In the Kitchen: A Perfect Lunch

I was lucky today to enjoy a quiet lunch filled with good things amidst the crazy day of driving to here and there and watching some extra kids.


A favorite drink


Left over soup from last night's supper

Recipe comes from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry
"Rome on the Range"
Soup:
8 large plum tomatoes
2 large red bell peppers, seeded & chopped
1 large red onion, chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp each minced fresh thyme and fresh rosemary
2 cups beef broth
1 cup V8 juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
12 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Meatballs:
12 oz extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup minced shallots or onions
1/4 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coarsely chop tomatoes and combine with red peppers, onion, garlic, olive oil, thyme and rosemary in a very large roasting pan. It's best if veggies are in a single layer.

Place roasting pan in oven on middle rack and roast veggies for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and give quick stir. Return to oven and turn on broiler. Broil for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare meatballs. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Using your hands space into about 48 mini meatballs using about 1 tsp of meat mixture. Set aside.

Remove veggies from oven. Transfer half to blender or food processor along with 1 cup of broth. Puree til smooth. Transfer puree to large soup pot. Chop remaining veggies into bite sized pieces and add to pot, along with every thing else. Bring to boil. Add meatballs. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through.

My alterations:
Used regular onion since I didn't have red.
Had no breadcrumbs so I used a bit of oatmeal (has to be quick cooking or else you notice it)
Had no Italian seasoning so I used a little rosemary and thyme combined to flavor the meatballs.
And I just dumped all my veggies into a big pot, and used my hand held bruan mixer to mix all of it up. I didn't want too many chunkies. :)

Also left overs from supper last night...


Recipe comes from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry
"Pizza for the upper crust"
1 can 10 oz tomatoes with Italian herbs
1/3 cup pizza sauce
1 12-inch thin crust pizza shell
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano, Parmesan or Asigo cheese
3 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Black pepper

Preheat grill to medium and leave lid closed to keep hot (or preheat oven to 425)

Drain tomatoes in a sieve, pressing down to remove as much liquid as possible. Break up any large chunks with fingers.

Spread pizza sauce over crust, leaving 1/4 inch border around edge. Top with drained tomatoes. Sprinkle evenly with Romano cheese.

Using small knife cut mozzarella cheese into thin slices. Spread evenly over pizza. Sprinkle with basil and pepper.

Place pizza directly onto grill or middle oven rack. If grilling cook 4 minutes. Then shut off heat and leave life closed. cook another 3 minutes of so til toppings are hot and cheese is melted. If cooking in oven, bake for 10 minutes or til cheese is melted and edges are browned.

My alterations:
Had no Italian seasoning so I used a little rosemary and thyme combined
Used Romano cheese (mmmmm)
And plain old mozzarella cheese.
Used fresh tomatoes since I didn't have that kind and just squeezed out the liquid as much as possible.

And a good book to read.


What was for lunch at your house?
And yep, its seems we don't seem to have much luck traveling with kids....