Welcome to Week #3 of the Hunt’s Tomato Cook-off!

Preparation:

1. Heat a skillet over Medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, a splash of wine, and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, mix to incorporate and then remove from heat. 

   

2. Combine the ground meats in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, rice, and the onion mixture. Toss the filling together with your hands to combine, season with salt and pepper. 
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Remove the large, damaged outer leaves from the cabbages and set aside. Cut out the cores of the cabbages with a sharp knife and carefully remove the rest of the leaves, keeping them whole and as undamaged as possible. Blanch the cabbage leaves in the pot of boiling water until pliable, about 5 minutes. 

   

4. Run the leaves under cool water then cut out the center vein from the leaves so they will be easier to roll up. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
5. Take the reserved big outer leaves and lay them on the bottom of a casserole pan, let part of the leaves hang out the sides of the pan. This will prevent the cabbage rolls from burning on the bottom when baked. Use all the good leaves to make the cabbage rolls. Put about 1/2 cup of the meat filling in the center of the cabbage and starting at what was the stem-end, fold the sides in and roll up the cabbage to enclose the filling. 
6. Place the cabbage rolls side by side in rows, seam-side down, in a casserole pan. Pour the remaining 2/12 cups tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls. 

   

7. Fold the hanging leaves over the top to enclose and keep the moisture in. Drizzle the top with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake until cooked, about 1 hour.

Katherine’s Recipe: Easy Butter Chicken

Fans of Indian food everywhere love butter chicken: it’s one of those iconic dishes that define a cuisine.  And believe it or not, it’s actually not all that difficult to recreate an authentic version of this well-loved dish at home. Most household have at least a few cans of Hunt’s tomato products in their pantry so creating a versatile menu by incorporating international dishes is actually quite simple.

My children love butter chicken – always have. And actually, butter chicken is a great dish to use when introducing kids to foods with new tastes. When prepared correctly, it’s not as fiery as many dishes that you might order in an Indian restaurant.  In this recipe, Hunt’s Tomato Paste offers a flexible flavour base that can be tweaked and adjusted to suit your (and your family’s) tastes.  When preparing this dish at home you can dial the heat up or down to make the meal as mild or as spicy as you like.

I love to make this dish because it is a real kid-pleaser: guaranteed there’ll be no fighting or coercion at the dinner table when I serve up this meal. I also like to make it because it’s easy and relatively quick, especially if you prepare the chicken and marinade the night before, then leave it to marinate overnight in the fridge.  Once you’re ready to go, the sauce heats up in less than half an hour, and that’s just about as long as it takes to make a nice batch of basmati rice to go along with it. Or, if you’re not strapped for time and want to prepare a full Indian meal, you can chop the chicken and put it in the fridge to marinate for a few hours while you whip up some naan bread dough and make a batch of aloo gobi or dal to go along with it.

However, since my daughters’ love of Indian food is limited to butter chicken and naan, I usually just serve it as a main over rice and offer up a salad for some veggies. That makes it a quick, exotic and delicious dinner option. It is also simple to double or triple the recipe and freeze it for an easy and delicious go-to meal in a pinch. Just pull out of your freezer, defrost in your fridge over night and reheat gently. Some people believe it tastes even better!

Words to the wise: this is not a terribly spicy recipe, but if you want to make it even less hot, then cut back on the cayenne pepper, or cut it out completely. Garam masala (an Indian spice blend) is easily available in most grocery stores – look in the ethnic foods section – but don’t leave it out as it gives the dish its signature flavour.

Easy Butter Chicken

Ingredients:

Marinade:
4 tsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
3-5 oz chicken cut in chunks (I find boneless, skinless thighs work best)

Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
200 ml cream
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup Hunt’s Tomato Paste
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup milk (optional)

PAM cooking spray

Preparation:

1. To make the marinade, mix the marinade ingredients. Add chicken chunks and marinate in refrigerator at least 2-4 hours, or overnight.

2. To make the sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan, then add spices and fry lightly at low temperature. Add cream, water, tomato paste and sugar. Simmer on med-low heat 30 minutes until sauce begins to thicken.

3. Spray a separate skillet with PAM cooking spray and fry chicken at high heat until just cooked through.

4.  When sauce reaches desired consistency, add thicke
ned sauce to the chicken pieces and extra milk (if desired).

5.   Serve over basmati rice or with naan bread (or both!).

Kath
and Gav were provided with Hunt’s tomato products for participation in
the Hunt’s Tomato Cook-Off. All content is true, based on their personal
experience. 

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