Gourmet Inspired Cooking Tips and Clam Spaghetti Recipe

Introducing Gourmet Inspired

The professionals all agree, when it comes to gourmet restaurant quality meals, you have to get your ingredients right. This means, the freshest herbs, picked from your backyard, the best cuts of meat and of course, organic in-season produce from your local farmers' market.

Garden? Farmers' Market? HELLOOO???

I'm sorry, but the professional chefs may have the time to trawl through the markets and drop by the wharf to pick up the fresh catch of the day. But for the rest of us, "fresh" means the mad dash to the supermarket aisles in a suit straight after work, desperately trying to scrounge together the ingredients for tonight's meal - if you manage to remember exactly when you bought that last carton of eggs. Organic means picking up the saran wrapped package with the green seal instead of none. Not to mention with today's economy, exquisite cuts of meat may not be particularly wallet friendly.

But does that mean we can't enjoy our favourite seafood pasta and tartine tarts at home?

Gourmet Inspired is a new way of looking at home cooking. We all know about home style roasts, spaghetti bolognaise and stir fry out of a packet. This collection of recipes has been developed to be simple and budget friendly, "inspired" by the tastes of your restaurant favourites, perfect for the amateur chefs in all of us.

Leave the professional tips and tricks to the professionals, but let the professionals inspire the rest of us.

Recipe for delicious Clam Spaghetti - Spaghetti Al Vongole

Gourmet Inspired Tip: The clams in the original dish tasted amazing and fresh, but the perfectly cooked pasta stirred through what was a very simple sauce with the strong flavour of clams was what won me over.

The tin clams obviously don't compare to the taste of fresh clams but they do manage to give the pasta that delicious clam flavour. To give the dish some substance and a "seafood feel", basa fillets are cheap but they taste like nothing. A little bit of paprika married with the basa fish texture helps flush out the essence of the dish. Top with a couple of prawns if you feel like splurging. :)

Ingredients

- 250grams spaghetti
- 1/2 brown onion, finely sliced
- 1/2 red capsicum, finely sliced
- 1 basa fillets, cut into chunks
- 2 tbs paprika
- 1 tin baby clams
- Parsley to taste, finely chopped
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine (cheap chardonnay works fine)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5 cooked peeled Tiger prawns (optional)

Method

- Follow instructions to cook pasta. Try and get it as "al dente" as possible, do not overcook.
- Add the paprika and basa chunks into a small baggie and shake to lightly dust fish with paprika
- In a non stick pan, lightly fry the pieces of fish until they are slightly charred on the outside and almost cooked through. Remove from heat.
- In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil garlic and fry until garlic brown on the edges. Add onions and capsicum, cook until onions become translucent. Add baby clams and white wine. Turn down heat, cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use the clam tin to add water if the liquid level gets low.
- Add cooked pasta and parsley and stir through, cooking it for another 1-2 minutes to ensure eveness of temperature. Remove from heat. Add the cooked basa chunks and tiger prawns if desired, cover and let sit for 1-2 minutes before serving.

HINT: Oil and salt in the water before it boils will help keep your pasta from sticking.

Spaghetti Squash Recipes and Cooking Instructions

When cooked, a fork can easily poke through the skin, and the flesh will easily separate into long strands with a fork. The average 4 pound squash will give you about five cups of flesh. Use the "spaghetti" right away, or place in freezer bags in the freezer for use at another meal.

These best five ways to cook spaghetti squash are in the order of cooking time.If you have all day, set the crock pot on, or if you like that fresh baked smell to fill the house, bake it in the oven. If you just want to get it done and start eating as fast as you can, I would suggest the microwave. Try out all the different ways and see what you like best!

#1 - In the Crock Pot - Pick a squash that can fit in your crock pot whole. Pole holes through the shell with a fork, and place in the crock pot. Add a couple of cups of water, and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until fork pokes through skin easily.

#2 - In the Oven, Whole - Poke holes in the skin several times with a fork. Place the entire squash in the oven. Cook at 375F for about 1 hour, or until soft.

#3 - Boil in a Pot - Find a pot big enough to hold your squash. Fill with enough water to cover the whole squash and set to boil. When the water is boiling, add the squash and cook 20-30 minutes until fork pokes through skin easily.

#4 - In the Oven, Halved - Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Place open sides down onto a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook at 375F for 20-30 minutes or until skin is easily poked with a fork.

#5 - Microwave in a Dish - Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Place squash in a microwaveable dish with the open side up. Add a few cups of water, and cover with saran wrap. Cook for 10-12 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes covered, then test to see if it is done, and cook longer if needed.

I found that slicing the squash in half and scooping out the seeds first, before it was cooked was easier then scooping out the seeds after, and trying to sort out the flesh from the seeds when cooked together.

Here are some good spaghetti squash recipes to use cooked squash.

Spaghetti Squash Recipe with Cheese

This is also a really quick dinner especially if squash is cooked ahead of time. If you like cheese, and squash this will quickly become a favorite dish!

1 large spaghetti squash cooked and prepared.

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, grated

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Mix all ingredients in microwave safe dish or oven safe dish. Microwave for 2-5 minutes, or heat in oven for 5-8 minutes until all ingredients are hot and cheese is melted.

Serve.

Spaghetti Squash Bake Recipe

It is so quick and easy to put together. Bake the squash ahead of time, then throw the ingredients together, and serve to the table only 10 minutes later. Makes a great lunch or dinner! Or use the leftovers for a snack!

