Category Archives: Main Course

Easy to make meals using regular ingredients. Stress free dishes!

Farfalle con Pollo e Pesto

A pretentious name for a sublime dish: Bowtie Pasta with Chicken and Pesto. – Chef John

1 lb Farfalle (bowtie) pasta
2 lbs ground white meat chicken
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
2 large green peppers, seeded and diced
2 small jars prepared pesto (6.7 oz each) or 14 oz freshly prepared pesto
3 Tbsp dried garlic chips (for garnish) (Optional)

In a large cooker, bring 5 quarts of salted water to a boil. (It is said that Italians believe your pasta water should be as salty as the Mediterranean.) Add Farfalle and cook per directions (normally12-14 minutes) to al dente and drain.

While water is coming to a boil (and pasta is cooking) take a large skillet, add ground chicken, garlic and black pepper. Cook until chicken is done and crumbled. Drain off any excess liquids from the skillet that may have accumulated. Add diced green peppers and stir to combine.

Once pasta is cooked and drained, add to the chicken and pepper mixture. Stir to combine. Add pesto and stir to combine again. You’re making sure that every bite will be as flavourful as the last.

If desired, sprinkle top with dried garlic chips. Here at The Wannabe Gourmet, we love garlic, so it’s always desired!

Serves 8, alongside toasted, crusty garlic bread.

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Nimmakaya Pulihora (Lemon Rice)

So flavorful and light, I was tempted to sit and eat the entire container! – Jonathan

4 cups cooked rice (cooled)
2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon urad dal (spilt and skinned black gram)
1 tablespoon chana dal (split and skinned yellow lentils)
4 dry red chilies, cut into pieces.
15 to 20 curry leaves, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 cup peanuts
3 tablespoons sesame oil

In a wok, heat 2 tablespoons sesame oil. Fry the peanuts until crunchy and then set them aside.
Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil in the same pan. Keep the flame to a low.
Add the mustard seeds and let them crackle. Once the mustard seeds begin to crackle, add the urad dal and chana dal.
Fry until the dal turns golden (keeping heat on low, so that the lentils do not burn).
Then add the red chili pieces ,and curry leaf slivers. Sauté for a few seconds until the red chilies change color.
Switch off the heat and add the turmeric powder. Mix very well. Add the peanuts back to the wok.
Add the cooled rice to the wok and, with the heat still turned off, use spatulas to combine all the ingredients. Once thoroughly combined, add the lemon juice. Mix well again.
Immediately pour this tempering mixture on cooked and cooled rice.
Cover the wok and allow the flavors to blend for 4 to 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!


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Mexican Stuffed Shells

Put a little Mexican/Italian fusion in your mouth!

1 lb of ground turkey or chicken
1 package of low-sodium taco seasoning
4 ounces Neufchâtel cheese
12 jumbo pasta shells
1 1/2 cups salsa (heat level depends on you)
1 cup taco sauce (again, the heat level depends on you)
1 cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese (grated)
1 cup Low-moisture, reduced-fat mozzarella cheese (grated)
Chopped Scallions
Black beans
Optional: Low Fat/Light sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large skillet, brown ground meat; add taco seasoning and prepare following package directions. Add Neufchâtel cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Mix until well combined. Allow to cool.

While the meat mixture is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to package directions. (Once the shells are cooked and drained, set them individually on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray to prevent them sticking together!)

Using a 9×13″ baking dish, pour the salsa to coat the bottom. Use a spatula, if needed, to ensure coverage. Stuff each shell with 1-2 tbsp of the meat mixture. Place the filled shells open side up on top of the salsa. Coat the shells with taco sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes.

After cooking, remove foil and add shredded cheese and bake for 5-10 more minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Top with chopped scallions. Serve with black beans, and if desired, low fat/light sour cream and/or more salsa.

