat sauce to evenly coat the bottom of the dish.Arrange 3-4 (depending on width of noodles) noodles over sauce, careful not to overlap or touch sides of the dish.Ladle 1 ½ cups meat sauce over noodles.Spread about ¾ - 1 cup of filling over meat sauce. Best method is to use a tablespoon, dropping dollops across the layer and then spreading slightly. The filling will loosen while cooking so it does not have to be perfect.Repeat steps 2-4 with all remaining ingredients until you finish with a final layer of meat sauce.Top assembled lasagna with filling and freshly grated parmesan.Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes in preheated oven at 375.Remove foil and bake for 15 additional minutes.Remove dish from the oven and raise oven rack to the highest position. Set broiler to high and place uncovered lasagna on topmost rack directly under heat elements. Broil carefully, with over door ajar, until the top is perfectly crisped and brown.Turn off heat, remove from oven and rest for a minimum of 15 minutes.With a serrated knife, divide lasagna into equal portions and guide your cuts by the small gaps between noodles.Serve garnished with fresh chopped parsley and grated Parmesan cheese. Pair with peperoncinis and the rest of that bottle of red wine.

I thought it would be cool to make a very traditional Ragu alla Bolognese; i.e. the sauce that was the catalyst for the famed 'Spaghetti Bolognese' dish a lot of us know and love. This dish is said to have originated in Italy's Bologna region hence the name. For anyone interested it was Pelligrino Artusi who first published ragu as a recipe back in 1891.

The below recipe is just for the ragu sauce - it will make enough to top 6 servings of pasta. Best pasta to serve this with is tagliatelle, fettucine, or pappardelle.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 3+ hours

Total Time: Approx 6 hours

Servings: 6

EQUIPMENTSaucepanINGREDIENTS• 250g beef, hand minced (chuck, brisket, short rib, shank all work)⁣• 250g pork, hand minced (shoulder is best)⁣• Extra Virgin Olive Oil⁣ (EVOO)• 1 onion, diced⁣• 1 rib celery, diced⁣• 1 carrot, diced⁣• 2.5 tbs tomato paste (concentrated)⁣• 1 cup red wine⁣• 1 cup stock (chicken or beef) + more for topping up ⁣• 1 cup whole milk⁣• 1 cinnamon stick⁣• 1 bay leaf⁣

• a largish segment of lemon peel⁣• A little pinch of nutmeg⁣• Salt & black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONSUse a sharp knife or a heavy cleaver to finely chop the meat into a course mince.Heat a heavy bottomed pot on high-heat add enough EVOO to cover the bottom about 1/4 inch thick then add beef and saute for 6-7 minutes until browned on the outside. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon ensuring you leave rendered fat in the pot and set aside.Repeat the above step for the pork.Add onions, carrot, celery and saute for 15 - 20 minutes.Add red wine, then the beef and pork back in, then tomato paste, stock, milk, cinnammon, bay leaf, nutmeg, lemon peel. Give everything a good stir and season with salt (about 1 tbs) and black pepperSimmer on low heat for 3-6 hours - taste every half an hour; if it gets dry top up with either water or stock. It's done when the meat is tender and no longer chewy; obviously the longer you cook the more tender/melt in your mouth it will get. TO SERVETagliatelle Egg Pasta (cook according to packet instructions and add as much ragu as you like and a dash of reserved pasta water to make it a little saucy)Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano cheeseCracked Black pepperGlass of Red Wine! For those interested, below is a 2 min video of cooking process end to end.

Just followed the recipe from Cafe Delites: https://cafedelites.com/creamy-tuscan-chicken/ Super easy and can be done with many sides. I personally made some buttery mashed potatoes. I used:

4 chicken breasts

salt&pepper to taste

1 1/2 tsp paprika

3 tbs oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar

For the sauce:

6 cloves minced garlic

jar of sun-dried tomatoes

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 cup double cream

3 cups spinach

1/2 cup grated parmesan

some parsley to top with

(i didn’t use onion powder even though it’s mentioned in the recipe)

Season the chicken with the salt, pepper and paprika and then sear on the pan until golden and cooked-through. Set aside.In the same pan, heat up the rest of the oil and fry the garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the mustard and mix it in.Reduce heat and add in the cream, cook to a gentle simmer. Add some more salt and pepper.Add the spinach and cook until the leaves are wilt in the sauce. Then add the parmesan. Cook for another 2 minutes.Add the chicken, top up with parsley and serve :)

Mushroom Risotto with Parmigiano Reggiano and Fresh Italian Parsley

For full recipe and lots of tips & tricks, visit: https://maplewoodroad.com/food/what-is-risotto-mushroom-risotto/

INGREDIENTSRisotto1 c Arborio rice2 Tbsp butter, divided1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil1/2 c dry white wine4 c beef stock, warmed up (I use Knorr bouillon cubes)1/2 c freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepperKosher salt, as neededMushrooms8 oz baby portobello (aka baby bellas, cremini, etc), thinly sliced to 1/4"1 Tbsp butter1 to 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil1/4 c shallots or yellow onion, chopped1 Tbsp minced garlic1 Tbsp soy sauce1 tsp thyme and/or sage1/2 tsp kosher salt1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper1/2 c roughly chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

INSTRUCTIONSBasic RisottoHeat 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a saucepan until you hear a light sizzle and the butter begins to bubble.Add 1 c of Arborio rice and stir evenly and thoroughly.After a minute or so – when the rice gets glossy (not brown), add 1/2 c of dry white wine and keep stirring. Once the wine starts to bubble, it will be absorbed quickly (within about 2 minutes), so make sure you have 4 c of beef stock warmed and ready. Add one ladle of stock at a time and stir. Adjust the heat so it’s barely boiling. Just a couple bubbles here and there.Once the liquid is absorbed, add another ladle of stock, stir, and repeat. Watch, smell, and taste. From adding the first ladle to the last, it takes about 25 minutes from start to finish. Taste, but be careful with adding salt too soon. The stock will add additional salt, and so will the salty Parmigiano Reggiano. When the rice is done, add (at least) 1 Tbsp butter and (at least) 1/2 c of Parmigiano Reggiano (the good stuff). Stir for about 2 minutes and add a couple cranks of black pepper (1/4 tsp).Mushroom RisottoHeat 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/4 c chopped shallots and cook for 2 minutes until translucent.Add 8 oz sliced mushrooms, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp dry thyme and/or sage, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and season with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Stir occasionally and cook (simmer) for about 8 minutes. Once the mushrooms have absorbed all the liquids, taste them and add more salt if necessary. Remove from the saucepan and set aside. Next, cook the risotto as outlined in the Basic Risotto recipe above.Once the risotto is ready in its creamy deliciousness, put the cooked mushrooms back in the risotto and stir it all together.Sprinkle with some roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley and pour yourself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. You deserve it.