Bolognese Sauce

This is a really flavorful thick, meaty sauce.  A friend's mother originally adapted it from a Dear Heloise column; we've made a few additional tweaks.  As with most tomato sauces, you can use whatever tomato products you have on hand.

Bolognese Sauce

2 T olive oil
1 c chopped onions
4 strips bacon, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
4 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp dried parsley (or 3 T chopped fresh parsley)
28 oz San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
2 small carrots, finely chopped
1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
2 T finely chopped basil
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp Italian seasoning
smoked paprika, to taste

1) Heat olive oil in a large skillet.
2) Add onion; saute for 2-3 minutes.
3) Add bacon; saute until about halfway done.
4) Add ground beef; saute until all meat is browned.
5) Add garlic and parsley.
6) In a separate sauce pan, combine remaining ingredients.
7) Add beef mixture to the sauce; simmer for at least an hour.

Stuffed Banana Peppers

This recipe was a great way to eat our first batch of banana peppers from our garden.  Because we only had 6 or 7 banana peppers, we also stuffed 3 of our green peppers to use up the filling.  We just used the tomato products we had on hand, so the sauce components are flexible.  Depending on whether you use more prepared sauce or more canned tomato sauce, you will need to adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes.  Although this recipe contains lots of ingredients, prep time was less than 30 minutes.

Stuffed Banana Peppers
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

12 medium banana peppers
1-2 T butter
1/4 c chopped onion
1/4 c chopped celery
16 oz prepared sauce
15 oz canned tomato sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper, divided
1 egg
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c grated parmesan
1 lb ground beef
3/4 c bread crumbs
1/2 c grated mozzarella

1) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2) Cut tops off of peppers; remove ribs and seeds.
3) Add peppers to boiling water; simmer until tender but firm, about 5 minutes.
4) Drain peppers; set aside.
5) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6) Chop edible parts of pepper tops.
7) Melt butter in a large skillet; saute chopped pepper, onion and celery until tender, about 5 minutes.
8) Add tomato sauces, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
9) Stir and let simmer 10 minutes.
10) Combine remaining ingredients and 1/2 c sauce in a large mixing bowl.
11) Spoon enough sauce into a 9x13 baking dish to thinly cover the bottom of the dish.
12) Stuff peppers with ground beef mixture; arrange in single layer in baking dish.
13) Top peppers with remaining sauce and mozzarella cheese.
14) Bake for 45 minutes.

Crockpot Stroganoff

This is a great crockpot dish. We followed the many reviews/modifications on AllRecipes and it's perfect! Jason likes it with beef, but I made some modifications to make it with chicken (in parentheses).

Crockpot Stroganoff

1-2 lbs. cubed beef stew meat (cubed chicken)
2 cans golden mushroom soup (cream of mushroom/cream of chicken)
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 T worchestershire sauce
1/2 c. water
1/2-1 packet onion soup mix
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
garlic, to taste
6 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 oz. cream cheese
dollop sour cream
egg noodles, cooked

1) In a crockpot, combine the meat, soup, onion, worchestershire, water, onion soup mix, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2) Cook on low for approx. 4.5-5 hours; add fresh mushrooms.
3) Cook an additional 30 mins; stir in cream cheese and sour cream just before serving.
4) Serve over egg noodles.