Meatball & Sauce - Ilona Borodics Medina

For Sauce:

• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 2 small cans of tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp or so Corn oil
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ tsp. Salt & ¼ tsp. pepper
• Large non-stick pot with lid

For Meatballs

• 1 lb. beef only chop meat
• 1 egg
• ½ cup or so Plain bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. Grated Romano cheese
• Parsley flakes
• ¼ tsp. Salt & ¼ tsp. pepper
• Large bowl for mixing

Combine all ingredients for meatballs in bowl and shape into meatballs. Brown the meatballs either in the microwave or in a frying pan (no oil). 

For sauce………line bottom of non-stick pot with oil and heat. While oil is heating chop up onion and garlic until fine. Put it in pot and sauté. Garlic should only be browned slightly. 

Put in 2 cans of tomato sauce and 1 can of tomato paste, stir. Now fill the tomato sauce can with water and pour into tomato paste can, stir. I do this so I can get all the sauce and paste out. Repeat with other tomato sauce can. Fill tomato paste can again with water. You should have a total of 3 cans of water from the tomato past cans. The sauce should be a saucy consistency, not watery. Drop in the meatballs, lower heat immediately and stir. Add salt and pepper. Cover with lid and stir every 15 minutes or so, making sure it doesn’t stick to bottom. 

Tomato sauce cooks very hot and burns easily, heat should be as low as possible – you should only see a slight bubble when cooking. Cook for about 1-1/2 – 2 hrs. The oil will rise to the top of the sauce when finished, you can scoop it off if you like. Because you cook it for a long amount of time, the sauce will lose it’s tomato taste and taste more beefy.

Fran's Steak Pizzaiola (Fran being Mom) - Dottie Cooper

Fran's Steak Pizzaiola (Fran being Mom)

• 2 packs of Chuck steak cut into bit size portions
• I large onion
• Oregano
• Parmesan Cheese
• Tomato Sauce (if you have some of your homemade left it's best.....if not you can use whatever your favorite is)

(Notice there are no real measurements here other than the steak!)

Heat olive oil in a dutch and quickly sear the meat in batches.
Remove all put one layer.
Start your layer on the bottom with meat. 
Slice onions over the meat.
Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and Oregano, add a few spoon fulls of sauce. 
Repeat the process till you use up all the meat. 
Depending on your pot size you might have two or three layers. 
Add water to the pot. 
Don't cover it like you would soup.Just about 3/4 of the way up.
Simmer on low to medium heat. The longer you simmer the better it is. 


This dish is actually best the next day when the flavors all meld together. Have some good crusty Italian break on hand for sopping up the sauce.


ALTERNATE: If desired, you can add thin potato slices to the layer process.

Parmesan Chicken - Camille King

My mom used to make this recipe all the time. It is very simple to make and so delicious. If you have a bigger family, just double or triple the recipe. If you don't like wine, you don't have to add it. I usually make one pan with wine and one without.

• 1 - 1 1/2 lbs Chicken breast cut into nugget size pieces 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 1/4 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Oregano 
• 2 eggs
• 3-4 Tbs Margarine (can use olive oil or butter also)
• 1 cup White Wine

Mix Parmesan cheese, flour, pepper and oregano. 
Beat egg in a separate bowl.
Heat margarine in a frying pan, once the margarine is melted, dip chicken pieces in egg then dredge in the parmesan cheese and flour mixture until fully coated.
Saute the chicken until golden brown. Once the chicken is golden brown, lower the heat and add the wine to the pan.
It should bubble then reduce down to a syrup texture.

This can be served over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. Enjoy.

Stove-Top Lasagna - Mary Polk

serves 4 (unless you really like lasagna like me)

A good recipe when you want lasagna, but don't have time for all the prep work and layering.....pretty simple, the only problem I ever had in making this is to have to add more tomatoes, so have some extra on hand just in case. and of course, if you want it cheesier add more cheese.

• 3 (14+1/2 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes( Don't use the crushed, tried it and it didn't come out as good)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 med. onion, minced
• salt
• 3 med. garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 1/2 lb 85% lean ground beef 
• (you can use 1 lb Meatloaf mix instead if packaged and available in your store)
• 10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch pieces(Do not use the no-boil kind)
• 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 ounce parmesan cheese, grated (1/4 cup)
• ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese (whole-milk or part-skim)
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves (if not on hand the dried spice will do)

1. Pulse the tomatoes with juice in a food processor until coarsely ground and no large pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the combined ground meats and cook, breaking apart the meat, until lightly browned and no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Scatter the pasta over the meat, then pour the processed tomatoes over the pasta. Cover, increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat, stir in half the mozzarella and half the parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta over the noodles, then sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Cover and let stand till cheese melts. Sprinkle with basil leaves.

Variation
Lasagna with sausage and peppers
Follow the recipe, substituting 1 lb of italian sausage, removed from it's casing, for the ground meat. Add 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped coarsely to the skillet with the onion.

Vegetarian Lasagna
Cook as above, just don't add meat and if you want, add in other vegetables of your choice when you add the onion.

Meatballs - Italian Style - Michael Fleyzor

Meatballs - Italian Style

• 1    lb Beef 
• 1/2 lb Pork 
• 1/2 lb Veal
• 1/2 Clove Garlic 
• 2 Cups Breadcrumbs                 or             Italian Bread
• 2 Eggs 
• 2 Cups Warm water                   or             Milk
• 1 Tbsp. Parsley 
• 1 Sauteed Diced Onion Small 
• 1/2 Cup Pecorano Parmesan Cheese  

Fry in Olive Oil, Cover Meatball 1/2 in Oil