The post Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce with Garlic & Basil appeared first on Vegan Hostess.
]]>If you read my blog you already know this—I’m Italian, and I love pasta. While I’ve been making my own homemade noodles for about a year, I’ve been hesitating on the sauce. Who wants that mess? You have to peel tomatoes and the juice splashes everywhere, etc. The list goes on. Or so I thought. Turns out I was wrong. Yes, it can be messy to make your own sauce, but it’s not that bad and it’s totally worth it. I never should have hesitated. I now LOVE making my own Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce with Garlic & Basil.
Not only is it way healthier to eat, but it makes your entire home smell amazing and it tastes so much better than that stuff from the jar. There is nothing better than the mix of fresh-snipped basil and ripe tomatoes with a splash of olive oil. There is a reason pasta marinara is a household staple, and it’s not just because it’s a cheap, quick fix. It’s really good, too. Pasta marinara is so simple, yet when you get a realllllly good noodle with an impeccable sauce, there’s just nothing better for a crisp, cool night!
My garden has been producing an overwhelming amount of tomatoes so my partner and I are hurrying to make sure none of our homegrown tomatoes go to waste. With a half dozen jars of salsa under our belt, we moved onto canning the following marinara sauce recipe.
Go ahead and give it a try. Let me know what you think!
Cheers and happy eating!
Jocelyn
* Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own!
Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce with Garlic & Basil
- Prep Time: 10 minutes — Cook Time: 40 minutes
- ~32 ounces
- 5 pounds fresh tomatoes (~30 tomatoes of various size)
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 6 large garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- 1 sprig fresh thyme, removed from the stem
- 1 sprig fresh oregano, removed from the stem
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground salt
- Pepper, red pepper, and extra garlic, to taste
Directions
- Prepare the tomatoes:
- Cut a small x on the side of each tomato and drop then one by one into boiling water for ~10 seconds.
- Immediately remove the tomatoes and place them in an ice bath. The skin should easily peel off.
- I also then remove the core of the tomato with a small knife, or interestingly enough, a lemon juice tool. There is no need to “seed.”
- Prepare the infused olive oil:
- Pour the extra virgin olive oil into a medium – large stockpot on medium heat.
- Add diced onion and garlic.
- Sauté until onions are translucent and beginning to caramelize (about 6 minutes).
- Add the chopped basil leaves, oregano, and thyme. Sauté a few more minutes.
- Remove the pot from the stove and strain the olive oil.
- Remove the bits and pieces, put the oil back in the stockpot, and add the tomatoes.
- Simmer your sauce over low heat for 45 minutes while stirring occasionally.
- Add salt, pepper, and other seasonings, and taste as you go.
- The sauce should ‘cook down’ and begin to look a bit darker.
- Enjoy immediately over your favorite pasta, store in the fridge up to one week, or can it accordingly.
- Mangia! Mangia!
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]]>The post Recipe: Potato Gnocchi appeared first on Vegan Hostess.
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Hello everyone!
I’ve always loved Italian food. The smell of sauce cooking, the warm, filling qualities of the meals. ahhh… Pasta! Plus, I’m Italian, and I grew up eating pasta in all its forms. Since the fall, I’ve been trying to make various pastas from scratch, but one I was avoiding was gnocchi.
Why avoid gnocchi? Well, it’s hand down my favorite pasta and always has been. And I simply did not want to mess it up, or let myself down. Luckily, gnocchi is—dare I say—easy to make! And easy to make vegan!
Making gnocchi for the first time took me less than two hours, and it was absolutely scrumptious. It was probably the best gnocchi I’ve ever had. It was that good! The dough was pillowy, yet still dense enough to be chewy. The fork ‘rolling’ technique did the trick, and the pasta sauce stuck on the gnocchi in the best way.
I know spending a few hours making pasta isn’t feasible most nights of the week, but for that special occasion or on the weekend it’s well worth the effort! Give this simple three ingredient gnocchi recipe a try!
Mangia! Mangia!
Jocelyn
* Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own!
Potato Gnocchi
***Please feel free to share widely, just give me some credit or a link back.
Prep Time: 90 minutes; Cook Time: 2-3 minutes
Ingredients/ Shopping List:
- 8 small-medium potatoes (not red) or 4 large potatoes
- 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (plus some extra)
- 1 tsp. table salt
- Tomato Sauce
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese (I used Follow Your Heart)
- Fresh basil
Directions:
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
- While the water is heating up, peel the potatoes.
- Once boiling, add the potatoes and boil until they are soft (fork tender).
- Drain the potatoes and let them cool for a few minutes.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Mash the potatoes with a metal food masher, ricer, or other mashing tool.
- Add the salt and flour and knead the mixture until a smooth dough forms.
- Dump out the old water from boiling the potatoes, and bring a fresh pot of water to a boil.
- While the water is heating up starting rolling out your gnocchi on a lightly floured surface.
- I suggest splitting your dough into 6 sections and rolling them one-by-one into a rope.
- Aim for a rope about an inch wide, perhaps a little less.
- Cut small 1″ gnocchi ‘pillows’ and set aside.
- Once you have your gnocchi ‘pillows,’ begin rolling them down the curved side of a fork. This will enable the sauce to better stick to the gnocchi and is the traditional style.
- Now is a good time to heat your marinera sauce with any additional herbs/ veggies on the stove.
- Cover with a lid, and let simmer.
- When the water is boiling, transfer the gnocchi.
