Lamb Ragu

This dish is an Italian classic that I've had the idea to make for quite some time. I've been putting it off because it honestly sounded more difficult than it was. In the end, it was so worth it. The lamb and tomatoes go together so well, with the added crunch from the celery and carrots. The Romano cheese tops it off the sauce to add a creamy flavor.


The Recipe:

Lamb Ragu

• 1/2 Pound Ground Lamb
• 1 Small Onion - Diced
• 3 Garlic Cloves - Minced
• 1 Stalk of Celery - Diced
• 2 Carrots - Peeled and Diced
• 15 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
• 1/2 Cup Dry White Wine
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Fresh Parsley - Chopped
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt and Pepper
• Romano Cheese
• Rigatoni

To start, brown the lamb over medium heat. Remove the lamb from the pan when it just medium rare, leaving behind as much of the juices as you can. Add the olive oil to the pan and raise the heat to medium-high. Add in the crushed red pepper flakes, onion, garlic, celery, and carrots. Saute until the vegetables are wilted and add in the crushed tomatoes, white wine, ground lamb. I like to swirl the wine around in the tomato can to make sure I get all of the tomato juice out of the can. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the sauce reduce. Just before the pasta is done, add a few ladles of the pasta water to the sauce and let it reduce some more. Add in the parsley and let it reduce with the sauce. 

I mixed the pasta together with the sauce and then stirred in the Romano cheese. Pair the pasta with some garlic bread. 

For a few variations, sub the lamb with ground beef or pork. I'd like to try this again with some fresh pasta as well, maybe some pappardelle. 

Recipes for a Single Mom - Part 1

Lemon Chicken with Red Wine Tomato Sauce shown here with penne
pasta and green onions.

Back in college I worked at Starbucks. One of our semi-regular customers was a single mom looking to cook some healthy meals for her kids. She really had no idea where to start, so I offered to share a few recipes with her. Some of them were recipes I already had, and some were new ones I wrote for her. I'll be doing a series on these recipes in the next few weeks.

The first recipe I gave her was for my Chicken Florentine. You can find that recipe here.

The second recipe I gave her was for Lemon Chicken with Red Wine Tomato Sauce.


The Recipe:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 large lemons, juiced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a ½ teaspoon
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 small portabella mushroom, diced
• 1 bushel fresh basil, chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 cup red wine
• salt and pepper
• rigatoni

Marinate the chicken in the lemon juice with salt and pepper for about thirty minutes. Remove the chicken from the lemon juice and lightly brown in a sauté pan in a ½ teaspoon of olive oil.

In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and some salt. After about 1 minute, add the tomatoes and the mushrooms, and let sauté about five minutes. Add the basil, red pepper, chicken, red wine, and salt and pepper. Cover and let cook for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and let cook for another five minutes, stirring once.

Remove from sauté pan and serve over rigatoni pasta.