Thursday nights mean flamenco class for yours truly, so I try to get an early start on dinner. As I write this, I've got some homemade meatballs cooking on the stove. The meatballs I made today are all beef; though on occasion I use a mix of ground beef and pork. I use gluten free bread crumbs, egg, dried herbs, and a sofrito.
Sofrito is a popular ingredient in Puerto Rican cooking--similar in appearance to pesto, it combines peppers, onions, garlic, culantro, cilantro, and this really small, sweet chile called aji dulce. These ingredients go into the food processor, and are added to lots of traditional dishes. I make it in large batches, and freeze it in plastic containers. Now I know what you're going to say: that doesn't sound like something that would go in traditional Italian meatballs. You would be correct. But they do go in my Nuyorican meatballs. I remember Giada de Laurentiis from the Food Network using a sofrito once too--though I don't think she put it in her meatballs.
Once the meatballs are done done I'll drop them into my marinara sauce and let 'em simmer for about 30 minutes. I'll serve them over gluten free pasta--today it's Bionaturae Elbow macaroni--they're made with potato, rice, and soy. I really like the texture and flavor of the pasta; to me, it is the most similar to semolina pastas than other gluten free varieties.
Sorry, no picture yet--but once dinner's ready I'll post one. Ciao!
Sofrito is a popular ingredient in Puerto Rican cooking--similar in appearance to pesto, it combines peppers, onions, garlic, culantro, cilantro, and this really small, sweet chile called aji dulce. These ingredients go into the food processor, and are added to lots of traditional dishes. I make it in large batches, and freeze it in plastic containers. Now I know what you're going to say: that doesn't sound like something that would go in traditional Italian meatballs. You would be correct. But they do go in my Nuyorican meatballs. I remember Giada de Laurentiis from the Food Network using a sofrito once too--though I don't think she put it in her meatballs.
Once the meatballs are done done I'll drop them into my marinara sauce and let 'em simmer for about 30 minutes. I'll serve them over gluten free pasta--today it's Bionaturae Elbow macaroni--they're made with potato, rice, and soy. I really like the texture and flavor of the pasta; to me, it is the most similar to semolina pastas than other gluten free varieties.
Sorry, no picture yet--but once dinner's ready I'll post one. Ciao!
*edited to add: Awww, yeah!
5 comments:
Are your kids good at eating spicy stuff? My husband and I both love food with a bit of kick - but Miss E so far not so much. I'd love her to enjoy the same curries, chilis etc that we have. To date anything even remotely peppery gets held out on the tongue with the exclamation 'too picey' lol!
Hi Annie,
Surprisingly, my kids DO like food with a bit of a kick. I remember Zoe being 2 years old, eating food at one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants in NYC.
I don't bring out "the really big guns" as far as heat goes when cooking for the entire gang. My husband and I like things VERY spicy. So what I do is cook with a milder to medium degree of heat for the family. Then I keep a jar of my favorite spice and add to my own plate.
Get the hose out for your tongue! Sounds delicioso! HUGS
Sounds fabulous!
Could you post a sofrito recipe sometime---I'd love to try it!
Lynn, fortunately for us the garden hose is just outside my dining room on the other side of our sliding glass doors. You never know when you might need to put out the three-alarm fire that can be my cooking, LOL! HUGS
Ask and you shall receive, Attila--I'll post the sofrito recipe tomorrow.
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