Sloppy Joes Two Ways: Meat and Meatless

Since we have a pescatarian and a meateater in our two person household, dinner is sometimes a challenge. I had my heart set on making my husband sloppy joes using ground turkey – a less fatty version.  But what to cook for myself? Well, I wanted a good old sloppy sandwich as well. I made my sloppy joe with tofu.  Don’t you dare cringe! It was super and I entered both in the Mezzetta Make That Sandwich Contest 2009. Yes…this was my 2nd and 3rd entry.

The Turkey Sloppy Joe – Ted style, Serves 4

• 1 lb ground lean turkey (use lean then you don’t have to drain any fat)
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 onion, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup Red wine
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 TBS chopped Mezzetta Calamata Olives
• 1 TBS Mezzetta Deli-Sliced Golden Greek Peperoncini
• 1/2 can Red Kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
• 1 Jar (25 oz) Napa Valley Bistro Puttanesca Sauce
• 1 to 2 TBS grated Parmesan Romano cheese (optional)
• 8 slices of Crusty, Thick Sliced Italian Bread, Toasted and buttered. (I used fresh unsliced from Napoli’s Bakery on Culver – YUM!)

Add olive oil to pan on medium high heat. When heated, add turkey and cook on medium high heat about 5 minutes. Add onion slices and continue to cook 5 minutes.  Add wine and deglace any stuck pieces from the bottom of the pan – cook about 1 minute. Add garlic, olives, peperoncini. Cook 2 minutes. Add beans and Puttanesca.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook 20 – 30 minutes to let flavors meld.  Serve over the toasted bread, sprinkled with cheese.

The Tofu Sloppy Joe – Joanne Style, serves 4

• 14 oz Lite Firm Tofu, drained and pat dry.
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 onion, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup Red wine
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 TBS chopped Mezzetta Calamata Olives
• 1 TBS Mezzetta Deli-Sliced Golden Greek Peperoncini
• 1/2 can Red Kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
• 1 Jar (25 oz) Napa Valley Bistro Puttanesca Sauce
• 1 to 2 TBS grated Parmesan Romano cheese (optional)
• 8 slices of Crusty, Thick Sliced Italian Bread, Toasted and buttered(optional). 

Slice the drained and dried tofu into 3 slices then dice. Pat dry again with clean paper towel.  Put in saute pan with 1 TBS of olive oil and cook on medium high heat about 5 minutes. Add onion slices and continue to cook 5 minutes.  Add wine and deglace any stuck pieces from the bottom of the pan – cook about 1 minute. Add garlic, olives, peperoncini. Cook 2 minutes. Add beans and Puttanesca.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes to let flavors meld.  Serve over the toasted bread, sprinkled with cheese.

Either way you like your “Joe”, this one is a winner. Enjoy!

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

The Mezzetta Sandwich Contest

This is an Eggplant sandwich to satisfy all tastebuds and is my entry in the Mezzetta Make That Sandwich Contest.

We used Mezzetta Napa Valley Bistro Artichoke Marinara Pasta Sauce  and Mezzetta Golden Greek Pepperocini Slices to add the ultimate flavor to this lunch or dinner meal.

• 1 medium eggplant, sliced about 1/3″ thick into 8 to 10 slices. Leave the skin on and salt in a colander for 30 minutes.
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 TBS Italian seasoning
• olive oil for frying
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced thin
• 1 large tomato, sliced thin in 8 – 10 slices
• 8 to 10 fresh basil leaves, crumbled
• salt and pepper
• 8 oz Mozzarella cheese, sliced into 8 – 10 slices
• 1 cup or more of Napa Valley Bistro Artichoke Marinara Sauce
• 1 cup or more of Mezzetta Golden Pepperocini Slices, drained
• 8 TBS Honey or Sweet-Hot Mustard
• 8 – 10 pieces of crisp lettuce
• 8 – 10 Whole wheat or Kaiser Rolls, toasted

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Heat frying pan on medium – high and cover the bottom with oil.  Mix the breadcrumbs with the Italian seasoning and put into a dish. Dip the eggplant (after it has been salted and sat for 30 min.) into the beaten eggs, then into the seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry at about 5 – 6 minutes per side. Do not overcrowd the pan.

Add the fennel to the hot an and saute for about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare a baking sheet with foil and place the eggplant slices on the sheet.  Top with a tomato slice, basil, salt and pepper, mozzarella cheese, 1 TBS Napa Valley Bistro sauce, some fennel and bake for 8 – 10 minutes.

Toast the rolls. Place a piece of lettuce on the bottom of each roll, top with prepared eggplant, put about 1 TBS pepperocini on each egglant, spread about 1 TBS mustard on top roll and enjoy.

This sandwich was SO good. Ted loved it – he ate 2!  I enjoyed it so much, I could’ve eaten two but thought better of it – the stomach can only hold so much..or so it told the brain.

The Mezzetta Pepperocini slices really did the trick to adding so much flavor. If you give this a try, don’t leave out the pepperocini. They come in mild or hot options.

Now it’s off to begin the long weekend.  Please stop by for a visit since I’ll be posting more delicious recipes. Do you have a favorite you want me to try? If so, either leave it in the comments, email it, or let me know your blog where I can find it. I just LOVE to try new things!

Read Full Post »