I have been very busy planting my vegetable garden. I am almost done, so hopefully tonight after work I will be able to plant the last few beds. That won’t leave a lot of time to cook dinner though, but I have a plan: Frozen cheese ravioli, left-over marinara and a quick salad. By the time the water boils and the ravioli are done, I will have the sauce warmed and the salad made. We even have some rolls left from last night if someone wants bread with their dinner.

The vegetarian marinara sauce is really easy and tasty. Here’s the recipe:

Vegetarian Marinara Sauce (double batch)

Ingredients:
2 large onions, chopped finely
2 bulbs of garlic, minced finely
2 bell peppers (red, green or one of each), chopped finely
1 can black olives, drained and chopped finely
1 pound mushrooms, chopped finely
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 – 26 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
handful dried oregano
handful dried basil
salt to taste

The reason I chop every thing finely for this sauce is that it gives a consistency resembling ground beef in the sauce. It took a very long time for my kids to realize there wasn’t any meat in this sauce.

In a heavy bottomed pan sauté the onions until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Next add the bell peppers and garlic and cook until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan (except the salt) and bring up to a boil. Turn down and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it simmers, the better the sauce will taste. After the first 30 minutes, taste the sauce to see if it needs any salt. It may not because the olives are salty and the canned tomatoes usually contain salt also.

A trick I use if the sauce gets too thick, is to add a can of V-8 juice. It has most of the same ingredients as the sauce so it adds liquid and maintains the flavor.

So if the weather holds, my garden will be completely planted tonight before dinner. My Quick Fix Dinner will be less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Everyone will be satisfied with the garden and the dinner!

Ingredients:

1 pound beef (ground beef or shredded roast)

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 pound mushrooms (sliced)

salt to taste

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 pound wide egg noodles

2 10-1/2 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

16 oz. container of sour cream

Put on water to boil for the egg noodles. Brown the ground beef and season with the black pepper and salt. Chop the onions and garlic. Add mushrooms, onions and garlic to ground beef and cook until tender. Combine the two cans of soup with the milk and whisk until smooth. Add to the beef mixture. When egg noodles are cooked, drain well and add to the beef and soup mixture. Stir in the sour cream just before serving.

For a Quick Fix meal, use either frozen prepared ground beef or as I did pre-cooked and seasoned London broil or other roast.

Sweet Italian Sausage Puttanesca

Ingredients:

2 cups white rice or 1 pound pasta

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion – chopped finely

6 cloves garlic – minced

1 pound mushrooms – chopped

1 green bell pepper – chopped

1 can artichoke hearts – drained and quartered

1large jar roasted red bell peppers – drained and sliced

16 oz. beef stock

parmesan cheese (optional for topping)

If making rice, boil 4 cups of water.  Add the rice and bring back to a boil.  Turn down, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Otherwise, boil enough water and cook 1 pound of your favorite pasta.

Cut the sausages into slices.  In a large skillet, brown the sausages in the olive oil.  Add the chopped onions and green bell peppers.  Sautee until the onions are soft.  Add the garlic and mushrooms.  Continue cooking until mushrooms are browned.  Add the artichoke hearts and red peppers.  Pour in beef stock and deglaze the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve the sausage mixture over the rice or pasta.

Traditionally, pasta puttanesca is made from whatever you have in your pantry.  Try adding anchovies, olives, basil or pepperoncinis.