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Cooking for One Person Recipes: Marinara Sauce and Meatballs

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Cooking for One Person Recipes: Marinara Sauce and Baked Meatballs

When cooking for one person, recipes which are versatile are one key to creating quick, healthy and inexpensive meals for singles. In this and other lenses I am introducing some recipes which are ideal when cooking for one person. I am starting out with one of my favorites: Marinara Sauce! This recipe is very easy to prepare, quick, delicious and also has a wide variety of uses. Add the Baked Meatballs and you can easily serve up an array of dishes, all from one base recipe! Enough talk; let's get started Cooking for one person!

Cooking for One Person Recipes: Marinara Sauce Recipe

Divide this Sauce into several batches and freeze for a variety of applications!

Ingredients:

  • 2 (28-ounce) cans whole, peeled tomatoes

  • 1/4 cup sherry vinegar

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1 teaspoon dried basil

  • 1 onion

  • 1 carrot

  • 1 stalk celery

  • 2 ounces olive oil

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

  • 3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

  • 1/2 cup white wine

  • Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste



Directions

strain the tomatoes In a sieve over a medium non-reactive sauce pot. Add the sherry vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, oregano, and basil to the tomato juice. Stir and cook over high heat.
Once bubbles begin to form on the surface, reduce to a simmer. Allow liquid to reduce by 1/2 or until liquid has thickened to a loose syrup consistency.
Squeeze each tomato thoroughly to ensure most seeds are removed. Set the tomatoes aside. Cut carrot, onion, and celery into uniform sizes and combine with the olive oil and garlic in a non-reactive roasting pan over low heat. Sweat until the carrots are tender and the onion becomes translucent, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the tomatoes and capers to the roasting pan.
Place the roasting pan on the middle rack of the oven and broil for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Tomatoes should start to brown slightly on edges with light caramelization.
Remove the pan from the broiler. Place the pan over 2 burners on the stove. Add the white wine to the tomatoes and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes over medium heat.
Put the tomatoes into a deep pot or bowl and add the reduced tomato liquid to the tomatoes.
Blend to desired consistency and adjust seasoning.

The Pleasures of Cooking for One

The Best Cooking for One Person Cookbook

This book is absolutely perfect for anyone who finds themselves cooking for one or two people. Not only are the recipes absolutely wonderful, the recipes for using left-overs are also great. Jones shows you how to shop, stock your pantry and freezer, and make wonderful meals for yourself that don't take forever yet taste like they did. I have over 50 cookbooks, and this is the one I find myself turning to again and again for my daily meals. This is real food - no processed shortcuts, no sacrifices. If you like to cook but think its too much trouble for just one person, get this book and you will have fun in the kitchen again.
The Pleasures of Cooking for One

The Pleasures of Cooking for One

by: Judith Jones

Amazon Price: $11.20 (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

The book is about cooking for oneself many nights of the week for possibly an extended period of time. This is a reality that anyone could find themselves in at one time or another. The essence of this book is how does one pare down and prepare interesting "Old Fashioned" dishes that one has made for most of one's life without wasting an abundance of food or caving into the frozen food section of the local supermarket. To that end I think it succeeds admirably. it's written with style, wit and panache by a lady who has edited some of the most skilled and well known food writers of the last 50 years. The menu items are just about perfect for my taste and decidedly not trendy or cutting edge; just simple little classics like Boeuf Bourguignon, a fish filet in parchment, broiled chicken, fennel-apple-walnut salad, leek and potato soup.... the list goes on and on. You can almost imagine Julia Child (God rest her) fixing herself exactly these meals on the rare night when she wasn't being feted at one venue or another. This is a lovely little book, filled with "small plate" recipes and basic pantry/tool needs to have on hand. The writing is deft and enjoyable even if you don't know a sauce pan from a soup pot. If you find yourself single and like to cook, buy this book!

Cooking for One Person Recipes: Baked Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound ground pork

  • 1/2 pound ground lamb

  • 1/2 pound ground round

  • 5 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly

  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

  • 1 whole egg

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided


Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork, lamb, ground round, spinach, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl. Using a scale, weigh meatballs into 1.5-ounce portions and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the bread crumbs and place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

My other Cooking for One Person Lenses

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Use these recipes for many different applications

As already mentioned: when cooking for one, planning and versatility of ingredients is key! Just the 2 recipes above can be used in a variety of ways.
For example:
- Spaghetti and meat balls
- Meatball sandwich
- Pizza Sauce
Come to mind immediately! Just freeze in portions and use as needed!

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Are you Cooking for One Person?

  • gleken Aug 21, 2011 @ 6:46 am | delete
    Thanks for the great information
  • spa-products Apr 22, 2011 @ 2:01 pm | delete
    I love the tomato sauce recipe - I am shopping today and I am going to make some - thanks - sounds decicious.
  • jennynazak Jan 18, 2011 @ 10:31 pm | delete
    A useful resource for the bachelor or bachelorette! My usual style is just to cook up a batch of whatever I'm making, and eat leftovers several times, but this isn't always practical.
  • Geekgurl Jan 17, 2011 @ 8:50 am | delete
    Nice HTML and graphics. I like how all your content is clear and concise. Great lens!
  • jackiebolen Dec 18, 2010 @ 7:36 am | delete
    Sounds delicious. I'll try it!
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