Thanks to ShopCaputo’s for sponsoring today’s post. Use Caputo’s online ordering and home delivery to stay sane this holiday season! For $20 off your first order (over $60) on ShopCaputo’s use the promo code WEST20.
With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, the holiday season is definitely upon us. For most of us, this is the busiest time of year. Work deadlines that must be completed by the end of the year. Final exams for high school and college students. End-of-the-year recitals and performances. Holiday parties, shopping and decorating. All this on top of the regular errands and chores! And dinner. It may be the holidays but you still have to prepare dinner every night.
For my Chicago-area readers looking to simplify their lives this holiday season, I highly recommend the new online ordering and delivery service from ShopCaputos. Caputo’s markets are well-known around Chicago for being family-owned, having a wide range of unique, imported products, offering the finest quality meat and produce, and an outstanding in-house deli and bakery. I remember when I moved to the Oak Park, many people recommended the Caputo’s in Elmwood Park for the incredible selection of cheeses, fresh vegetables and more. That Elmwood Park store has been renovated and expanded since I first moved here, nearly 13 years ago, and is more popular than ever.
Caputo’s may have started as a neighborhood market back in the 1950’s, but it has kept up with the times. There are now seven locations throughout the Chicago suburbs, as well as a newly designed website with a seamless online ordering system and convenient store pick-up or delivery, depending on your preference.
Online ordering and delivery is the way to go when it comes to grocery shopping and being able to have Caputo’s quality and service without leaving the house is life-changing. For example, I placed an online order at ShopCaputo’s last week when we had that unseasonal cold spell. I cannot tell you how delighted I was not to have to leave my house to buy groceries in single digit temperatures. My order was delivered the next day at a time I selected. Everything was as fresh as if I had picked it out myself. And I never left the house. I sat at my desk and worked while someone else picked out my groceries and delivered them to my doorstep. This is the Chicago winter life hack of my dreams.
Because the holidays are such a crazy time of year, but we still need to get dinner on the table, I am sharing with you the healthy, family-friendly weeknight dinner I created last week with my groceries from ShopCaputo’s. And because Caputo’s is known for their deep connection to Italy – where the founder Angelo Caputo was born – this recipe is inspired by Italian cuisine. Bolognese sauce or ragù alla bolognese is a hearty, slow-cooked sauce from the city of Bologna made with a sofrito of sautéed vegetables, a mixture of beef and pork, tomatoes and sometimes a splash of milk or cream. It also happens to be JR’s favorite dish in the world.
But who has time for a long, slow-simmered sauce on a weeknight? And I don’t know about you, but we are trying to eat a bit lighter these days. So I have revamped classic ragù alla bolognese to make it quicker and lighter by using ground dark meat turkey. This sauce, and indeed the entire meal, can be ready in under an hour.
Like classic bolognese, this lighter version should be served with a wide, broad noodle like tagliatelle, papardelle or fettucine. ShopCaputo’s has a thrilling selection of imported Italian pastas in all shapes and sizes, so it is easy to pair the sauce with just the right noodle.
In case you have some extra time, I have included a recipe for making your own fresh pasta, which is one of my favorite kitchen projects. It’s not even that hard to do on a weeknight, especially if you have a pasta roller and cutter attachment for your stand mixer. (Holiday gift idea!)
With a recipe like fresh pasta, where there are so few ingredients, it is imperative that the ingredients be of the best quality. Naturally Caputo’s carries imported Italian flour that is designed for making fresh pasta so it comes out incredibly smooth and toothsome. (But not to worry: this recipe works perfectly with regular all-purpose flour.)
I have been tweaking my fresh pasta recipe for ages and I finally have hit upon the exact right formula. Three cups of flour + four large eggs + two to four tablespoons of water, depending on how dry the dough is. This recipe makes plenty of pasta to feed a family of four with some leftover. And you make the dough in the food processor, so it is quick, foolproof and, best of all, neat.
The only trick is you have to let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes before rolling and cutting it. So what I do is make the pasta dough first and then let it rest while I made the sauce. Then, the sauce can simmer while I am rolling and cutting the pasta. The timing really does work out well.
So stay sane this holiday season with ShopCaputo’s online ordering and delivery. Don’t forget to use the code WEST20 for 20% off your first order. If you don’t even have time to make a quick, family-friendly recipe like this one, don’t panic. Caputo’s has plenty of prepared foods, soups, housemade pasta sauces and more for when you have absolutely no time to cook.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour (00 or all-purpose)
- 4 large eggs
- Pinch salt
- 2-4 TB water
- 3 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Salt to taste
- 1 lb. ground dark meat turkey
- 1 TB tomato paste
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 fresh basil, cut into ribbons
- Freshly grated Parmesan for serving
Instructions
- If making fresh pasta, combine flour, eggs and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add 2 TB water and pulse again, continuing until dough begins to come together in a ball. Pinch a bit of the dough: if it sticks, it is done. If it feels too dry, continue to add water, one tablespoon at a time and pulse.
- Turn the pasta dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. (Again, if dough starts to feel dry, add additional water very sparingly.) Wrap dough in plastic and set aside to rest while you prepare the sauce.
- To make the turkey bolognese sauce, heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and sauté until softened, about five minutes. Season with a pinch of salt.
- Add the carrots and celery and stir to combine. Sauté until the vegetables are very soft, about ten minutes.
- Add the garlic and season with more salt and the red pepper flakes. Sauté a few additional minutes until fragrant.
- Add the turkey and sauté until no longer pink, using a wooden spoon to break up any clumps of meat. Season with another pinch of salt.
- Add the tomato paste, canned tomatoes and sugar. Stir to combine and turn heat to high. Bring sauce to a boil.
- Turn down and heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes, or longer if time allows. Add cream shortly before tossing with cooked and drained pasta.
- If making fresh pasta, prepare the pasta: divide the rested dough into four, keeping the pieces covered when not in use. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
- Using a pasta roller, or a pasta roller attachment for your stand mixer, place one piece of pasta dough through the roller on its widest setting. Fold into thirds, like a letter, and run dough through widest setting once additional time.
- Continue to roll out pasta making the setting narrower each time until the pasta is almost translucent. (I usually go to setting 6 on my pasta roller.) Cut sheet in half.
- By hand or using a pasta-cutting attachment, cut each half into wide ribbons, such as fettucine, papardelle or tagliatelle.
- Wrap each bundle of noodles into a nest and place on the baking sheet, dusting with flour if sticky. Cover.
- Repeat with remaining pasta dough. (Fresh pasta can be frozen at this point or used right away.)
- Bring a pot of salty water to a boil. (Taste the water. It should taste salty.) If using dried pasta, cook according to the package directions. If using fresh pasta, cook for a few minutes at most, testing for doneness.
- Drain pasta and transfer to skillet with sauce. Toss to coat pasta in sauce. Garnish with chopped basil. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.