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Pan Sautéed Asian “Pillows”

Having the fortune of cooking in a larger kitchen than I’ve been blessed with in my own house, I decided to go on a variation of the Ravioli recipe for something with a Far East flair. These are delightful morsels that are akin to potstickers

For Pasta Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs, plus 1 yolk, lightly beaten
For Filling:
1 lb fresh ground lean pork
2 tbsp minced ginger
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 medium onion, finely minced
1 tsp Wasabi powder
dash cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil (divided)
2 tbsp sesame oil (divided)

To make the dough, place the flour, salt, and olive oil in a food processor and pulse four times to combine. Add the beaten eggs and process until the mixture holds together, forming a mass. Be sure not to over process the dough, or you will activate the gluten in the flour and your pasta will be tough and chewy. Remove the dough to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a larger fry pan, brown the ground pork, onion, garlic, ginger, wasabi, cayenne and black pepper in 1 tbsp of sesame oil and 1 tbsp olive oil. Drain off excess fat and add soy sauce. Reduce heat to lowest setting, cover, and allow to cook for 2 minutes to infuse flavours. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Divide dough into two pieces of equal size. If you have a pasta roller, process until the dough is very thin; otherwise, roll it by hand until the dough is about 1/8″ thick. (On a pasta roller, this equates to about setting “5″). Brush 1 sheet of dough lightly with water, then place the filling, by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart, in rows. Cover with a second sheet of pasta, and press down gently, so that you can easily discern where the filling is located. Cut around the mounds of filling with a fluted round pastry cutter (or biscuit cutter). Ensure all the edges are well sealed to secure the filling.

Take a large skillet and heat remaining tbsps of Sesame and Olive oil. Sauté ‘pillow’ until lightly browned on each side. Serve with a green salad.

N.B. – If you don’t want to go through the effort of making your own dough, store bought egg roll wrappers make an excellent substitute.

Serves: 4.

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Chicken and Mushroom Stir Fry

Serve this with brown rice and steamed broccoli for a complete, lower-fat and lower-sodium alternative to Chinese take-away.

1 lb white mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
5 scallions, sliced into 1/4″ (whites) to 1/2″ (greens) pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced (or run over a microplane)
1 tbsp minced ginger
4 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 six ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed (or cubed tofu)

In a wok or large skillet, heat olive oil and butter until shimmery. Add mushrooms and toss to coat. Cook over medium heat until oil and butter exude the surface of the mushrooms and they take on a medium brown colour. Sprinkle with sea salt, toss to combine and remove to a bowl to hold.

Without wiping the pan, add in the garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute. Add in chicken and stir to combine. Cook chicken 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink. Add soy sauce and scallions, reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the green part of the scallions have wilted. Add reserved mushrooms back to the wok or skillet and combine to heat through.

Serves: 4.

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Beef Daube Provençal

Beef Daube Provençal is basically a fancy way of saying a rustic beef stew served over noodles. The above shot is shown served with the Gorgonzola Asparagus Slice (recipe here) – please see note at the bottom of the recipe. It’s one of the more complicated recipes I’ve chosen to share, but the flavours are indescribably yummy!

2 1/2 lbs beef chuck, sliced thin, then into cube sized pieces and patted dry with paper towels
2 to 2 1/2 lbs beef short ribs
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 750 mL bottle Shiraz, or any medium (not too sweet/not too dry) red wine
4 slices thick cut pepper bacon
Kosher salt
2 tbsp tomato paste

The day before:
In large bowl with a tight fitting lid, combine all ingredients except bacon, salt, and tomato paste. Toss to combine, then cover and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days.

The day of:

Drain, reserving vegetables, meat and liquid separately.

Preheat oven to 300F.

In medium skillet, cook pepper bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain thoroughly, crumble and reserve. Remove all but 2 tbsp of fat in the pan.

Reduce heat to medium. Remove whole cloves from reserved vegetables, discard, and add vegetables to pan and cook, stirring until softened, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a 5 quart baking dish. Increase heat to medium-high and brown meat in batches on both sides, about 5 minutes per batch.

As each batch is completed, transfer meat to the baking dish. Sprinkle bacon crumbles and salt over each layer as completed. Once you’ve finished with the meat, add tomato paste and reserved liquid to skillet and heat, just to the boiling point, scraping to release any fond (fond is French for “base” and commonly refers to the browned bits and caramelized drippings of meat and vegetables that are stuck to the bottom of a pan after sautéing or roasting) which have adhered to the pan. Pour over the contents of the baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until tender.

Remove bay leaves and discard. Serve over hot noodles.

Serves 8, quite generously.

N.B.: The photograph shows it with the Gorgonzola Asparagus Bake, which is a meal in its own right. If you choose to serve these two together, it can easily serve 12-16 individuals, with some leftovers remaining!

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