Category: Mediterranean

Chianti Style Beef Rigatoni

Even The Fussy One (my youngest son) liked this one. It is always a risk turning him into a guinea pig, but in this case it paid off. ;-)

We'd actually planned to be guinea pigs tonight, but just for ourselves. I had Italian braciole in mind. Then (as is so often the case) my son's dad said he's going away today so my plans changed. There is no point cooking delicious gourmet food for someone who is unlikely to appreciate it. However, it becomes quite a challenge to find recipe ideas that I think my son will like. He's guaranteed to like anything with sausage or minced beef, but that really is kinda limiting...

I stuck with the Italian theme, bought (yes, I know!) some garlic bread, made a lovely garden salad, and served up this very simple dish. It turned out quite cheap as, although it uses an expensive cut of beef (fillet steak), it doesn't use a lot per person. Cooked lightly, it was tender and moist and there appeared to be heaps to go around. In fact, we expect to get a second meal (for three) out of it, but YYMV.

The original recipe is here but I made a lower fat version of it.

It's always especially successful when The Fussy One approves!

I hope you enjoy it too.

Chianti Style Beef Rigatoni

Simple to prepare with very few ingredients, this pasta dish was rich and tasty.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 25 g unsalted butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 800 g canned chopped tomatoes
  • 350 ml medium-bodied red wine (I used a cheap-but-ok cleanskin merlot and it was great)
  • 400 g rigatoni pasta
  • 250 g beef eye fillet, very thinly sliced
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Directions

  1. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic. Stir for 1-2 minutes until golden.
  2. Add tomato and stir for 5 minutes. Add half the wine, then simmer over medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
  3. Add the remaining wine, then simmer for a further 15 minutes until well-reduced.
  4. Cook pasta according to packet instructions. When almost cooked, heat oil in a frypan over high heat. Brown beef, in 2 batches, for 5-10 seconds each side.
  5. Add beef and pan juices to sauce. Season, add drained pasta and toss.
  6. Serve with parmesan and parsley.

Posted by Vicki on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 07:35 PM in Recipes and Beef and Mediterranean and Pasta.

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Cheesy Meatballs with Spaghetti

My youngest son is notorious for being a fussy eater. Thankfully, he's getting a lot better — but I'm always on the lookout for kid-friendly food. This quick and easy recipe from Taste.com.au uses a jar of pasta sauce of your choice and some simple meatballs that have grated parmesan cheese mixed in. This means you don't need to add cheese on the top. We never do, but then again we need to watch our waistlines and you may not! Still, if you scatter some small basil leaves over the top before serving, you'll have a both delicious and attractive meal.

As an alternative to mixing grated cheese throughout the meatball mixture, you might want to cut cubes of cheese and pop them in the middle of each meatball as a tasty surprise.

Cheesy Meatballs with Spaghetti

A kid-friendly meal that the whole family enjoys.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 500 g lean beef mince
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup grated tasty cheese
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup chopped basil
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 x 570g jar tomato, onion & basil chunky sauce
  • 400 g dried spaghetti
  • Basil leaves, to serve

Directions

  1. Combine mince, egg, cheese, onion and basil. Season and roll into balls.
  2. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Cook half the meatballs for 4-5 minutes. Remove and repeat.
  3. Return the meatballs to the pan and pour over sauce. Cover, cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes until cooked through.
  4. Cook spaghetti in a large pan of boiling water, as per packet directions. Drain and place in bowl.
  5. Spoon over meatballs and sauce. Serve with basil leaves.

Notes

For a healthy alternative, instead of frying the meatballs, place them on a tray, spray lightly with olive oil spray, and bake in a 180ºC oven until brown. Put the meatballs and their juices in a saucepan with the jar of pasta sauce to finish cooking if necessary (this will depend on the size of your meatballs — I like to make mine small as I find they tend to go further) and to heat the sauce.

Posted by Vicki on Thursday, October 01, 2009 at 07:35 PM in Recipes and Beef and Mediterranean.

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