NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2009
Spaghetti Meal With Twist And On The Cheap
Add Lamb To The Mix! Chef Amanda Freitag Tries To Prep Family-Friendly Dinner On "Shoestring" Budget Of $35
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Play CBS Video Video Lamb & Rigatoni Delight! Get ready for some mouthwatering recipes, as Tribeca chef Amanda Freitag presents a budget "Chef On A Shoestring" dinner with some innovative Italian-style dishes.
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Beet Salad with Crushed Pistachios & Soft Goat Cheese is prepared by chef Amanda Freitag and host Erica Hill on "The Early Show." (CBS)
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Chef Amanda Freitag prepares Lamb Ragu with Rigatoni and Fresh Ricotta on The Early Show. (CBS)
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In The Spotlight Chef on a Shoestring Check out recipes and tips from many chefs who accepted our "Chef on a Shoestring" challenge!
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News Tools Recipes Galore Searching for a new dish? Get cooking with recipes presented on "The Early Show"!
She's executive chef at The Harrison, in Manhattan's trendy Tribeca neighborhood. Freitag treats guests to an inspired New-American menu that tourists and New Yorkers alike can't seem to get enough of.
As The Early Show Saturday Edition's "Chef on a Shoestring," Freitag sought to take a traditional, three-course spaghetti dinner and give it a little twist any family would love - on our new, lower, recession-busting budget of $35.
And, we introduced another challenge to our "Shoestring" chefs. We're calling it "How Low Can You Go?" The chef who prepares the least-costly meal will be back at the end of the year to create our big, blowout holiday feast!
Menu
FOOD FACTS
Chevre is a generic term that denotes a cheese made from the milk of goats. "Chevre" means goat in French. Most cheeses incorporating goat's milk use chevre in their labeling so consumers seeking goat cheeses will be able to readily identify them. Chevre can come in a wide range of forms, from soft farmer's cheeses to fully-cured, firm varieties.
Lamb is meat from a sheep less than a year old. Most are brought to market at about six-to-eight months old. When purchasing, look for good marbling (white flecks of fat within the meat muscle), and meat that's finely textured and firm. The meat should be pink and the fat should be firm, white, and not too thick.
Blood Oranges are juicy, sweet and have a dark red interior and are slightly less acidic than regular table oranges. Blood oranges are great for juicing and using as you would common orange juice. The dark red color of the juice makes it a good cocktail ingredient. Use fresh blood orange segments in salads and sauces.
RECIPES
Beet Salad with Crushed Pistachios & Goat Cheese
2 cups, julienned beets
½ cup pistachios, toasted & chopped
1 cup soft goat cheese, such as chevre
1 bunch watercress
Beet vinaigrette
Beet Vinaigrette:
1 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 small beet, peeled and cut large dice
3 shallots, sliced
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
Pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
For Beet Vinaigrette:
Bring vinegar, sugar, beet and shallots to a boil and simmer until the sugar melts (about 1 minute).
Remove from the heat and add olive oil, season with salt and cracked pepper.
For Salad:
Toss beets with the vinaigrette along with salt and pepper to taste. Let sit while you prepare the plates.
Spread a circle of goat cheese onto the center of each plate with the back of a spoon. Add watercress and pistachios to the beets and place on top of the circle of cheese.
Once each salad is plated finish by drizzling vinaigrette around the perimeter of the plate and sprinkle each salad with toasted pistachios.
Lamb Ragu with Rigatoni & Fresh Ricotta
1 pound ground American lamb meat
1 onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, sliced very thinly
2 tablespoons oregano, chopped finely
1-1/2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped finely
1 can (14-and-a-half ounce) whole plum tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound rigatoni pasta
1 cup fresh ricotta
Salt and pepper
In a high sided sauté pan add olive oil and heat to medium and sauté the onions until translucent.
Add in the sliced garlic, oregano and mint. Sauté together for about 1 minute and then add the ground lamb.
Cook the lamb for about 5 minutes, periodically mashing with a spoon to break up the meat into small pieces.
