Expert: Suzette - 9/10/2001

Question
I am teaching a lesson plan for kindergarten age children on language and food.

do you have ideas on any ethnic food that could be simple to make in an 1/2 an hour and that the children could participate in making as well.

any while i'm at it do you have a spaghetti sauce
recipe that could feed 7 adults. I am an italian an am tired of eating ragu.

thank you

Answer
Hi Jason!

I'm not sure what you mean by language and food, however how about using sushi as an example? There's a type of sushi called noritame that uses seaweed. Different ingredients can be selected, such as sweet rice or even tuna, which is then wrapped in the seaweed tightly and then sliced. I can probably find you some simple recipes if you'd like, or you can just make something up using foods that are easy to find. Let me know.

You're Italian, and use eat Ragu?? :-)

Here's a nice alternative:

1 pound ground beef
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
15 fresh mushrooms, sliced
5 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 cloves garlic, minced

In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat until no longer pink; cut up any remaining chunks of beef and reserve.

In a large saucepan, combine whole tomatoes and paste; mash until smooth. Cover and heat on low.

In a large skillet over medium heat, quickly sear onion and celery until transparent; add to tomato sauce in saucepan. In same skillet, saute bell peppers and mushrooms for a few minutes, but do not allow them to become soft; add to tomato sauce.

Add Italian seasoning, dried red pepper flakes, bay leaves, basil and garlic to tomato sauce; add beef and mix. Remove cover, simmer over low heat and continue to simmer all day, stirring occasionally.

Add sauce to pasta; serve.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

PS - I love to make large quantities of sauce and freeze them. It freezes really well, and if I need sauce at the last minute for something, I only have to thaw it out (in the microwave usually) and heat it.

Enjoy!

Suzette