Essential Italian Herb Pasta Sauce

Oct 23, 2020 | Dishes, Meal Prep

Every good Italian dish starts with a great sauce, and there’s no better sauce than a fresh one. My Grams and my mom have been working on this Italian herb pasta sauce for years, and it is so incredibly easy to have an amazing fresh and natural pasta sauce made up and kept on hand.

The most impressive thing I noticed about this recipe is that when you rinse out either the plastic bags or Tupperware, there is no residual red/orange stain on the plastic. Really makes you wonder in the store bought stuff, right?

This Italian herb pasta sauce will make enough sauce to feed about 10-12 people. I recommend freezing half to keep on hand for the next pasta dish. Depending on the dish I will add Italian sausage to create a meat sauce. This is completely optional, just make sure you cook the meat before adding it to the sauce. I find that sausage from a local butcher or grocer is the best taste and quality and really makes a difference in the sauce.

Print Recipe

Essential Italian Herb Pasta Sauce

The perfect marinara sauce to be used with noodles, lasagna, or any other pasta dish. This can be a sauce with or without meat

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time6 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: italian, italian herb, marinara, meat sauce, pasta sauce

Equipment

• Crockpot or large stew pot

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 large carrot peeled and shredded
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 28 oz cans crushed roma tomatoes
• 12 oz tomato paste
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 2 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage

Instructions

For herb sauce

• In a medium sized pot, sauté onions, garlic, and carrots in olive oil on medium heat until they are golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes
• In either a large stew pot or crockpot, add sauteed vegetables, cans of tomatoes, spices, and brown sugar
• Stir well to combine and cook on low heat for 6 hours
• Once sauce is cooled, divide out into 3 portions

For sauce with meat

• Cook italian sausage on the stovetop until it is cooked through. Add one pound of meat to each portioned out section of sauce

Notes

This pasta sauce will create enough for 2-3 pasta dishes. I freeze each portion in gallon bags. Fill each ziplock and lay it flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer so they freeze flat and are easier to store. 

I double this recipe when I make it, and freeze most of it.

When making a meat sauce, only add 1 lb of cooked meat to each frozen portion, not the whole batch. This can be done either before you freeze it or at the time of serving it.

I have used this pasta sauce with ravioli, tortellini, baked eggplant, lasagna, and my favorite, with homemade spaghetti. I make mine with my favorite pasta roller, the Atlas 150, from Marcato. It is incredibly easy to have homemade noodles and truly not as difficult as one might think to make them. Lemme tell you, its worth it to pair fresh noodles with this sauce.

For another tomato masterpiece, try out my homemade tomato basil soup!

Best Homemade Chili

Oct 12, 2020 | Dishes, Meal Prep

This is the best homemade chili, passed down and modified from my grandma to my mom and now to now me. I love the ability to share special recipes that have been in our family for years.

Toss this homemade chili in a crockpot or a large pot for a few long and slow hours and you’ll have dinner with minimal effort. This recipe is full of simple ingredients and your own spices, so you can feel good about what’s going into it. Pair this with my buttermilk cast iron skillet cornbread for a hearty and warm winter meal.

Soup is the holy grail of easy meal prep- it makes large quantities and reheats so so easily. AND its flavor only gets better throughout the week. You can even store this in the freezer to pull out on a busy day for an instant home-cooked dinner. 

Ground beef, spices, beans, onion, and tomatoes slow cook to create a thick hearty chili. I love to top it with extra sharp cheddar cheese (bonus points if you shred your own block of cheese, and pair it with a thick slice of cornbread.

This homemade chili can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight if frozen, and heat up for an easy meal.

Print Recipe

Best Homemade Chili

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chili, crockpot meals, homemade, soup, winter food

Equipment

• Crockpot or large stock pot

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp Lawry's seasoned salts
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 15 oz crushed tomato can
• 1 15 oz tomato sauce can
• 1 sweet onion chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• beef stock enough to cover meat
• 2 15 oz red bean can
• cheddar cheese to top

Instructions

• Brown ground beef with chopped onions and green pepper. Drain excess fat
• Add in garlic and onion powder, celery salt, chili powder, cumin, pepper, salt, oregano to a large stock pot or crockpot
• Pour enough beef stock to the pot to just cover the meat. Mix in both cans of beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, and cocoat powder
• Cook on low heat for 4-6 hours

Notes

Chili is best the day after cooking it, after the flavors have had time to mix together

Chili can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. Store extras in the freezer either in a ziplock bag or a glass jar. If freezing in glass, ensure that you keep the lid off for the firs 12 hours while the chili freezes before replacing the lid. The expansion will cause the glass to shatter if you seal the lid on it initially. If freezing in a bag, fill it and lay it flat on a cookie sheet to freeze flat for easy storage.

Fresh Greek Inspired Pasta Salad

Sep 28, 2020 | Dishes, Meal Prep

This fresh Greek pasta salad is amazingly easy, fresh, and delicious. I love a flavorful, light, and versatile salad full of fresh ingredients.

The best part about a pasta salad is that you can customize it to your own personal taste. For a vegetarian salad, simply don’t add the chicken. All other additions are completely optional as well- see that I do not have olives added to mine 🙂

Salads and soups are definitely my favorite make ahead meal. Pasta salads make for the perfect meal prep because they don’t even have to be reheated and are a super easy cold meal. If you’re more inclined for an easy hot meal, try my tortellini soup.

Thanks to my Cook’s Illustrated Magazine-I learned several great tips for cooking with onions and tomatoes. For juicy tomatoes that cause everything they touch to also taste like tomatoes- put the diced tomatoes in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Letting the tomatoes set like this will pull the excess juices out while simultaneously flavoring them. For onions that have a strong bite just soak them in ice water, and it will help neutralize their pungency and keep them crisp. 

Print Recipe

Greek Inspired Pasta Salad

An easy pasta salad to meal prep or serve for a crowd. Made with all whole and fresh ingredients to taste and feel good

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: Greek pasta salad, meal prep, pasta salad

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast cubed
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp pepper
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 3 c cooked pasta noodles cavatappi, penne, farfelle or other small noodles all work
• 1 roma tomato diced
• 1 english cucumber chopped
• 1/2 red onion sliced thinly or diced
• 1 bell pepper diced; any color works
• 1 c kalamata olives
• 1 avocado diced
• 1/2 c feta cheese
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp oregano

Instructions

• Marinate the chicken in olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano for 30 minutes up to overnight. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through completely
• Add diced tomatoes to a collander and sprinkle with salt and cover it with a paper towel to draw water out of them. In a bowl of ice water, add sliced onions. Let both bowls sit for 15 minutes
• Cook noodles according to packaging
• In a large bowl, add diced chicken, drained tomatoes, sliced onions, noodles, olives, cucumber, bell pepper, feta, and avocado
• In a small bowl, mix olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. Pour and gently mix over pasta salad
• Refrigerate and serve cold

Notes

Soaking the onions in ice water takes the bite out of them and makes them less strong. This step is optional. 

Letting the tomatoes soak with salt brings the excess water out of them and prevents them from leaking juices all over the rest of the salad. This step is also optional. 

Keep this fresh Greek pasta salad covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days.