Fill your family up with this quick 1940s spaghetti stuffed pepper recipe

At first glance the image in today's vintage recipe might elicit a slight sense of hesitation. The pimento stuffed olive slices are a rather kitschy touch that may not appeal to everyone, but swap those for a few shavings of your favourite hard Italian cheese (parmesan, pecorino, etc), fresh basil leaves, or even a little pan-fried pancetta for extra protein, and you'll quickly see the appealing side of this marvelously easy meal.

I thoroughly adore bell peppers - there isn't a shade I don't go gaga for (orange and purple tie as my favourite colours, but no matter the shade I'll always jump at the chance to cook with this vitamin C packed veggie) - and try to always have at least a couple in the crisper at all times.

Many stuffed bell pepper recipes call for meat and/or rice, but instead this version from 1948 is crams a portion of tomato sauce drenched spaghetti into each delightful green pepper.

Being married to one of Italy's native sons, I pretty much always keep homemade tomato sauce on hand and highly recommend using you own sauce here, but by all means if you don't have any, reach for your favourite jar of store bought sauce to help make this filling dish even speedier to get on the table.

This recipe calls for canned spaghetti in sauce, but I've always made it with precooked pasta (for those like me who aren't able to eat gluten, both rice and corn based pastas hold up wonderfully, in my experience, in this yummy recipe) - do try it with canned spaghetti though, if you'd like (doing so will make this dish even quicker to whip up).

{Hailing from the late 1940s, this charming Italian inspired stuffed bell pepper dish is the kind of fun, quick-to-prepare food that appeals to dinner guests of all ages and is especially well suited to busy weeknight meals. Image via curly-wurly on Flickr.}

I like to add in a clove or two of garlic (or - and this is an extra lovely treat - some oven roasted garlic, if I have any to hand), generous lashing of freshly cracked black pepper and fresh basil and/or some dried marjoram.

You could add ground meat or tiny meatballs to the sauce, as well as grated or crumbled cheese, fresh or sundried tomatoes, olives (black or green), or any other vegetables you desire. Play around with various ingredients until you find a version or two that your family chomps at the bit for.

Not only is this delicious spaghetti stuffed bell pepper recipe ready in a jiffy, it's pretty darn economical . too- especially if you can get peppers on sale or are able to grow some of your own in your garden. I generally make this dish with green or yellow peppers, but any shade will work so long as the pepper is relatively firm to begin with (as it will soften a fair bit during cooking).

Redolent of a Mediterranean mama's kitchen, and perfect for those days when the fridge and pantry are getting low, this vintage recipe is fabulous any time of the year, but works especially well during the bitingly chilly days of January, when one's belly really needs to properly warmed come dinnertime.

Hearty 1940s Sausage Macaroni Casserole recipe

✯ Day 313 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

There's an undeniable chill in the air these days. Perhaps not quite bone-shatteringly cold like the brutal arctic winds that rattle much of Canada throughout the winter, but enough of a bite so that one firmly knows summer and even the milder days of fall are well behind us.

During these mid-Novembers days as the world outside begins to slip from autumn to winter, and the possibility of snow is ever-near, I take a certain distinct joy in once again being able to keep my oven on for hours without it heating up our apartment to the point of it feeling like Death Valley.

There's comfort - timeless as the return of night time frost - to the act of creating hearty, filling, wonderful means on the stovetop and inside the oven once more.

From pots of bubbling soup and stew, to roast root vegetables, whole chickens and fragrant sweet nut and fruit breads turning perfectly golden brown, the return of nippy weather brings with it the desire - and need - to feed your family with the sort of dense, stick-to-your-ribs dishes that are rarely seen during the sizzling months of summer.

Though a handful of eyebrow-raising recipes over the years has given the given the word "casserole" a certain less desire connotation, the fact of the matter is that casseroles are a fantastic, handy, scrumptious one dish way to serve up a filling, nutritious meal (especially if you're heavy-handed with the veggies and lean protein).

I've always enjoyed casseroles a lot, be they rich, elaborate Italian cheese-topped numbers or simpler fare tossed together from store cupboard staples. Today's vintage recipe for Sausage Macaroni Casserole (which first appeared in Woman's Home Companion magazine and comes by way of curly-wurly on Flickr) hails from 1947 and speak of the culinary tastes of the decade, yet is still in keeping with many modern day baked pasta dishes.