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 cups spinach

1/2 fresh tomato chopped

1 clove garlic minced

1 cup spaghetti squash cooked and prepared

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon basil

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup grated cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients except cheese. Pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Serve. (Per Serving - 3.3 g carbohydrates) (serves 6)

Layered Spaghetti Squash Recipe

Preparing the squash then layering in individual bowls or a large family size glass bowl creates an interesting look and gets the taste buds going, before even lifting the fork to eat.

1 large spaghetti squash cooked and prepared

1 cup ricotta cheese

3/4 pound ground meat (your choice)

3/4 cups mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Cook squash. Cook meat. Heat ricotta cheese in microwave. Heat up spaghetti sauce.

Layer in a large bowl, or in individual bowls, squash, ricotta cheese, meat, mozzarella cheese, spaghetti sauce, then parmesan cheese.

Serve. (Per Serving 14 g carbohydrates, 6.6 g fiber) (serves 6)

Basic Spaghetti Squash Recipe

This is a good starting point. It is a place to get ideas, and think of new things to add to your squash. All you need is:

Flesh from 1 large spaghetti squash, (about 5 cups)

Miscellaneous ingredients of your choice. Ideas are below.

After cooking and preparing the squash start pulling out all the ingredients you like or feel like adding today, and mix it all together, and serve warm.

This can be any amount to your taste any of the following:

Garlic, salt, pepper and other herbs and spices that you like, fennel, dill, curry, red pepper flakes

Meat choices are endless, ground beef, ground turkey, diced chicken, pork strips

For cheeses there is Parmesan, Feta, Cheddar, mozzarella, blue

Vegetable choices are also endless, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, spinach, Swiss chard, broccoli, peppers

If you are adding tomato sauce, put it on at the end as a garnish. This will prevent the squash from becoming mushy.

Have fun, enjoy and try new things!

Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

This is an easy recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce with meatballs. While the cooking time is long, this can be mostly unsupervised, just give it an occasional stir. If you desire, you can use the crock pot or the pressure cooker for this recipe, those instructions are included at the end.

You can add other herbs to suit your liking. I've known cooks to add parsley, bay leaves, oregano, marjoram, or take the easy way out and use 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning mix instead of the thyme. Experiment until you find the mix your family prefers.

Italian Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

3/4 pound ground beef

1/4 pound ground pork sausage meat

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs - I like Italian style seasoned

2 small eggs

1 clove garlic, or 1 teaspoon minced garlic, or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

12 ounces tomato paste

1 large can of tomatoes or 2 regular cans

1 cup water

1 medium onion, sliced

1 green pepper, diced

1 tablespoon sugar

1 4 ounce can mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon thyme or other herbs as desired

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Mix the meats, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, garlic salt, and eggs. Form into meatballs the about 1-1 1/2 inches in diameter. Brown in the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven (if cooking sauce on the stovetop).


2. When meatballs are brown, remove from the pan and add the onion and green pepper. Saute for a few minutes.


3. Return the meat balls to the pot and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 hours on the stovetop stirring occasionally. You're going to want to cover this, tomato sauces tend to spit occasionally.

You can simmer on low in the crock pot all day until you are ready to serve, or you can also pressure cook this for 20 minutes at low pressure (5lbs.) When using either of these methods, follow the instructions completely until the cooking step. When using the crock pot, I reduce the water to about 1/2 cup or until the thickness you desire.

Cooking Recipe - Do You Fancy a Tasty Italian Meatballs on Spaghetti Recipe?

Are you bored with preparing the same old meals week in and week out? Well here is a recipe for Italian Meatballs with Spaghetti. It's delicious, it looks good, it smells good and it tastes great. It will delight you and any guests you have invited around for a meal. The whole meal is inexpensive to make, it only takes a few minutes to prepare and the cooking only takes up to an hour. Let me first tell you about the pasta itself.

A good tip to get pasta the right texture is to remove a small piece from the saucepan and test it between your front teeth. It should be tender but still firm to the bite. Never simmer pasta but boil it in slightly salted water quite vigorously until it softens.

Then test it with your teeth after a few minutes. Always make the pasta towards the end when preparing this recipe. Do not leave pasta standing because it goes tough and unpleasant.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 slices of thick bread (cut off the crusts)
2 table spoons of olive oil
1 red onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 large tin of chopped tomatoes
8 basil leaves
3 table spoons of tomato puree
1lb of lean minced beef
1 table spoons of sugar
2 eggs
1 table spoons of fresh parsley chopped
1 table spoons of fresh basil chopped
12oz of dried spaghetti
salt and pepper
fresh grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over when serving

Method

Place the bread in a dish and soak with water. The water should just cover the bread and leave it for about 5 minutes, then drain off the excess water and squeeze the bread to remove all the liquid. Heat in a saucepan the olive oil, add the onion and half the garlic and occasionally stir while gently cooking over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes plus juice, basil leaves, tomato puree and sugar and then season with salt and pepper.

Bring to boil all the contents then reduce the heat to a simmer. After about 20 minutes this should reduce to a thickened and pulpy mixture. Using a large mixing bowl put in the bread, minced beef, eggs, parsley, basil and remaining garlic. Mix them all together using your hands and add a little salt to taste.

When this is done, make little balls of the mixture. Drop them into the saucepan containing your tomato sauce. Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes. About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve your dish, boil some slightly salted water in a saucepan. Add the spaghetti. Boil for 10 minutes and test. Once it is ready, drain it well.

Put the spaghetti into a large shallow bowl. Place your meatballs on top. Gently pour the sauce over the meatballs and the spaghetti. Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and serve. If you find Parmesan a little strong, use a milder cheese of your own choice.

A nice green salad is highly recommended with this recipe. And don't forget a generous helping of a quality olive oil which goes well with any salad or cooking recipe in my opinion. To accompany this meal have a glass of red wine. Enjoy.