C/O Joshua Zuckerman

Feeding yourself on a student budget is difficult. It can be especially hard to find affordable meals that produce lots of portions. This Bolognese sauce recipe was made with student budgets in mind.

Our chefs this week have worked hard to create a recipe that removes dinner time stress from people's plates (pardon the pun), without sacrificing quality. Not only can it be made for under $20, but it can produce up to eight portions.

The Chefs: Matt Dunbar and Michael Abbott

Matt Dunbar and Michael Abbott spent the last 10 years building up their successful catering business, No Small Feast. But despite catering events for organizations such as Spotify, Microsoft and BMW as well as foreign dignitaries, they weren’t pandemic-proof.

The dynamic duo pivoted their business to survive during the pandemic. They launched Provisions, a frozen upscale comfort food line for home delivery to the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area.

The Recipe: Bolognese Sauce

Description:

This is the black-tie version of a classic Bolognese sauce. Even though you can make this recipe for under $20, it will taste like you need to add a few more zeros to the price tag. Makes easily enough for four portions, and another four that live in the freezer for another day. Add any pasta you would like or have in your kitchen!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 carrot, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 100 g button mushroom
• 2 lb ground beef  (lean)
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1300 ml passata or pureed tomatoes (canned)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 very small pinch cinnamon
• 1 bunch of basil

Directions:

1. Brown meat in a pan medium heat until you hear it start to sizzle and it sticks to the bottom
2. Remove meat from pan, add all vegetables and cook until onions are translucent, approx. 7-10 minutes, then add tomato paste, cook for another 2-4 minutes.
3. Add wine and reduce until almost fully reduced, approximately 7-10 minutes.
4. Add meat back into the pot, add milk and reduce by half, approximately 5 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, cinnamon, salt
6. Simmer 90 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking on the bottom.
7. Finish sauce with chopped basil.  
8. If you really want to impress, drizzle some white truffle oil over the finished sauce when serving.

Healthy eating can be the last thing you have time to think about when you have papers due and midterms to study for. is curried chickpeas with spinach and
tomatoes recipe is an opportunity to cook a healthy meal while fulfilling your craving for a warm and comforting
dish.
This recipe was made with students in mind. It’s flavourful, delicious, nutritious and simple to make with accessible ingredients from your local grocery store or the
Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Unlike the other aspects of student life, cooking can be uncomplicated. This recipe is fast and easy to make regardless of skill level.

Have a little more time on your hands? is recipe is made to serve four and is perfect for sharing a homemade meal with your friends or housemates. Complete your curried chickpeas dish with flatbread, naan or steamed white rice.

Curried chickpeas also taste better the next day and freeze well too, so make sure to make the full batch and freeze the rest for those tight days.

[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Curried-Chickpea-Recipe.png" type="big" color="orange" newwindow="yes"] Print recipe here![/button]

The Chef: Joanne Rappos

Joanne Rappos is the Hamiltonian home cook behind Olive and Mango, a food blog dedicated to sharing her recipes from a variety of food cultures, including her native Greece and Caribbean in fluences from her husband’s side of the family. From Rappos’ popular sheet pan meals, like Greek shrimp with tomatoes and feta, to her golden lemon ricotta wa ffles, there’s something for everyone try making in their own kitchen.

The Olive and Mango blog and Instagram feed are thoughtfully curated with photographs worth getting hunger pangs over, which may just be the push we need to get inspired by her recipes. Rappos’ was just as careful with creating this curried chickpeas recipe for the Sil, she even relies on it at least once a week because it’s just that good.

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach and Tomatoes Ingredients:

• 3 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 red chili, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
• 8 oz fresh or frozen spinach, washed and drained if needed
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder (any curry you like — I recommend red Thai curry powder)
• 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 19-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 24-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes or diced with their juices
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro plus more for garnish (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach and Tomatoes Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, chile and ginger; sauté until fragrant and softened for about three to four minutes.
2. Add the curry powder and the chili powder and continue to sauté with the onion mixture for one minute more. Then add the tomato paste and continue to cook it while stirring it in with the curry and onion mixture for another minute.
3. Add 1/4 cup of water to the skillet along with the spinach and continue to sauté for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted.
4. Add chickpeas and tomatoes with juices, squeezing tomatoes with your hand as you add them to pan or use the back of a wooden spoon to break apart on the pan. Add a 1/2 cup of water to the pan.
5. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until tomatoes are broken down and sauce has thickened, this will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and serve with rice and or bread. Recipe notes: If you’d like less intense heat, skip out on the red chili and instead use ½ teaspoon of dried chili flakes. If you use fresh chilies make sure to scrape out the seeds. To freeze, portion out into meal prep containers, cool completely, then freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat until steaming hot in the microwave or stovetop.

 

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Liz Delaney / The Silhouette

 

Tucked away in the basement of the newly risen Phoenix, Bridges, the vegetarian/vegan restaurant caters to alternative tastes. “It’s a growing need. More and more people are making these choices,” said Leigh Laidlaw, its award-winning chef.

“I (also) get a lot of people who have dietary restrictions (because of) allergies, gluten intolerance, celiac disease, lactose intolerance...”

The most popular items are the chili, soy chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries. “But I like the Aloo Gobi,” said Leigh, “a potato and cauliflower curry. And I love the lentil curries  - over rice, pretty simple, very good for you and tasty.” Leigh will be doing a demo in April on how to cook easy healthy vegan meals (see MacFit for details).

Fresh out of school, chef papers in hand, Leigh moved to San Francisco to hone his skills in the cradle of the California cuisine movement. As a result he is passionate about fresh, local, organic and seasonal.

“Seasonal is huge. Unfortunately the academic year revolves pretty much backwards around the growing season. I’ll use a lot of Ontario root vegetables in the fall and winter because they’re local and they’re good. In fact, I just made roasted butternut and cinnamon soup earlier today.”

Leigh features a different entree every day. “I [research] other universities and vegetarian restaurants around the world just to see what trends are big.” Then he experiments.

“And if I don’t like the way it looks chances are I’m not going to serve it. It’s got to be aesthetically appealing. More often than not you eat with your eyes so I try to make sure things are colourful as well as nutritionally balanced. You can’t just have a salad and expect to have enough sustenance for the day.”

Leigh won gold for his expertise in the 16th Annual Chef Culinary Conference. Campus chefs from across North America competed in teams of four and had 40 minutes after opening a ‘black box’ to design a menu that included every item. They were marked on everything, even their garbage. “They wanted to look at all your bones when you were finished to make sure you had butchery skill.”

“I enjoy putting together the menu compositions - I enjoy seeing the finished products.” And Leigh likes to interact with the students. “It’s good to get feedback, negative or positive. And that’s one thing – students are honest.”

Check out the specials and kosher options on Facebook, and to see, said Leigh, “if I’m making chocolate mousse or banana bread.”