Whole roasted garlic heads

Costco had 5 pounds of garlic on sale for something ridiculous like $3.99, so I bought it! And I've been making a bunch of garlic-heavy recipes ever since, including this one which was great and so easy it almost doesn't need a recipe. Except it does because I will forget the temperature.

Whole roasted Garlic

From Delish

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Slice off top of the head of garlic. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and place in a shallow dish. 
2. Roast until golden and soft, 40 minutes. Let cool then squeeze out garlic cloves and use on everything.

Best tomato sauce for Pasta

 Mahesh said this recipe is from a nice restaurant in New York City that he always wanted to go to but never had a chance to go to. SO, I tried making the red sauce here at home. It is easy, fast, and turned out very well. Although 2/3 cup of oil is so much!! I will try half the oil next time. 

Best Tomato Sauce for Pasta

by Lilia Chef Missy Robbins, via Bloomberg

Ingredients

2/3 cup olive oil (I will try 1/3 cup next time)
20 garlic cloves (about 1½ heads of garlic), peeled 

Two 28-oz. cans of whole peeled tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp crushed red chile flakes (I left this out bc kids)
2 basil sprigs
Kosher salt
1 lb. dried pasta (Robbins prefers short shapes, like rigatoni)

 Directions

In a large, heavy saucepan, warm the olive oil over moderately low heat. Add the garlic cloves, and gently simmer until softened and just beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the canned tomatoes in a colander. Transfer the tomatoes and any purée in the colander into a food processor and pulse two or three times until the tomatoes are very roughly chopped. (Tester’s note: If you like using your hands, squeeze the tomatoes to break them up into large chunks.)

Using a fork or the back of a spoon, crush half the garlic cloves in the oil; leave the remaining cloves whole. Add the tomatoes, fennel, and chile flakes to the saucepan and simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the basil, season well with salt, and simmer for about five more minutes, until the sauce is richly flavored.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until just al dente. Drain, reserving some of the pasta cooking liquid. Cook the pasta in about 2 cups of the sauce, basting the pasta, until al dente; add a little pasta cooking water if necessary. Refrigerate or freeze the remaining sauce for another use.

NOTE: The kids would probably prefer a fully blended sauce next time, but they did eat this. 

 

Eggplant Balls

Whenever I make Spaghetti I always want to make some kind of an eggplant meatball to make it a bit healthier and add variety. The other recipe I have made for years no one likes, so I tried a new one this time -- and it was received much better. One of my favorite tricks for maximum yum in vegetarian food is to deveganize a vegan recipe, that is what I did here. 

Eggplant meatballs

From My Darling Vegan

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko)
  
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (I didn't have this so didn't use)
• 2 tbsp fresh basil (I didn't have this so didn't use)
  
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  
• 1 1/2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Chop the eggplant into 1" pieces. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add eggplant along with 1/4 cups water. Sauté for 10 minutes until eggplant is slightly brown and tender all throughout.
  
• While the eggplant is cooking, put garlic, herbs, spices, parmesan cheese, and egg into food processor and process until blended up and mixed well. When eggplant is cooked, add eggplant and breadcrumbs to the food processor and pulse until you have a uniform batter. Be careful not to overprocess or the meatballs will become gummy. Some texture is desirable. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Roll the meatball mixture into balls 2 heaping tablespoons in size and place on the prepared parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until meatballs are browned and crispy on the outside. This is good but alternatively you may want to try frying them in a pan with oil. 
• When the meatballs are done, add them to a saucepot with marinara sauce until the marinara sauce is heated all the way through. Toss with cooked spaghetti or zucchini noodles and serve with fresh parsley and extra parmesan.

The Most Wonderful Gingerbread Cookies

This gingerbread cookie recipe is great, not too spicy and nice and soft if you bake for 7 minutes. We are not big fans of gingerbread cookies but we liked these. 

THE MOST WONDERFUL GINGERBREAD COOKIES

From Food.com

        INGREDIENTS

•  3 cups all-purpose flour
•  1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons baking powder
• ³⁄₄ teaspoon baking soda
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 ³⁄₄ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter - I just used salted butter and omitted the salt
  
• ³⁄₄ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• ¹⁄₂ cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional) - I didn't use this
  

    

  DIRECTIONS

  • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
  • In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
  • Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.
  • Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
  • Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
  • (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Preheat oven to 375°.
  • Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
  • Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
  • Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
  • Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
  • Cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the ginger bread man is our favorite of course.
  • Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
  • Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
  • Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
  • After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.
  • I usually brush them with a powdered sugar glaze when I am in a hurry, but they look wonderful decorated with Royal icing.