Monday, January 27, 2014

Sloppy Joes -- Italian Style

This evening I made a quick and simple dinner using the leftover thick meaty sauce from last night's pasta dinner. It was a spicy arrabbiata type sauce (Del Grosso's Fireworks sauce). It was loaded with sauteed red and yellow bell peppers, mushrooms and over 2 pounds of Italian chicken sausage and chicken breast that I had added to it before simmering it uncovered for over an hour to reduce, thicken and meld all the flavors together when I made it yesterday. It was a super thick and chunky sauce.

When I got home from work this evening and pulled the bowl of leftover meat sauce out of the fridge, I spotted the plate of biscuits I made this weekend on the shelf beside it. It got me thinking that together they would probably make awesome "Sloppy Joes" with an Italian twist. I thought about it for a moment and decided...why not? Sloppy Joes are basically just ground meat in a thick and rich tomato based sauce with onions, peppers and some spices. I sliced and heated the biscuits and warmed up the sauce. I cut a couple slices of mozzarella cheese into thin strips, then pulled out my shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. I topped the biscuits with the meat sauce, mozzarella and a sprinkle of shredded cheese...and Voila...mini Italian Style Sloppy Joes! They were absolutely delicious. It reminded me of using bread to mop up the delicious sauce left on your plate...only this was doing it "sandwich style". I will definitely make these again next time I have leftover meat sauce. I snapped a couple photos for you to see below. Enjoy!


BOOM!

6 comments:

Neha said...

I absolutely love your site!!! I find your writing so friendly and approachable. I've made your biscuits (scrumptious!) and can't wait to try more recipes. Thank you for sharing your recipes, ingredients, tools you like, everything really so generously. :)
I just begun cutting out wheat from my life, and your story is much inspirational. Thank you again!!

Pat in Ohio said...

I know the focus of your blog is on food and avoiding wheat and other grains but just wanted to say I hope you and your family are safe and warm. The news reports about the awful weather condition in your neck of the woods have been pretty scary. Where I live we have the equipment and experience to deal with winter and we take it in stride. We are even famous for the current coverage of "snow rolls'. Hoping for an early spring!!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks so much, Neha. I appreciate your kind comments. So glad you enjoy the biscuits, too. I wish you tremendous success with the removal of wheat, too. Hope you find some more recipes you enjoy, too. Thanks again! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Pat. I'm happy to report that all in my family are safe and sound and home now. Some of my family had over 3-hour commutes, but we are fortunate as there are many people here still trying to make their way home (at 9:47pm) and many who have been trying to get home for 8+ hours and some of those folks now running out of gas, stranded, etc. So while we were a bit inconvenienced, we feel blessed to all be home safe and sound. You are right, our weather is nothing compared to many other places in the country...the big difference is we really are not prepared for it here. Thanks so much for your care and concern...it is truly appreciated. :-)

gale said...

Wahhh! I'm always searching for recipes but most yours have dairy in them and I'm lactose intolerant. It's like a double whammy. :(

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Sorry Gale -- many of my recipes do have some kind of dairy but there are a number of them that don't and there are a few you could substitute coconut milk in place of cream, etc. :-)