Albanian-Indian-Italian Chunky Red Sauce

4oz. mushrooms

1-2T Tuscan oil

½c dry white wine

5 lg. cloves garlic

8oz. mixed olives ~

~ and sun-dried tomatoes

3-4oz. tomato pesto

¾c mild Ajvar
1T sugar

1 18oz. pkg. RANA pasta

Saute' the washed, sliced, paper towel-dried mushrooms in the oil for a few minutes until they shrink a bit.  Add the wine, chopped garlic, olives and tomatoes.  Stir in the pesto, Ajvar and sugar.  Cover and bring all this to a simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.  Stir in the coconut cream, cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the RANA pasta according to package directions, or just a little less, then drain.  This chunky sauce would also work well with penne, fettuccine or linguine, or even as a lasagna sauce.  Put half the drained pasta-of-your-choice, into a 2qt. casserole dish.  Pour and spoon half the sauce over the pasta.  Repeat this layer, sprinkle with grated cheese if you want, then bake, uncovered for 15 minutes at 375°.  Turn the broiler to low and put the casserole directly under the heat source for just a few minutes to bubble-brown, and crisp the top.  Keep an eye on it though, it'll go from perfect to burnt in no time.  Serve alone, or with a green salad. . .Lin

Chicken-Mushroom Stew

1½-2# chicken breast meat

2-3T Tuscan flavored olive oil

fresh ground lemon pepper

fresh ground garlic sea salt

12-16oz. sliced mushrooms

½c dry white wine

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and combine with the ingredients in this group.  Simmer, covered, on low heat 45-60 minutes.  Add the following:

¼-½c Ajvar eggplant pepper sauce

¼-½c Sun-Dried tomato pesto

At this point, you can continue on with the remaining ingredients, or refrigerate overnight to develop the flavors, then add to the pot:

5 sm. red potatoes - each cut in 4-6 pieces

3 med. carrots - sliced in chunks

Simmer everything together another 45-60 minutes after adding the potatoes and carrots.  The scent of this cooking is just the best.  Mmmmm!  Scoop out into big bowls.  This is such a perfect cold weather stew! . . . Lin

Tomato Pesto Hummus

1 15oz. can pinto beans

1 15oz. can red kidney beans

1-2 lg. cloves of garlic

½c roasted red pepper pieces

¼-½c or more good olive oil

2T white balsamic vinegar

3-4T sun dried tomato pesto

a little water if needed

1½t ground cumin

½t garlic sea salt

½t granulated roasted garlic

½t fresh ground black pepper

Drain and rinse the beans.  Combine all the ingredients in your food processor.  All at once, or in smaller batches, depending on the size and power of your processor.  When everything is as smooth as you want it, let it stand for an hour. During this time the beans will absorb a lot of the flavors.  Taste it after an hour, you may need to add more seasoning.  Serve with pita or falafel chips, or vegetable strips.  This also makes a great replacement for mayonnaise on a sandwich. . .Lin