 

As with most casseroles, this one has the added benefit of being adapted to high heaven. You could swap the sausage for lean ground beef, chicken, or turkey (or use soy crumbles instead); nix the American cheese and add a smoky gouda, mild havarti, or beautifully aged cheddar. In addition to (or instead of) the green pepper, why not try some broccoli florets, corn kernels, or sundried tomatoes?

On the table in under an hour, this creamy, crowd-pleasing macaroni casserole is precisely the kind of dish one yearns for the moment the mercury starts plunging, and is a great vintage recipe to whip up all through the freezing cold fall and winter night have returned once more.

Wonderful Wednesday Recipes: Crème fraiche, Sweet Corn & Tuna Penne

The sun sets far too early, the air jabs at your throat like an assassin in the night, the wind screeches at all hours of the day, and the snow piles up until the ground looks a powdered sugar factory exploded. It's mid-January, thick in the depth of another freezing winter, the body craves warmth and simplicity. On chilly nights like this my mind turns to comfort foods that can be prepared without needing to venture to the market.

Store cupboard staples, always ready at your beck and call, are on the menu tonight in the form of a wonderfully easy - yet surprisingly tasty - pasta dish that I first whipped up about six years ago. It sprung forth from the fact that my husband adores the combination of sweet corn and seafood together (not that one can argue with him there, some types of fish and seafood do match wonderfully with the earthy, juicy, vaguely sugary taste of corn), and has popped up at our table each winter since its inception.

{Who could pass up a vintage ad featuring one of the main ingredients in this Wednesday's recipe that also happens to star the timelessly beautiful Maureen O'Hara? Not me, that's for sure! In fact, not only does Maureen look ravishing (as always, she was such an elegant knock-out!), but the salad in this ad actually doesn't look half-bad either - though I'd probably save that for hotter weather, when the opposite of today rings true and the last thing you want to sit down to is a warm meal. Vintage Star-Kist Tuna ad via Bluwmongoose on Flickr.}

 

As with most pasta recipes, you can play around quite a bit here. If tuna isn't your favourite, why not swap in tinned or smoked salmon, tiger shrimp, or even some large, succulent langoustines (scampi)? You could also (and I have, it's equally tasty) forgo the seafood in favour of some (precooked) chicken, turkey or even (should you happen to have any on hand) duck meat. Likewise you can play around with the seasonings, trading cilantro or basil for the parsley, if you prefer (a large handful of arugula swirled through during the last few seconds of cooking, in lieu of, or in combination with, the parsley is also delightfully tasty).

Days like today, heavy with with the force of a snowstorm and tiring on the soul, really do call for nourishing, one plate dishes that can be thrown together in a matter of minutes, and this savoury, subtly Mediterranean pasta fits that bill perfectly.

 

Crème fraiche, Sweet Corn & Tuna Penne

Ingredients

- 1 can of good quality tuna (if you can get some of the wonderful Italian canned tuna that comes packed in olive oil, all the better), drained of any liquid/oil

-125ml crème fraiche

-2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

-2 tbsp (or to taste) fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly torn or chopped

-1/4 tbsp dried oregano

3 tbsp olive oil

-200ml (or a bit more, if desired) evaporated milk

-1/2 cup cooked (frozen/fresh) or canned sweet corn (you can certainly add more if you’d like)

-Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, both to taste

-175 grams (dried) penne pasta

 

Directions 

In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the drained tuna and olive oil over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Turn down the heat to low and add the crème fraiche and herbs. Stir well and simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the corn and continue cooking over very low heat (stirring periodically while cooking).

Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per the directions on the package. Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain and add to the frying pan with the tuna mixture. Add in the parmesan cheese, evaporated milk, and salt and pepper, stirring well to combine.

Cook mixture over low heat for 2-4 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened to a nice, creamy consistency. Transfer pasta to a serving bowl or plate each portion and bring it to the table to be enjoyed at once (a little extra parmesan and some more chopped parsley sprinkled over top is a lovely finishing touch).

 

Makes 2 lunch or diner main course servings (this recipe can easily be multiplied as needed).

Bon appétit!

