In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add ¼ pound (3/4 cup) finely diced pancetta or fatty prosciutto, and a scant ½ tsp chile flakes; cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add 3 cups High Desert Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil and simmer until hot. Toss with 1 pound warm pasta. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.
Mock Bolognese Ragu
In a large sauté pan, melt 3 Tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add 1 cup finely chopped onion, 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic and ¼ cup each very finely chopped carrot and celery. Cook until softened about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high add 1 pound ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up the meat with a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 3 cups High Desert Fruit of the Vine and Red Wine Sauce and ½ cup cream or milk. Simmer until the sauce has thickened enough to softly mound on a spoon, about 8 minutes. Toss with 1 pound warm pasta. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.
Penne with Portobello Mushroom Ragu
A ragu is a thick tomato sauce, usually made with meat. Here the Portobello mushrooms take the place of the meat and add an earthy flavor.
1 pound penne
1 jar High Desert Portobello Mushroom Ragu with Red Wine
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot for cooking pasta. Add 1 tsp of salt and the pasta to the boiling water. Cook until al dente.
Meanwhile pour the Mushroom Ragu in to medium sauce pan and heat on medium-high until simmering. Adjust heat and keep sauce warm.
Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Serve immediately, with cheese passed separately at the table.
Pink Sauce
In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt 4 Tbsp. butter. Pour in 1 ½ cups heavy cream. Raise the heat to medium high, simmer, stirring often, until it has reduced to ¾ to 1 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in ½ cup High Desert Fresh Spiced Tomato Sauce. Simmer until hot. Toss with 1 pound of warm pasta. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.
Smoke-Dried Tomato Sauce
1/2 tsp olive oil from High Desert Smoke-dried Tomatoes in extra virgin
olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 carrot, chopped
2 shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 oz High Desert Smoke-dried Tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
2 Tbsp basil, fresh, chopped
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
In a saucepan or stockpot over medium heat, sauté the onion, celery and carrot in the oil until the onion is golden. Add the shallots, garlic, tomatoes and High Desert Smoke-dried Tomatoes and sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add water and basil and simmer until the tomatoes are soft, approximately 15 minutes. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend 5 seconds. Season to taste with black pepper.
Pour over anything and everything.
Spaghetti & Meatballs
6 cups High Desert Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil
½ lb ground beef
½ lb ground pork
½ lb ground veal
1 Tbsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic minced plus 1 clove garlic, lightly smashed
2 large eggs
1 cup finely grated Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano, more for serving
1 ½ cups plain dry bread crumbs
1 ½ cups water
1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup olive oil, more as needed
1 lb dried spaghetti
Break up the ground meat into a large bowl. Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, minced garlic, eggs, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, water and parsley. Mix with your hands until everything is nicely distributed, but don't over mix. Shape into 12 meatballs by gently scooping up a handful of meat and rolling it into a nice even ball; each meatball should weigh about 4 ounces and be about 2 ½ inches in diameter.
In a 10 inch skillet, heat the olive oil and the lightly smashed garlic clove over medium heat. If your skillet is more than 10 inches you will need to add more oil. There should be enough oil to come about halfway up the sides of the meatballs. When the garlic is lightly browned, the oil should be hot enough to start frying. Remove the garlic from the oil once it becomes fully browned. Gently set six of the meatballs in the oil and fry until they're lightly browned on the bottom half, 5 to 6 minutes. Carefully turn them over using a slotted spatula and brown the other side. Drain the meatballs on a few paper towels to soak up excess oil. Fry the remaining six meatballs the same way.
Pour the High Desert Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil into a 7 quart or larger saucepan over medium high heat. Heat the sauce to a simmer, adjust the heat lower and keep sauce warm until ready to add meatballs. Add the meatballs to the simmering sauce and cover the pot. Simmer them together for 30 minutes to let the sauce permeate the meatballs and the meat flavor infuses the sauce.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When the meatballs and sauce have been simmering for about 20 minute, add the spaghetti to the boiling water and boil until it's just al dente.
When the spaghetti is done, drain it and return it to the pot it was cooked in. Add a couple of ladlefuls of the sauce to the spaghetti. Put the pot over high heat and, with a wooden spoon or tongs, constantly toss the pasta until each piece is coated with sauce, about 1 minute. Transfer to serving bowl and ladle more sauce over the spaghetti along with two or three meatballs. Serve with grated cheese.