Bison and Pasta

Last night I had about 5 tomatoes on the counter that were reaching the end of their counter life and would soon be delegated to the compost pile or to the freezer for stock. I used them to make a base for a great tomato stock last night.

I cut off the tops, cleaned out the seeds, roughly chopped them and threw them into the cast iron pan. Drizzled with a bit of olive oil, a tablespoon or two of chopped garlic, some salt (kosher) and pepper. I let this start to brown and carmelize, breaking down the tomato flesh, separating the skin off the rest of the tomato (remove, it's bitter ya know). When everything started looking nice and dark brown I added about 1/2 a cup of merlot and let it bubble up. I added a can of Organic crushed tomatoes and basil at this point and the Bison Meatballs Pamela had made earlier in the day.

The boys stood around at my feet waiting for their opportunity to "ok" the sauce. They said (in order of age) it was 'great' and 'mmmmm'.

Now, I wasn't in charge of the Bison Meatballs but I assume they went something like this.

• 1 lb Bison (lean, and better than old Bossy)
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (make your own!)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon Garlic
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• couple of grinds of black pepper

Mix and shape into small balls (tad smaller than a Ping-Pong ball)
Brown in skillet with a touch of olive oil
Cool on wire-rack.

I just let this simmer on the back of the stove while I waited for the pasta (plain, carrot and spinach bow-ties this time) to cook.

Once the pasta was ready we smothered it in the sauce and some shredded mozzarella.

Voila!

Both boys ate their plates (ok Cub ate his plate, and Thumper ate off mine and Pamela's) and asked for more. I would have to say it was a success.

We had leftovers because it's always too much sauce, and you should always make more pasta than needed, just so you can treat yourself at 11:30 when the house is quiet and everyone else except you and the dog are fast asleep.

So, tonight it'll be a game of make something new with the leftovers.