Half Assed Kitchen

Pork Bolognese

We've long been a fan of bolognese (pronounced bowl-on-YAzay). It's rich and thick and hearty and swoon-worthy. Only recently have we tried making it though, and even with having to chop the carrots, celery and onion very finely (that's one of the keys to bolognese), it's only one carrot, one celery stalk and one onion and it's really not that bad.

The hardest thing about this recipe is allowing enough time for it to simmer down. Start mid afternoon if you're cooking this for dinner. It'll make your house smell amazing and by 6 you'll have a large portion of fantastic pasta sauce.

We adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. And, hoo-boy, are we glad we did.

Rating: 3/4 assed (some chopping)

Here's what you need and how you do it

3 slices bacon, finely chopped (we used pre-cooked)

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1-2 pounds ground pork (we used just one pound and it worked fine)

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup dry white wine

1-1/4 cups whole milk (we used Silk Soy Creamer, non-flavored)

1 28-ounce can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

3 bay leaves

1 Tablespoon dry thyme

1 Tablespoon dry oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound cooked penne

Grated parmesan

In large Dutch oven or heavy pot, cook bacon until fat is released. Add onion, carrot and celery; cook until soft. Add pork and cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until browned. Add tomato paste and stir until pork is coated.

Add wine and milk; cook until reduced by half. Add tomato sauce, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Serve sauce over pasta, topped with parmesan.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Salsa verde

We love salsa verde. We suck down Trader Joe's salsa verde like it's our job and would probably sip it out of a straw if it had a splash of tequila in it.

We've been wanting to try making it ourselves. So we did. And you know what? Homemade salsa verde is even better than Trader Joes. Way better. We've eaten it on corn chips, tortillas, turkey lunch meat and are planning to dump it in some pork to make our fantastic (if we do say so) pork salsa verde soon.

Tomatillos are the main ingredient in this salsa and they're very mild, so you can adjust the heat to suit your taste by adding more or less jalapeño.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed (simple, but not ridiculously so)

Here's what you need and how you do it

6 tomatillos (they look like small green tomatoes in papery husks)

1 jalapeño (or less, to suit your taste), chopped coarsely

1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup cilantro, no need to chop

1/2 avocado (makes it creamy, you can skip if you'd prefer a chunkier salsa)

1/4 teaspoon sugar

3/4 medium onion, chopped into quarters

1 clove garlic, chopped into quarters

Salt to taste

Peel paper husks off tomatillos and boil for 7 minutes. Scoop out with slotted spoon and transfer to blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend a few seconds.

Serve warm or cool.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Gazpacho

We couldn't let the summer pass us by without posting a recipe for this kicky, healthy, Spanish soup. Before this weekend, we had never made it and were excited to give it a try. We found out: A) Dude, too much chopping, but B) So fresh and yummy.

There's no cooking required. You only need a sharp knife, cutting board and blender or food processor. Buy ingredients as fresh as you can get and use them soon after you get home (i.e. don't let them sit for a week before you remember them, as we're prone to do).

Serve this gazpacho cold, with bread and grilled chicken for a full, warm-weather supper.

Rating: 3/4 assed (it's the chopping that kills us)

Here's what you need and how you do it

5–6 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped

2 to 3 cups low sodium tomato juice

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Fresh herbs like oregano and parsley, chopped

Salt, to taste (we used at least a couple teaspoons)

Ground black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning (if you have it)

Hot sauce, to taste

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 avocado, peeled, sliced

Sour cream (optional)

Put everything from tomatoes to hot sauce in food processor or blender and whirl a few times. If you want your veggies chunkier, just pulsate a little.

Now you can refrigerate for several hours to let flavors blend, or just serve (like we did).

Garnish with cilantro, avocado and sour cream (we got this idea from The Pioneer Woman).

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Clafoutis

A fancy name for a simple, little dessert. Clafoutis is a French twist on custard with berries. It's amazingly easy to pull together and makes an elegant finish to your meal. It's also versatile. You can bake clafoutis with frozen fruit all year round.

It's creamy and rich without being too creamy and rich. Smooth eggs combined with tart berries roll satisfyingly over your tongue.

Give this one a whirl and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Rating: Truly 1/2-hassed (simple, but not ridiculously so)

Here's what you need and how you do it

1-1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup butter (or margarine), room temperature

4 eggs

2/3 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons almond extract

Dash salt

4 cups berries, fresh or frozen (traditionally cherries are used, but we made ours with a mixture of raspberries and blueberries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a blender, mix the milk, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, almond extract and salt.

Dump berries into a baking dish and top with the milk-butter-egg mixture.

Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, checking often toward the end. The top should turn slightly golden and the inside should be soft without being too liquidy.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Chocolate chip oatmeal pie

We don't know what we were thinking, but yesterday morning, in the midst of packing for a trip to Brooklyn, we decided it was crucial that we make a pie. Not to take with us as an offering to our hosts. But to eat NOW. To scarf down over the kitchen sink if necessary.

We based our recipe on The Baking Badger's Fudgy Oatmeal bars over at Tasty Kitchen. In fact, we pretty much copied it and made a couple additions.

