October 17, 2011 in Recipes by empoweringwellness

Meatless Monday – Pasta Milanese

This is the time of year when I harvest the last of the vegetables from the garden. I love to can or freeze as much as possible, so that I can enjoy the freshness of my garden in the winter months. Green beans freeze up very well. I parboil them for 1-2 minutes in salted water, drain and then place them in freezer bags.

This is also a time when I like to make sauces from the last of the tomatoes. Over this past weekend, I prepared and froze 2 gallons each of Bolognese and Milanese sauce. Since it is Monday, I thought I should share my Milanese sauce recipe. Technically, it is not meatless because I use a tin of anchovies packed in olive oil in the recipe. You can omit this if you wish. The anchovy adds tremendous depth of flavor, but not everyone likes anchovies (I love them!). Anyway, serve this over your favorite pasta. It goes really well with Ziti, Rigatoni or Penne. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium fennel bulbs, cored and chopped to a fine dice. I also coarsely chop the stalks and some of the frond as well and add it to the sauce. This creates a nice chunky texture that I like
• 1 medium onion, diced fine
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced fine
• 2 celery stalks, peeled and diced fine
• 1 4-oz tin of flat anchovies packed in oil, minced fine
• 4 garlic cloves, minced fine
• ½-teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• ½ cup finely chopped fresh basil
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (finely crushed)
• ½ cup dry red wine
• 4-1/2 cups canned, crushed tomatoes with added puree (2 28-oz cans or use fresh if you have them!)
• Freshly ground black pepper and maybe a little salt (if you don’t use the anchovies) to taste

Preparation:

• Heat oil in large, deep sauce pan. Add onions, diced fennel (not the coarsely chopped stalks and fronds), carrots, celery and garlic to the pan and saute over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
• When onions turn clear, add anchovy fillets (if using)
• Add oregano, red pepper flakes and fennel seed. Saute for about 30 seconds until spices “bloom”
• Add remaining fennel stalks and stir well
• Add crushed tomatoes and red wine
• Add freshly cracked pepper and salt (if not using anchovies)
• Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 1-1/2 hours
• Just before serving, add fresh basil and parsley

Serve over pasta.

Enjoy!