- Do not overcook!
- The gnocchi should float to the surface after 90 sec. – 2 minutes.
- Remove the gnocchi’s with a skimmer as they float to the top to avoid any gnocchi from overcooking.
- Transfer to the saucepan.
- Combine the gnocchi, and marinera sauce.
- Plate your gnocchi dishes, and serve with vegan parmesan and garnish.
- Enjoy! Mangia! Mangia!
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Hello everyone,
Over the holidays, my partner and I did a lot of binge watching. You can relate, right? One of our new favorite videos is Pasta Grannies on YouTube.
The premise is simple. A British woman goes around recording Italian grannies making pasta. So simple, yet so entirely addictive to watch!
I don’t have any memories of my grandparents making pasta from scratch from my childhood, but my mom does. She told me all about how her childhood Sundays were a full day of rolling out gnocchi and simmering sauce. I suppose watching Pasta Grannies is comforting and helps me feel more connected to my Italian side. Plus, I was happily surprised that many of the pasta recipes they used were vegan.
The recipes called for the simplest of ingredients, like water, salt, and some type of flour – the most common being semolina which is made from durum wheat. This makes it ideal for pasta as it will produce a sturdier pasta than general all-purpose flour.
Aside from the videos, the pasta stars aligned, as for the holidays I had also finally caved in and asked for the Kitchen Aid Mixer set of three pasta attachments. Carb-filled evenings, here I come!
I scoured the internet, reviewed a plethora of Pasta Grannies videos, and I came up with a simple, yet tasty vegan pasta recipe. Was it completely perfect out of the gate? No. But it makes a mean pasta with minimal effort. Besides requiring just a handful of basic ingredients, it takes just under 30 minutes to prepare.
What are you waiting for? Give it a shot!
Cheers & happy cooking!
Jocelyn
* Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own!
Click to view slideshow.
Homemade Vegan Pasta Dough
***Please feel free to share widely, just give me some credit or a link back.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: ~3 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2½ cups, semolina flour
- ½-1 cup, water
- 1 tbs, extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp, salt
- 1 tbs, freshly minced oregano
- 1 tbs, freshly minced basil
- Extra unbleached all-purpose flour to prevent sticking
Directions
- Place the flour, salt, herbs, and olive oil in your Kitchen Aid Mixer, food processor or simply use a
bowl. Then combine the ingredients at a low speed.
- Add water 1 tbsp at a time while the mixer is running or you are stirring with a fork.
- Keep adding water until you achieve a dough-like consistency.
- Note, you will need to work the dough for quite a few minutes. It should be smooth in texture and a bit sticky.
- Dust a clean surface with the all-purpose flour.
- Remove the dough from the mixer and set it on the floured surface.
- Cover the dough with a kitchen towel to rest for 10 minutes.
- Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough to a quarter inch.
- If using a KitchenAid pasta attachment, begin to put sections of the rolled dough through
the initial ‘flattening pasta attachment.’ - Then attach the spaghetti attachment, and collect small batches of spaghetti.
- If you do not have a KitchenAid pasta attachment, you can still make pasta!
- Roll the dough very thin (1/8 -1/10″) and cut small strips to make fettuccine.
- You could also make lasagna noodles by ensuring the dough is rolled into a long, rectangular shape before cutting the pasta.
- If using a KitchenAid pasta attachment, begin to put sections of the rolled dough through
- Place your pasta batches on a lightly floured surface and dust with more flour.
- You may want to hang the pasta on a nonstick drying rack to ensure the dough does not stick together.
- You may want to hang the pasta on a nonstick drying rack to ensure the dough does not stick together.
- Next, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add a small about of olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking.
- Add the fresh pasta, and cook for ~3 minutes if making spaghetti.
- Note, the cooking time may go up to 6 minutes if you make a larger type of pasta. Additionally, my family really likes al dente pasta!
- Finally, strain the water and cover with your favorite marinara sauce and fresh herbs.
- Enjoy immediately! (Please note, fresh pasta does not make for good leftovers!)
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You may have guessed that my kitchen is rather small based on my photos and crafty use of angles. That means I am a strong advocate against kitchen appliances that are single use. I can justify a Vitamix Blender
Well, all that didn’t stop me from finally cracking and purchasing my very own pizzelle iron, specifically the Cuisinart WM-PZ2 Pizzelle Press
I come from an Italian family so when I think about cookies that are a staple at every wedding, holiday event, graduation party, etc., I think of the pizzelle. I can still smell the anise oil cooking out of the pizzelles at my grandma’s house.
For those of you who didn’t grow up in an Italian household, pizzelles are a thin, usually anise flavored, slightly crispy cookie. I recently learned that the pizzelle actually originated in the Abruzzo region which is where my family is from. No wonder these cookies were such a must have in my household!
I started doing some research on pizzelle recipes to find one that I could easily veganize. Unfortunately, these cookies are heavily reliant on eggs. It didn’t seem like Ener-G Egg Replacer
The result was a tasty, crispy pizzelle reminiscent of those from my childhood! Just look at the photos!
The next best part was how easy they are to make! Overall, the prep takes about 10 minutes, that’s it. Depending on how brown you want the cookies, it will take anywhere from 30-60 seconds per press. I made about 18 cookies in under 20 minutes. This is quickly going to become one of my go to cookie recipes!
Cheers!
Jocelyn
Click to view slideshow.
Cuisinart WM-PZ2 Pizzelle Press
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