Orechiette con Salsiccia

Ingredients:

• 2 Italian sausages
• 1 Can tomato sauce
• 1 Medium onion
• Half cup white wine
• 300gr Orechiette or pasta of your choice
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan Cheese

Method:

1. Dice the onion, drizzle a non stick pan with olive oil and cook the onion for about 5 minutes until tender and starting to brown.
2. Put in the Italian sausage and break using a wooden spatula.  Cook until browned.
3. Pour in the wine, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for about 15 minutes until sauce thickens.  Season accordingly.
4. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
5. Add the pasta to the sauce and serve immediately with some Parmesan cheese.

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Parmigiana di Melanzane (modified)

Ingredients:

• 1 large aubergine 
• Minced meat
• White sauce 
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 medium onion
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Thinly slice the aubergines and with a brush coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Cook the aubergines in a non stick pan until browned.  Let them cool on a towelled plate to absorb any extra oil.
2. Dice the onion and cook on low heat (the same non stick pan will do) until soft and just starting to brown.
3. Tip in the minced meat and season. Once the mince meat is browned all over pour in the tomato sauce and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.  Turn off and let it cool down.
4. If you are doing a home made white sauce, this can be prepared while the sauce and aubergines are cooling down.
5. In a baking dish pour some of the minced meat sauce to cover the base so that the aubergines do not stick to the baking dish.
6. Start layering the aubergines, pour over some minced meat sauce, white sauce and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese.
7. Continue layering until all aubergines are finished. Make sure to end with some sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top.
8. Place in a preheated oven at around 180°C for about 20 minutes until it is heated through.  
9. Let it sit before serving as it will be easier to plate.

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Stuffed Green Peppers

One of the classics ...

Ingredients:

• 2 large green peppers, halved and deseeded
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 250g minced meat
• 4 slices Speck (can be substituted with bacon) cut in strips
• Tomato sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• 4 Eggs
• Olive Oil

Method:

1. In a preheated non stick pan, put in some olive oil and fry lightly the onion and garlic until tender.
2. Add the minced meat and the speck strips and fry until browned.
3. Add the tomato sauce and season accordingly.
4. Spoon the mixture in the halved green peppers.  If peppers are small you can de-seed and fill them up instead of halving them.
5. Put a pan or a pot with some water and put in the stuffed peppers.  Close the pan with a lid and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the peppers, until the pepper is tender. 
6. Once the green pepper is tender crack an egg on top of each half and put on the lid again.  The egg will cook with the heat from the pepper.

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