So as promised here is a recap of the dinner my roommate and I made with accompanying recipes. 🙂 Keep in mind that neither my roommate nor I are Italian… Not even close. So I am sorry to all the Italians out there who might shudder at what we considered an “Italian Gravy” or a “Caprese Salad” ;).
Italian Gravy (Compiled from various online recipes) Serves A LOT
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 lb pork shoulder
- 3 – 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 small handful fresh basil
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Heat olive oil in pot and cooked onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning until onions are tender. Remove onion mixture from pot and place in separate bowl.
Add the pork to the same pot that the onions were cooked in, and brown through. Once the meat is cooked, add in crushed tomatoes and basil. Cook for about an hour. Then add in parmesan cheese and simmer for an additional hour and a half. The meat should fall apart in the sauce as you stir it. Add salt and pepper to taste.
I apologize, sauce and meatballs never photograph all that appetizing haha
We also added meatballs to the sauce! This recipe is 100% from Sweet Tooth Sweet Life, which is a blog everyone should check out because Courtney is pretty awesome. I read her blog like every day haha. Here’s the link to her post about her Mom’s meatballs and sauce. http://www.sweettoothsweetlife.com/2010/11/21/homemade-sauce-meatballs-cookie-dough-balls/
We decided to have our sauce over some linguine, but if you want to keep it healthier you could put it over some spaghetti squash which is amazing. I like sauce over broccoli too! For the meatballs you could opt for a less fatty hamburg or use turkey or chicken. I decided to indulge a little bit since we are still on vacation and used to real stuff, but trust me I would definitely make this in the future with spaghetti squash, since that stuff is fantastic.
Caprese Salad (Serves 5 or 3 really hungry people waiting for the sauce to cook)
Ingredients:
4 Roma Tomatoes
1 small pouch of fresh mozzarella cheese
A little fresh basil
Drizzle of Balsamic Vinaigrette (We just combined EVOO, minced garlic, and Balsamic Vinegar!)
Directions:
Slice up the tomatoes into round disks, chop the the basil and mozzarella. Layer the cheese and the basil on top of the tomato slices and drizzle with a little balsamic vinaigrette. You can place this combo on top of crispy Italian bread or crackers. Enjoy!
I hope you guys enjoy these recipes! Remember, everything in moderation. I know I may receive some flack for this but I am a big believer in a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating. With that being said I do like to indulge every once in a while, but I would never eat like this every day. I eat healthy 90% of the time, but I do like to share with you guys some recipes that I think stand out. These were both really good to me and I thought maybe you guys would want to try them. I gave you options to lighten things up a bit and I hope you guys try it and let me know what you think!
*This is a quick addition to this post. The day after I made this I decided to put it in Myfitnesspal and see how many calories everything was and I was actually pleasantly surprised. It’s not totally that bad for you. For the sauce, if you say it serves 20 people, which it does easily, is 116 calories give or take. The meatballs if you say serves 20, each person getting 1 meatball, is 67 calories. While on the higher side for sauce and meatballs it’s still not that bad for a calorie counting diet like the one that I am on. I just wanted to add this little quip in because I thought you would all be pleasantly surprised as well. The meat may be a little on the fattier side than the lean side but with less than an ounce of meat per person you aren’t actually consuming a bad amount at all. 🙂 Now I really hope you all try these out and enjoy them!
With that I am signing off for the night, taking some Theraflu, and hitting the hay like a little old lady. 🙂
Nikes and Stilettos 