Carrot, Eggplant, Sausage Pasta Sauce

Carrot, Eggplant, Sausage Pasta Sauce 

Let’s not mess around.  Grab your apron!  Time to get right to it!

2 Large eggplants, halved and roasted in a 400ºF oven (200º C).  Allow to cool and scrape out the meat.  Discard the skin.  Hint: I used a spray of Pam olive oil to keep the eggplant from soaking up too much oil.

2 Cans cooked carrots, with juice, about 28 ounces or 800 grams

3/4 Pound of loose Italian sausage, crumbled

1  Medium sized sweet onion, diced

5-6 Cloves of garlic, chopped

Small bunches each of fresh rosemary and sage, chopped

3-4 Good shakes of cinnamon

3 Teaspoons paprika for color.

1 Can coconut milk (Not coconut cream, or the sweetened style coconut cream)

Note: Chicken stock for thinning the mixture, if necessary.  I didn’t use any.

Salt and pepper to taste

Get your sous-chef to open a bottle of wine and pour you a glass.

If you’re a fainthearted cook, stop right here.  For this dish I used the TLAR method, That Looks About Right. If you’re a cook who worships the perfection of precise numbers, you’re on your own.

I put everything, but the sausage and coconut milk in my food processor and got it as close to a fine liquid as I could.  If you want to add the coconut milk as well, go ahead.  My machine wasn’t big enough!

Note: Don’t bother to clean the machine yet.  You’ll need it in a minute or two to shred the sausage.

Pour the mixture in a large pot, on medium heat, and stir in the coconut milk, if you haven’t already.  Put a top on the pot, but leave space for the steam to escape.  Stir from time to time to keep it from sticking on the bottom. Once the mixture gets to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer.  Taste and season.  All the ingredients are already cooked, so you’re heating it to let the flavors meld. 

The mixture is going to be thick, and as it cooks it will get thicker.

While the sauce cooks, fry the crumbled sausage in another pan until it is cooked through.  Drain off the grease, add the sausage to the food processor and turn it into a fine mince.  Pour it in the mixture in the pot and stir well.

Now you can clean the food processor and I have a splendid two word solution:  “Hey sous-chef!”

Serve over spaghetti! I used zucchini spaghetti.

But you say, “Not a pasta fan.”  Well, I have good news.  Often the difference between soup and sauce is all in what you like to call your mind! Try a bowl of this wonderful stuff all by itself!  Add some freshly diced onion, a big squeeze of fresh lemon and some Sriracha hot sauce! Delicious! 

Time to top off that glass of wine before you dig into this absolutely delicious, creamy and exciting pasta sauce or soup or creamy vegetable stew!

Spinach and Sausage

Spinach and Sausage

I’m an unrepentant spinach lover.  Haven’t found a way I don’t like it, but I’m always searching for something new, pretty much as I search for new wines, whiskies, and beers.

Yes, I’ve tried boiled and buttered, spinach with onions, more than a dozen versions of that Indian favorite, saag paneer , creamed spinach, varieties of raw spinach in salads, and other ways that stretch my memory to the limits.

Lately, standing in my kitchen and reviewing the contents of my refrig and wondering about alternatives, without having to drink and drive, since I was already downing my second glass of fermented grape, I hit on the idea of sausage and spinach, fried in a pan. Hey, I also had a big handful of mushrooms to use, and a sweet onion from some strange corner of the earth. Garlic?  Well, hell yes!  Grated cheese also spoke to my taste buds in a loud, but timorous voice.  “What about me???”

Well, then, nothing left to do than strive bravely onward!

Spinach and Sausage, serves 4

Only equipment you need is a stove, a large, high-sided frying pan, and a stir stick.

5 Cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 Sweet onion, peeled, cut in half and sliced thinly

8 button mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 lb of sausage, crumbled

1 to 1.5 pounds of spinach, well rinsed and drained

Enough grated parmesan for the cheese lover inside you

Hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

Salt and pepper to taste

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons butter ( prefer French butter)

Turn the heat to medium. Drizzle the olive oil in the pan and add the butter.

When the butter melts and starts to sizzle, add the garlic, onion, and mushrooms.  Stir and cook until everything just begins to change color.

Empty the garlic/onion/mushroom mélange into a bowl and set aside for now.

Add the sausage to the frying pan and cook, breaking it up as much as possible.  When the meat is no longer pink, add the garlic et al back in the pan and stir.  Now add the spinach and allow it to cook down, stirring and turning the whole pile, so everything gets its fair share of the heat.

When the spinach leaves are wilted and soggy, add as much parmesan as you like.  Stir well, taste and add salt and pepper.

Inform your guests that there’s only enough for four and some of them will have to leave.  (Hint: Only inform the ones who did not bring wine.)

Now you can also drop a few friends from your Christmas list.

Serve in individual bowls. Stand by!  It’s time to put some heat to the meat.  Give yourself another generous shake or two of parmesan, then as much hot sauce as you like.  Stir. Taste.  Pour more wine.  Gobble and slurp. Converse only if you must.