Two Pasta Sauces

We love pasta! If I make pasta, hubby will eat it all. I have a number of pasta recipes, some I've shared on this blog already. Here are two more that I love. The first one is so simple, yet supremely delicious. It will change your life; honest. The second is a less caloric version of a tomato cream sauce. Feel free to amp up the richness by using heavy cream or sour cream. I tend to use what I have on hand. Note also that neither recipe uses spices. Before you start dumping in the basil and other Italian spices and heaven forbid--meat, give them a try as is. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how flavorful these tomato sauces are. Enjoy.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Still working on using up my citrus. Today's recipe is for Meyer Lemon Marmalade. I'm not a fan of marmalade, but this one is surprisingly light and sunshiny tasting. I used Meyer lemons, but you could use any sweet lemon in the recipe. It may work OK with regular lemons as long as you increase the sugar a bit. I've not tried that. This recipe is pretty easy; you know I prefer simpler recipes. The only tricky part is pouring the lemons into the strainer. This is why I made a very small batch, so the amount I had to lift and pour was less. I used a strainer set over a pan in the sink so as to not get hot water on me. Worked good. I made two batches of the jam. Craig really liked it. I've included a variation for cardamon lemon marmalade below too. I adapted a recipe by David Lebovitz.

Instant Pot Recipes

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas. Mostly to see what all the hype is about and whether it would make my life as a person with a disability easier. I got a 3 quart version since it is just me and Craig. It was easy to use, buttons made sense and I did not fear for my life, except the first time I did a quick release of the steam. Cleaning it is not much worse than cleaning my rice cooker. Although my rice cooker's inner pot is easier to clean. All the recipes in the world seem to be for 6 quart versions, so math was involved. Using it was was easier for some recipes, especially beans. They cooked fast and came out creamy and fabulous. But other recipes, like steel cut oats - not really, took about the same amount of time as my rice cooker and the cleanup seemed harder and the taste was not any better.

Lentil Soup with Ham

Here is a recipe for leftover ham. I admit it, for Christmas I made a ham. Unfortunately, there were just the two of us to eat it - resulting in lots of leftover ham. I froze a fair amount for later in the year as I'll not make another ham until next Christmas, if then. It was fortunate I planned to make this since, Alex, our Russian exchange student returned to spend New Years with us.  He is definitely a meat eater, so this worked for his taste. The soup is adaptable and takes to leftover vegetables. Experiment with different herbs too.  Adapted from a Food Network Kitchen recipe.

Navel Orange Marmalade

Here is another recipe to use up some of that citrus hanging out in your yard. We have a navel orange tree in our yard, usually I make a fresh freezer jam with them, but this year I thought I'd try to make marmalade. Mostly because hubby likes marmalade better. He really appreciates bitter drinks and foods. I have to point out, however, that navel oranges are sweet and not that bitter, so don't expect a jam that tastes like that from the store. It simply won't be as bitter. With all those caveats, this is a good jam and really pretty. I also give variations below for spiced orange marmalade and an even less bitter version. Adapted from a recipe by David Lebovitz.