This pie is meant to be served slightly warm with vanilla ice cream. It really is best that way. But, in a pinch, it also makes a great breakfast. Don't tell anyone we said that.

Rating: Truly 1/2 hassed (Simple, but not ridiculously so.)

Here's what you need and how you do it

3/4 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1 dash salt

1-1/2 cups flour

1-1/4 cups oatmeal

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

2 cups chocolate chips/chunks

1 can sweetened, condensed milk (alternatively, you can use 3/4 cup soy or rice milk whisked with 1/2 cup brown rice syrup--you may have to bake a little longer if you do this dairy-free version)

2 Tablespoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine butter, sugar, salt, flour, oatmeal and cinnamon with a mixer or hand pastry blender (it will be very crumbly). Press 1/3 of this mixture into greased pie plate.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes to form a crust.

In the meantime, mix 1 cup chocolate chips with the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla.

When the crust has finished baking, pour the chocolate/milk blend into the pie crust. Top with remaining oatmeal/flour mixture and remaining chocolate chips.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not over bake.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Focaccia

We love bread (Who doesn't?). We love it plain. We love it salted. We love it with a million and one toppings.

We've always wanted to try our hand at Focaccia. So, this week, that's exactly what we did. And it turned out great on the first try (unlike the microwave fudge we attempted...ahem).

The great thing about focaccia is that it's flat, so it can be loaded with whatever ingredients suit your taste. Kind of like a barge. The barge of bread. Or, you can simply spritz it with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

We simplified this from Tyler Florence's Fabulous Focaccia. It's crusty, chewy and cheesy, with a hint of mediterranean flavor.

Rating: Truly 1/2 hassed if you top with only salt. 3/4 assed if you add many toppings.

Here's what you need and how you do it

For dough:

1 packet yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm (not hot) water

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

For toppings:

1 large onion

Olive oil

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinaigrette

1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

2 to 3 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Sprinkle of sea salt

Proof yeast by whisking it and sugar into the cup of warm water and letting it sit for 10 minutes. When it puffs, add to flour, salt and olive oil. Knead by hand or in a stand mixer with a dough hook.

Place in large, greased bowl covered with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for 2 to 3 hours.

When dough has risen, punch down and push out into rectangle on ungreased cookie sheet. Let rise for another hour.

In the meantime, caramelize onions by sautéing in olive oil (without stirring much) over low heat for about an hour. When onions begin to turn golden, add balsamic vinaigrette and heat for another 15 minutes over low heat.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Leave dough on cookie sheet and dimple by poking your index finger in at regular intervals. Top dough with sea salt, caramelized onions, olives, rosemary and parmesan.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Shrimp and feta pasta salad

We stumbled upon this tasty combination of ingredients while looking for something cool, yet protein-packed, to make for dinner. It is August, after all. Not exactly a time for split pea soup or chili.

Some of these ingredients can be swapped for things you may have on hand. But a few may require some grocery shopping. (We don't know about you, but generally there isn't a pound of shrimp waiting in our fridge--though we do have chicken, which is a possible substitute.)

If you can swing it, give this one a try. It's light and healthy, with a nice contrast between creamy feta, firm tomatoes and the snap of green onions.

Rating: Truly half-assed (simple, but not ridiculously so)

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 pound shrimp, cooked, de-veined, all crunchy bits removed

1/2 pound feta cheese (could also use mozzarella)

5-6 green onions, chopped

4 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (If you don't have basil, flat leaf parsley would be nice too)

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 to 3/4 pound pasta

Italian salad dressing or juice from half a lemon and 1/3 cup olive oil combined

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon oregano

Boil pasta according to package directions. Combine shrimp, feta, green onions, basil, tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano and Italian dressing. If you have time to let the mixture stand at room temperature for an hour or so before serving, the shrimp will soak up some of the herbs and oils.

Add pasta to shrimp mixture and toss to coat.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Easy treats

Check out these darling pies on sticks from Luxirare. We would definitely go with store bought crusts (rolled out even more thinly than packaged, according to Luxirare) and jam (thickened with a little cornstarch) as the filling. We would probably even skip the sticks and serve as small, handheld pies. We're half assed that way, after all.

Real Simple has some great ideas for sundae toppings here.

And a swoon-worthy recipe for baked fudge from NPR.

If you give any of these a try, please report back and let us know how they turned out.

Image courtesy Real Simple.

Chilled corn and coconut soup

This recipe came to us from Martha Stewart, via our mother who, thinking we might like it, read it to us over the phone.

She knows us well. We love it. It takes only a handful of ingredients and mixes sweet corn with the snap of jalapeño. Kind of like a creamy corn bread.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed (simple, but not ridiculously so)

Here's what you need and how you do it

3 cups corn (we used frozen)

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (for the love of God, wear rubber gloves while doing this)

2.5 cups water

1 teaspoon salt (or more depending on taste)

1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Mix corn, coconut milk, jalapeño, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil (stirring frequently). Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Pour into a blender and purée.

Chill at least 3 hours. (To be honest, we didn't bother chilling it. We served it tepid and it was good). Stir in lime juice and sprinkle black pepper over top before serving.

Garnish with corn kernels.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.