Spaghetti Bolognese

Today I was craving a big bowl of pasta. I decided to give in to this craving and come up with a bolognese recipe. I don’t super love spaghetti, but I saw someone eating a thick bigoli pasta recently and wanted to give it a try…

…and then my grocery store didn’t have any! I decided to try this perciatelli, otherwise known at bugatini, which is thick, hollow spaghetti. I love this pasta because it feels lighter that traditional spaghetti and it gets sauce all trapped in the inside – yum!

The finished product. I tried to fancy plate the pasta – it did not work, but it was still tasty! I also included below my broccoli recipe.

This recipe serves 4-6. We had 4 servings and had plenty enough for second helpings.

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 29 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 cup dry wine wine, such as Pinot Grigio
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 tbsp dried or fresh chopped basil
• 1 tsp dried or fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

For the pasta:

• 1 pound thick spaghetti, such as bigoli or bucatini
• 1 tbsp salt

For the (optional) broccoli side:

• 1 broccoli crown
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

Finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery. Heat the olive oil in a large shallow pan. Once the oil shimmers, add the chopped vegetables. Saute for 5 minutes, then add the minced garlic. Continue to saute until the garlic is fragrant and the onions semi-translucent.

I like my sauce a little chunky, so I have fairly large veggies. Mince finer if you like a smoother sauce.

Add the ground beef to the sauteing vegetables. Break up the beef wooden spoon as it browns. Allow the beef to brown for about 5 minutes.

Once the beef is broken up and browned, add the seasonings, tomato sauce, and wine, and half of the Parmesan cheese. Allow to come to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer for one hour.

To cook the pasta, bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta. Cook for 7-9 minutes, or until al dente. You want the pasta cooked just under your desired tenderness so you can finish the pasta in the sauce.

Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Add the pasta to the sauce and allow to cook together for about 2 minutes at a low simmer, or until your pasta reaches your desired done-ness. Add pasta water as needed to thin out your sauce (you do not have to use it all).

You might think finishing the pasta in the sauce is optional. You might be inclined to just dollop the sauce on top of dry pasta in a bowl like restaurants do – DON’ T DO IT! This is the biggest taste changing step!

Serve sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan.

For a healthy side dish, this pairs well with garlic butter broccoli. Cut the broccoli crown into florets, and cook the broccoli in boiling water for 5-7 minutes. Season with garlic, butter, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cajun Chicken Jambalaya

My family doesn’t eat a lot of pork or seafood, so I wanted to recreate my favorite jambalaya without either. This jambalaya is simple to put together, but spicy and packed with flavor! You can absolutely add sausage, shrimp, or other meats to this (I’ll post a variation another time), but I like the simplicity of this one for a weeknight meal.

My finished bowl of jambalaya. It came out a little less browned than some other recipes, but still delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup long grain rice
• Seasoning mixture:
  • 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, such as Slap Ya Mama
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, omit for less spicy
  • 1/2 tsp paprika, or 1 tsp if omitting cayenne

Spice mixture uselessly not mixed together 😉

Heat a large cast iron or stainless steel pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Once the oil shimmers, add the celery, onion, and bell pepper. Saute for 5 minutes, or until the onion is slightly translucent.

Rub the seasoning mixture into the chicken. Add the chicken and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally until the chicken is browned and there is a good fond on the bottom of the pan.

Deglaze the pan with the chicken broth. Add the rice and allow to come to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes. No peaking!

Remove from heat and uncover. Stir, then allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Rebirth

So I decided to revamp this place. Spruce it up around here.

I am extremely passionate about cooking. I have a large collection of recipes, ranging from ones created by me, my family, adapted from other places, and countless others.

So I decided to put them somewhere. So I can enjoy them. So you can enjoy them. Warning – I have never written recipes before. I come from a family of do-it-by-sight and in-your-head recipes. I hope to write some of these down for the first time, tweak them, and allow other to try them out. It might be a long road, but I will hopefully slowly add more here.

Happy cooking
x

Hufflepuff Inspiration

I’m still working out the details for Gryffindor and Slytherin, but my Hufflepuff vision is clear! ‘puffs are known for their cozy common room near the kitchens and a love of greenery, so I thought this would make the perfect kitchen aesthetic.

Here is this official photo from Pottermore. I am getting super hobbit vibes and I love it. Simple wooden table, yellow rug, lots of right and greenery. This is going to make a great kitchen.

The above photo is from HP Aesthetic, a great place to get some magical inspiration! I love the candles surrounded by greenery and hanging terrariums. Also, cookies. Always cookies.

I was searching for ideas for how to add greenery and herbs without taking up precious counter space. This over-the-sink shelf is a great space saver! I love this article from Architecture Design – they came up with some other great ways to organize and style a small kitchen.

We don’t have a pantry in our kitchen, so I will need some excellent space saving tips for food storage. This magnetic strip and spice containers is a little pricey for the number of spices we have, but I love it. This assembly is from IKEA, picture courtesy of The Kitchn. Click the photo for some more clever ideas on how to use your cabinet doors for extra storage!

Do you know any great plants to have indoors? What would work best in a hanging terrarium?

Click here to see my full Pinterest board for this rustic, green Hufflepuff kitchen!

My Hogwarts dream

Ever since I first moved on my own ten years ago, I dreamed of having a Hogwarts themed home. Specifically, I wanted to replicate the essence of each house and the coziness of the common rooms. I never was quite able to make this idea work in a rental. Now that I have a clean slate with a home of my own, this is my design inspiration.

In our home, I will finally have my own office / art studio. I am beyond excited to decorate this space as a serene work environment. Naturally, I want this to be my own house, which is Ravenclaw. I am also extremely passionate about astronomy, so I want my space to reflect that. Fortunately that works with the Ravenclaw aesthetic.

Here is the official Ravenclaw common room from Pottermore:

I can definitely draw inspiration from this. My art studio will also have our current couch, which converts to a bed so this room can double as the guest room. I plan on reupholstering it with a nice teal blue like in this picture. I would like that side of the office to be a book nook, with the couch and a bookshelf.

I found this image on House Beautiful. I think this is a little dark for my taste, but I like the placement of the couch and bookshelves.

As for the studio part, I have a lot of different ideas. IKEA had this gem of an inspirational photo, and I am in love. I plan on doing a gallery wall behind my desk to showcase a lot of my artwork.

I also want to incorporate a space theme. Moon painting, fairy lights, constellation clock – I have so many ideas! I really need to get in the space and get a feel for the amount of room I will have. Click here to see my Pinterest board for Ravenclaw office inspiration!

Stay tuned for my ideas for the other three houses. I’m so looking forward to the Hufflepuff inspired kitchen!