Rigatoni With Apples and Bacon (A Great Fall Meal)

This is a modified Rachel Ray Recipe

• 1 lb Rigatoni Pasta

• 6-8 oz Bacon Thinly Sliced

• 10 Sage Leaves

• 1-2 Shallots Minced (or a tiny red onion)

• 2 Granny Smith Apples

• ½ Cup Grated Parmesan

• Salt & Pepper

• ¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley

1. Cook Pasta until Al Dente
   – Drain, Reserving 1 Cup Cooking Water

2. In same Pot, Cook Bacon until just crisp
   – Transfer to Paper Towels on a Plate

3. Add Sage to hot bacon fat and cook until crisp, 3-4 minutes
   – Transfer Sage to a Plate/Bowl

4. Add Shallots and Apples and Cook 5-7 Minutes

5. Add Pasta, Cooking Water, Bacon, Parmesan, Salt and Pepper and Toss

6. Top with Crumbled Sage and Parsley

(This was Rachel Rays Recipe for Rigatoni with Squash but I made many modifications. You can easily cut recipe in half).

A PERFECT LABOR DAY MEAL!

This is a recipe from Rachel Ray that I modified.  You can watch her prepare it online.  I like to chop my onions really thin and I use less sugar.  I often use fresh blueberries (sometimes pre-frozen).  I like my blueberry compote to be really thick so I simmer it for a long time. I zest the lemon with a peeler to get more of it off and I use it in the Couscous and on top of the Compote.  I also like to serve this meal with a side of Green Beans.

Coucous

This recipe was sent in from Daisy who had FIVE extra pounds of tomatoes from her Garden along with massive amounts of Herbs so she invented her own Home Made Italian Pasta Sauce!  It was delicious and we ate a great pasta meal during the Broncos game.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds of fresh Garden Tomatoes (cut up in chunks or puree)

• ¼ cup garlic infused Olive Oil (with Italian spices)

• 1/8 white onion, diced

• 1/4 red onion, diced

• ¼ of Garden Jalepeno, diced

• 3 big cloves of fresh elephant Garlic, finely minced

• 1 carrot (1/2 should be grated and added to saute, the other half should be added at the end of cooking and then removed)

• ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

• 1 sprig of fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)

• 1 sprig of fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)

• 2 sprigs of parsley (or 1 tsp dried) {if using sprigs then remove when done}

• 2 bay leaves (remove when done)

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 1 tablespoon honey (or more to taste)

Instructions

1. Pour the garlic infused olive oil into a large frying pan over medium heat.

2. Add diced onions, garlic, Jalepeno and grated carrots.

3. Saute for 6-8 minutes or until onions are translucent and tender.

4. Add tomatoes, chopped basil leaves, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, parsley, sea salt and honey (optional – add honey in the end).

5. Simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours or until cooked down and starting to darken.

6. Add carrot piece for the last 30 minutes to absorb acidity. Add more honey if too spicey.

7. Remove sprigs of herbs, bay leaves and piece of carrot.

8. Use fresh or store in the fridge up to 1 week (freeze leftovers or can)