Creamy Italian sauce

Now, I don't measure with instruments, but I will guess on this,

olive oil (no duh... this is Italian)
2 Tomatoes, boiled and skin removed
1cup Spinach Choppe
1 onion chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
2 toes garlic minced
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp all purpose flour

cook onion in the oil, add spinach and tomato when onion is tender (transparent) while this cooks (medium heat) mix spices (except the garlic) with whipping cream and milk and flour in a separate bowl and whisk till well blended. Add this to the onions spinach and tomatoes, reduce heat to simmer,  stir often, now put the garlic in. The sauce will thicken, makes a great sauce for orzo or tortellini,  can be used as a stuffing for peppers, or any other use you can find for it.
Red wine can be added for color.

I have made this with meat (Italian sausage, casings removed) it tends to discolor the sauce which should have a light pink appearance

Comfort Gone Awry... or Easy on the Cayenne

     Pay attention, yes; this could happen to you. Making soup tonight. Would be best to make my favorite, so the decision was not that hard. Potato Soup. Its real easy; boil potatoes, once soft start adding the potato soup stuff. Onions, carrots, celery, thyme,salt, pepper; 2 cubes of chicken bouillon; you know what it all takes. I did consider putting cayenne pepper in, but thought twice about it and decided not.  Now to thicken the broth I use heavy whipping cream, equal amount of milk and 2 Tbls of all purpose flour (or is that all porpoise flower) whisk till blended then add to the soup. I also found removing about 1-2 potatoes worth after cooking and mashing them helps. Well all was going great; that is till I did my first taste test and the carrots were still a bit crunchy. As more time was needed I decided to get creative and chopped up a handful of spinach and added that to the mix. Not meaning to be commercialized but McCormick has seasonings with crushed peppercorns, I used the Montreal Steak Seasoning... instead of just black pepper. Second taste test, of course use shredded cheddar... but just seemed something was still missing. Had that lack of or should I just say? It was bland. Thought for a bit, ah... it was the cayenne pepper. Gives it a bit of a kick. Well not being one to measure out and the container had a handy sprinkle top, one might say it had more of a horse kick than a people kick. It all worked out though, I was just cooking for me and a little shot of wine (in my mouth, not the soup) helped out a bit also.
     I will say in closing, this potato soup is not only easy to make, it is my favorite "comfort" food. You know, the one food that picks you up when you are feeling a little down. Potato soup and a Skyline Chili 3 Way... and a UDF chocolate malt and Lasagna and...

Oven tip 1

The oven is a wonderful contraption. Many great dishes can be created, just remember 400° is for frozen pizza; take your time, its not a race to cook the quickest. Time (instead of Thyme) is "the" thing when it comes to cooking. More time for the spices to mix. At higher temps it is easy to over cook your food.What is the purpose of garlic if it is all cooked away? Even potatoes are better when slowly boiled. Dinner is a planned event; reserve the time to properly prepare the feast. And be sure to have enough wine on hand... : )

Being Creative

  I called this LO salad (left overs)
   So your sitting with plans to go to the Grocery Super Store, running out of time till dinner. What to do? Well my visit to the local Ghettomart (Kroger close to me) will have to wait if dinner is to be 6:00 pm. I have 1/2 a pound of Italian sausage, 1/2 a container of ricotta cheese, some other Italian type spices and what not, but no tomato. What to do... I had 1/2 containers of much, made a large amount, you can adjust to double the recipe.


1/2 lb Italian sausage
1 white onion
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
4 oz Ricotta cheese
Romano lettuce
1/2 cup orzo prepared (al dente)
1/2 can Garbanzo beans (chick peas) some crushed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh spinach chopped
pinch of thyme
dash of oregano
a little salt, pepper
dash of Balsamic vinaigrette dressing



  In a skillet add oil, onion and garlic, cook till onions are translucent. Over medium heat brown the sausage in the onion oil. Be preparing orzo while meat browns. Drain and add orzo to skillet reduce heat. Stir in remaining ingredients (except the lettuce and dressing) Simmer over low heat (the longer the better)
Scoop on to a lettuce leaf, top with balsamic vinaigrette and serve. (I did try rolling the lettuce around the helping) this requires a knife to eat...  It is quite delicious, and can be used as a stuffing (peppers etc)