Wonderful Wednesday Recipe – Schill Family Spaghetti Sauce

My goodness, it's certainly been a while since the last time I was able to share a recipe here on Chronically Vintage with all of you. While my (personal) diet hasn't exactly been putting the menus at five star restaurants to shame lately (ahh, the joys of being ill ;P), that doesn't mean that notions of of food haven't been dancing through my head. In fact, I find that the blander - or less diverse - my day-to-day eats become, the more I start daydreaming about treasured favourite dishes, exciting recipes I'm eager to true, and delicious thoughts of food in general.

Few recipes in the whole world conjure up such instantaneous memories of childhood suppers as this hearty, robust pasta sauce does for me. Oh how, I used to adore it when my mom would make a giant pot of this marvellously tasty spaghetti and meat sauce, the scent of green peppers, onions and tomatoes simmering away together into an almost magical final product that nourished our bodies and souls alike.


{Though four different varieties of tomato products are called upon in this dish to help give it its rich flavour, you don’t quite need a full shopping cart of tomato sauce – unless you want to serve a very large crowd, for which this recipe would be perfect as it multiples wonderfully well. Vintage Hunts Tomato Sauce advertisement via Shelf Life Taste Test’s Flickr stream.}


Though my mom’s family isn’t Italian at all, this recipe is one that’s been developed and handed down through the generations, residing now in my cookbook (and still routinely made by other family members as well). It’s a dish that I feel needs little to no adaptation (and given my penchant for playing around with recipes, that really says a lot).

Aside from the fact I often make this with ground chicken or turkey instead of beef (or forgo the meat entire and toss in large quantities of vegetables), there is nothing that I do to tweak this scrumptious recipe. It is perfect to me exactly as it – but, should you try it out for yourself, please feel free to edit it however you wish (that’s so much of the fun of cooking after all!).



Wonderful Wednesday Recipe – Schill Family Spaghetti Sauce


Ingredients

•2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or other mild flavoured cooking oil)

•1 very large (or two small) green bell peppers, deseeded and finely chopped

•1 medium sized white or yellow onion, finely chopped

•1 1/2 cups sliced or chopped fresh button mushrooms

•2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or crushed)

•1 can (28oz/800g) can tomato sauce (or equal quantities of tomato sauce or pasatta di pomodoro)

•1 can (28oz/800g) diced tomatoes (or whole/sliced tomatoes that you dice up yourself)

•1 can (6oz/170g) tomato paste

•1/3 cup tomato ketchup

•1 ½ to 2lbs (680 to 910 grams) lean ground (minced) beef, well browned and drained of excess fat (lean ground turkey, chicken, veal or pork can be used instead, if desired)

•1/2 cup strong beef stock (homemade or good quality store bought; use vegetable or chicken stock if using ground chicken or turkey)

•2tbsp white sugar (optional, but I feel it does a marvellous job of cutting through the acidic bite of all the tomato products used in this recipe)

•Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper (both to taste)


Directions

In a large, heavy bottomed pot (or Dutch oven), warm the olive oil over medium heat and add in the vegetables (except for the garlic). Sauté for a few minutes, stirring often, until the onions have turned translucent, then add in the garlic and cook for about one minute. Add in all of the other ingredients and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Cover the pot and cook the spaghetti sauce for at least 1 1/2 hours, stirring from time-to-time, to ensure it doesn’t begin to stick to the bottom of the pot. You’re aiming for a moist, but no soupy, sauce, so continue cooking further if you think the sauce has yet to thicken up enough (I’ve often simmered this sauce for four or five hours over low heat, and in fact try to do so when time permits, as I find the longer cooking time really helps to intensify the flavours).

Taste sauce to check for seasonings and add more salt and pepper, if desired. Remove pot from heat and let the sauce stand for ten minutes before ladling it over spaghetti (or any other pasta), a heaping bowl of freshly grated parmesan accompanying it to the table.

Leftovers will keep for at least four days in the fridge, and can also be frozen (this sauce freezes like a dream) for at no less than three months in a freezer-safe container.

This hearty sauce is truly a meal in itself, but should you wish to accompany your heaping plate of pasta with something else, a light green salad or some steamed veggies (like string beans or zucchini circles dressed with a little olive oil and sea salt) makes a lovely accompaniment.


Serves 4 to 6 people (at least)

Bon appétit!