Growing up in an Italian family for both Marco and I, has made us appreciate Italian cooking and baking so much.
Macaroni/Pasta is our favorite of course. After all the Sunday macaroni dinners growing up, how could it not be your favorite?
When my mom or grandma used to make "sauce" it was an all day process. Not so much the adding of the ingredients, but the stirring of the sauce every so often until it was done, is what I remember. I actually got volunterred quite a few times when the timer went off.
"Nat, can you stir the sauce!"
My favorite part of making sauce was always when there were a few meatballs that mom would put aside after frying them, before putting them in the sauce. We always got to sample the meatballs with Di Camillo's Italian bread. Mmmmm... Boy do we miss the bread from there. When I was really young we even sometimes got the bread from Trusellos Bakery (to me it was always the "green" place), along with the bread a few slices of pizza.
The key to sauce is to be patient and make sure you keep on stirring and use a good pot. If the heat is to high and you burn just a little of the bottom,
YOU ARE DONE!
YOU ARE DONE!
I did it once and between the smell in the kitchen and just the thought about throwing a whole pot of sauce away mad me sick.
When you make your sauce always make extra, you can always freeze it for another day. Or use it for another tasty recipe in "A Stir in the Mist."
Today I am making a fresh pot of sauce, this way I have some fresh onions, garlic and spices that will be needed in this recipe.
Italian Pasta with Sausage and Zucchini
is our dinner for tonite.
Once you have your sauce made it is a fairly easy recipe to follow.
You will be using two different types of meat. Sausage and ground beef.
So if you are making sauce or already have sauce frozen, make sure it is meatless otherwise it may be to much meat. I am going to use a mild sausage, you can use something a little spicer if you would like. It is really up to you.
The Zucchini, the sausage, and the ground beef will all be cooked separately, and one at a time. Use the same pan and oil for each meat and zucchini. Once everything is cooked to perfection the ingredients will then be combined into the pasta along with the sauce.
Once it is all put together you will bake the whole dish just to finish it off. Most of the ingredients will be mixed together in either a roasting dish if you have one, or I used a baking dish myself because that is what I had.
Italian Pasta with Sausage and Zucchini is a recipe that you will love. If you are having company this is a great dish to make or for your whole family. Along with it I served salad but you can really serve anything. This recipe has a blend of Macaroni, Meat Sauce, Sausage and Zucchinni so you will not need much more than that other than an appetite!
Enjoy!