In thinking about her, I have also been thinking about blogging again. I will keep NxtDrGrrl around, because it's been a big part of my (limited) blogging life. The focus over there will be narrower, though. I intend to use it for my doll knitting and various nerd activities (hello, Doctor Who and Animal Crossing!), with this one focusing on my knitting, sewing and other crafty pursuits (cooking! making homemade limoncello!)
So, I hope you'll join me on this journey, I hope we both learn a lot about ourselves along the way.
Until we meet again, I leave you with a recipe for something I've called "Sugo al tacchino con zucca" (aka Turkey sauce with squash - sounds so much nicer in Italian, doesn't it?)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Garlic clove or two
olive oil for sauteing (you can use extra virgin, but I use the kind for cooking from Trader Joe's)
1/2 white onion
1/2 eggplant (I've made this both with and without the skin - it's better without), cubed
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup to 1 cup white wine (basically, to taste)
Dried basil
Dried thyme
Dried oregano
Spaghetti squash (I used a butternut squash the first time, so feel free to sub for your favorite squash) Parmesan cheese (the real stuff is best)
First things first - start cooking your squash in the oven or microwave. I do mine in the oven and start it well before I make the sauce. If you decide to microwave it, you can start it about the same time as the sauce (sauce takes about 25-30 minutes to cook, so time this accordingly). In the oven, the squash takes about an hour, so you can prep all the chopping of the vegetables while that's happening. About 25 or 30 minutes before the squash is ready, start your sauce.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Once heated, saute the garlic and onion (cook until onion is translucent, but try not to burn the garlic - you want it light golden brown at most). Add the eggplant. The eggplant will soak up all your oil at this point, so rather than add more, add the white wine. The alcohol will cook off and leave a nice flavor. Sprinkle your dried herbs to taste and continue to saute until the eggplant is becoming tender. Add the turkey and break it up with your spatula as you saute. Once it starts to brown, cover the pan with a lid. This will help it cook faster. Once the turkey is completely brown, your sauce is done and you can pour it over the finished squash. For the butternut squash, I just scooped large chunks into a bowl and put the sauce over it before grating Parmesan cheese on top. For the spaghetti squash, one half squash will make 2 servings. Scrape the "spaghetti" into bowls and then pour the sauce over it, top with grated Parmesan cheese.
You can absolutely use regular pasta with this if you're not a fan of squash (it happens and I promise not to judge).
I did not add salt to this recipe, since I felt the Parmesan added a bit of saltiness (great for those of you watching your salt intake!). Feel free to add it if you want.
And here's a picture of the finished dish (with butternut squash). I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
