Garlic Eggplant Pasta Dish

Well, chalk this up to another good recipe I managed to throw together! I admit, as I was sifting through my refrigerator, I had my doubts. I wondered what the kids would think of it, and I wondered if it would be good.

SCORE on both counts! Yay!

This was so easy. And it’s good for you: eggplant, artichokes, olive oil, marinated garlic, marinated black olives, a little basil, OOOO LALA! Eat this healthy stuff, and I’ll bet your term life ins rates will lower! I used all this stuff from leftovers in my fridge (food too expensive to throw to the dog). The garlic and olives I got from the deli at my grocery store.

Here it is:

Garlic Eggplant Pasta Dish

1 small eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup artichoke hearts, sliced into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup marinated garlic cloves, sliced in half
1/4 cup marinated black olives, sliced in half
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 cup olive oil
prepared spaghetti sauce (I used a big can of Prego)
1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
pasta (rigatoni or rotini are perfect)

Start the water boiling for your pasta. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil. Throw in the eggplant and allow to soften. Don’t let it get mushy, though! Toss in the artichokes and basil, and heat up. Toss in the garlic and olives. Keep the mixture moving in the saucepan so that nothing gets browned.

Cook the pasta. Heat the ground beef and sauce.

Serve!

I placed everything in separate dishes (eggplant mixture, pasta, ground beef, and sauce) for the picky eaters. But everyone ate it all. It’s delicious!

Perfect Pot Roast

This was the EASIEST pot roast I have ever made. I’m impressed! It was such a surprise that I didn’t even think to take photos beforehand, because I thought this was just going to be another basic, boring pot roast. But WOW! It’s good. And EASY. Throw it in the oven, forget about it, go work on your quotes for better car insurance or go rake the yard. About the time everyone starts clamoring for dinner, it will be ready.

Perfect Pot Roast

1 4-5 pound slab of beef chuck, any grade, no thicker than 2 inches
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
2 large sheets (or so) of aluminum foil

Take the sheets of aluminum foil and crimp the long side of each sheet– you basically want to create one large sheet to wrap up the roast completely. This is crucial to the success of the mission! Use more than one sheet if you need to.

Place your roast in the center of the large foil sheet you’ve made. Sprinkle half of the the Onion Soup mix on the slab, spread with your hands. Flip the roast over and sprinkle the rest of the mix; spread with your hands.

Seal the foil by carefully wrapping the roast. It doesn’t need to be perfectly airtight (as my roast cooked, a little of the juices did leak out), but you don’t want any open gaps or seams. Tighten your seams. Place the wrapped roast in a dish. Turn on your oven to 325 degrees, and let the roast bake under this slow heat for 6 to 8 hours. This meal is perfect with brussels sprouts and baked potatoes with cheese. Yum!

You could also throw in a few thick slices of Red Onion to drive everyone in the house mad while the roast bakes all day. Up to you. I stuck with the Onion Soup mix and it turned out perfectly. This is a recipe I’m to experiment with, however– next time I’ll try balsamic vinegar with Red Onions, and maybe another time I’ll try Greek seasoning and feta cheese or something. Yum!

Steak Pizzaiola

This recipe is sooo good. And it’s pretty easy to make, if a bit messy. (Italian dishes are always so messy to make and eat). This particular recipe I got from Italian Food at About.com, and it’s called Don’s Steak Pizzaiola. I altered it a little to my liking. It’s a really good dish.

Steak Pizzaiola
Serves 6

2 28oz. can chunky-style crushed tomatoes
8 Tablespoons olive oil
6-8 large cloves of garlic, pressed well, or chopped lightly
6 slices very thin eye-round beef slices, 1/4″ thick or thinner
2 Tablespoons dry oregano
2 Tablespoons dry basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

In a Dutch oven, take 4 Tablespoons of the oil and heat. Add half your garlic cloves and saute for about 2 minutes, until it starts to turn brown (don’t burn!). Add the tomatoes and the basil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, while you prepare the meat.

In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the garlic cloves, dried oregano, and mozzarella cheese; mix and set aside.

Take the remaining olive oil and heat it up in a large frying pan. Add a few slices at a time, not crowding the meat. Saute the meat, browning both sides and cooking for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove each slice onto a plate as it finishes. When all the slices are cooked, dispose of the greasy fat at the bottom. To the empty frying pan, add a little bit of the tomato sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of meat slices (how many slices depends on the size of your frying pan; I add two at a time). Now spread a small handful of the garlic/oregano/mozzarella over the slices; sprinkle some of the grated cheese; add more sauce to cover. Repeat the layers until all the stuff is used up.

Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes or so. I shake the pan lightly to keep the bottom from sticking. (I have a glass tile/glass-top kind of stove, so cooking contents often stick to the bottoms of my pans).

This is a delicious meal with some vermicelli pasta and a green salad– nice and light but SO flavorful! Manja, manja!

Photo courtesy of the Leftover Queen.

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