Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce with Spaghetti

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Sometimes we need a little pasta sauce in our lives.

Me?  I actually crave a good red sauce, so whether it is served over pasta, or a fabulous chicken dish, I've gotta have it!

The other day we went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  I was all set to get something with a delicious red sauce to soothe my craving.  Little did I know that I'd end up with a chef's special that was too tempting to resist.  The only down side was that there wasn't any 'red sauce' in sight. 

Although the dish was wonderful and had an outstanding sauce of lemon, wine, and artichokes I started to have that familiar craving a few days later.  I need something with 'red sauce!  Do you ever get those cravings?  I know, a little strange, but it's really calling me.

Into the kitchen I went to prepare our dinner.  Something quick.  Something using pantry items.  Something that features a 'red sauce'...and spice...and cream.

The result was a quick and easy creamy, yet spicy, red sauce served over spaghetti.  Using your favorite jarred sauce makes things easier and definitely quicker for a weeknight meal.  Red pepper flakes amp up the heat a little while the cream adds thickness and comfort to the dish.

Cravings are gone!  My tummy is satisfied until the next craving comes along.  

Enjoy!



Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce with Spaghetti

serves 4

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (24 oz) jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
1 lb thin spaghetti

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened.  Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the spaghetti sauce, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, and black pepper.  Stir to combine.  Add the cream and stir.  Simmer about 10 minutes until sauce has thickened and is heated through.

Meanwhile in another large pot, cook your pasta in salted boiling water according to the package directions.  Drain. Add to the saucepan and toss to coat.  Serve.

Streusel Apple Pie Pancakes

My Sundays are lazy...

They are for making a great breakfast and doing things at your own pace at home.  I've been seeing so many different Bananas Foster variations around Pinterest and on all the blogs.  Have you seen them?  There's french toast, ice cream, parfaits, smoothies, and even pies.  So all these yummy dishes gave me inspiration to take a favorite dessert of mine and turn it into something different. 

Like pancakes.

Not just any pancakes, but some worthy of the season, and a lazy Sunday.  

One of my favorite desserts for this time of year is Apple Crisp.  I love the tartness of the apples along with the streusel crumble crust.  A match made in heaven for me!  So why not turn this into some scrumptious pancakes.  Let's do it!

These pancakes are bursting with apples and one side is topped with a traditional streusel filled with brown sugar, oatmeal and butter.  This can't be beat!  Once you top on side of the cooking pancakes with the topping and then flip it over to cook....oh my!  You get a crunchy caramelized side to your pancake.  It's just perfect!

These are pancakes the whole family will love.

Enjoy your lazy Sunday!

Streusel Apple Pie Pancakes 

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup quick-cooking oats

3 tablespoons cold butter

Basic Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large apple, cored, peeled and diced
3 Tablespoons butter

In medium bowl, mix your topping brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in butter using pastry blender or fork until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

In large bowl, stir all pancake ingredients up to the butter, until well blended. Heat a nonstick griddle or large skillet over medium-high heat. 

Once heated add 1 Tablespoon of butter and swirl around to coat the pan.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan to form a pancake.  Continue making 3 or 4 pancakes at a time. 

Sprinkle each pancake evenly with about 2 Tablespoons of the topping. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbly on top and dry around edges. Flip and cook the streusel side until light golden brown around edges about 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds. 

Add additional butter between batches of pancakes. Continue with additional batches of pancakes.  

Serve streusel side up with warm syrup and butter.

 

Slow Cooker Meal: Rustic Beef Stew

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I'm loving the fall weather!  We finally got a break in Los Angeles, and the weather has turned cooler.  70's is cooler to us!

When the weather changes I crave soups and stews.  My favorite soup is one that Mom always made. A hearty vegetable beef soup that full of potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and tomatoes, slow cooked with stew meat to make a warming soup.  Here's her recipe.  Today I feel like something more stew-like but with similar flavors.  

Browsing though my "to make" Pinterest folder I came across this pin that just fit my needs.  Do you all know Christy Jordan?  She has a wonderful blog called Southern Plate and also is the author of a great cookbook by the same name.  I found this recipe on her website and adapted it slightly to fit my taste, but pretty much followed her lead.  

One item that she used and I ended up purchasing was Dale's Seasoning.    Dale's Seasoning is a savory blend of exotic spices that enhance the flavor of beef, pork, lamb, poultry, fish, wild game and vegetables.   Sold mostly in the South, but you can buy it online here. I was intrigued by this sauce enough to want to purchase it, but you can leave it out or just add a little Worcestershire and soy sauce instead or use Kitchen Bouquet.

This was a very easy stew to put together and we left for the day and came home to a wonderful, hearty dinner.  I dare say it was "fabulous"!  this will be my go to slow cooker beef stew recipe from now on. 

You must try this out soon....there's nothing better than a delicious stew during the cold evenings.
Enjoy!

Rustic Beef Stew

serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs  stew meat

1 teaspoon black pepper
1 c flour

3 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

3/4 medium onion, sliced

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

32 ounces beef broth

1/4 cup Dale's low sodium seasoning

1 tablespoon thyme

Instructions

Season the stew meat with pepper and add to a plate.  Pour flour over and stir to coat.  In a large skillet add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add meat and cook just long enough to brown.  Turn meat to brown all sides.  

Add potatoes, onion, carrots to the slow cooker.  Place meat on top and add broth, Dale's marinade and thyme.  Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.  

adapted from:  www.southernplate.com