Add in the plum tomatoes whole and cook for about one hour. Stir during cooking to break up the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the rigatoni until al dente, about 11 minutes.
When the pasta is cooked toss together with the lamb ragu and the fresh mint and serve in a bowl.
Garnish with a dollop of fresh ricotta and a crack of black pepper.
FOR MORE RECIPES, GO TO PAGE 2.
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
More From Chef On A Shoestring
Add a Comment See all 34 Comments
- Look in the world they live in TV WORLD it is not based on reality, people. Lets all pretend that we all live in their world and all will be fine. TV and Hollywood and CEO People make millions and are considered 'Middle Class' . CEOs blame their income is based on the income of Movie Stars and Athletes, it is not their fault. So lets us all just Pretend and get along.
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- I find this article sort of insulting and offensive.
My family and I try to live frugally and I''m always looking for ways to save a few bucks, especially on everyday stuff like meals. This article is completely, utterly beyond the realm of anything that would help me save a few bucks. Using this helpful information, I''d basically at least QUADRUPLE my food budget. $35? For one meal? Made at home? Forget it. The other posters are right--you and your chefs need to get a clue. A big one.
I don''t feel like my family''s financial situation and our food budget are all that different from most Americans. My husband and I make a few bucks as employed professionals, and we can certainly afford to eat decent food. This recipe and the author''s budget must be SO out of whack with the general population that the author even fails to see how outlandish it really is.
I''m not planning to read any more of your articles about this topic, or anything else related to saving some money.
Next, you''ll tell me how to save money on the purchase of a new car by buying a Rolls Royce. - Reply to this comment
- "Chef on a Shoestring"? What kind of shoes? Christian Louboutins?
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- CBS, it looks like you have lost touch with reality. I have an idea. Come on down to my house, bring along your chef who obviously lives in a dream world and I will take you by the hand and introduce you to the real world. I know it will be scary but I promise shopping at stores like Aldi and even "gasp" Walmart is pretty painless and you can even get some pretty fancy stuff at Aldi for much less than you probably paid. We will shop and I will show you how you can make just a very nice meal that will got you a fraction of the ridiculous $35 you spent! It won''t even be ramen and ragu, I promise. Heck if Aldi has a special I might even throw some goat cheese in to keep you happy. Seriously, get real!
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- I really wish CBS would stop this stupid piece... $35 is not a shoe string. I shoestring is ~$3 plus refrigerator leftovers ($5 if there are no leftovers). Dump the chefs, and get some regular people if you want to continue. The problem is the food isn''t pretty, but it can be every be as good as this *** your chefs put together.
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- I''m with everybody else - this segment is a huge insult.
I''ve been saying for weeks that the REAL Chef on a Shoestring challenge goes like this -
MAKE A NUTRITIOUS MEAL OUT OF THE ITEMS YOU ARE GIVEN AT THE FOOD BANK.
FEED PEOPLE AT A HOMELESS SHELTER - I DON''T GUESS THEY WILL SEE THINGS LIKE GOAT CHEESE AND LAMB.
But you will see lots of people like me and the other posters on this stupid, out of touch article. - Reply to this comment
- I''ve been complaining about this faux "shoestring" segment for months, but CBS doesn''t listen. It''s insulting to watch chefs describe spending $35.00 on one meal as economical while I just did my weekly shopping at $28.00 for the week. And I''m kicking myself for buying the diet soda at the checkout.
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- $35 is considered a cheap price for a meal?? Is this some kind of joke? Maybe it costs that much in big coastal cities but that is outrageous for all the rest of us in "flyover" country. $35 is more than my husband and I would spend eating out twice. We can eat for several days on $35. Give me a break and write an article that shows some reality.
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- The budget is probably tight at CBS News as well-have you considered terminating the person responsible for the blatant programming fluff?
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- Sorry about the spelling in the last post. My stomach was growling, causing my hands to shake. When you eat on $40 a week for four, it gets a little tight. (can''t get help - made too much last year. No one cares that I''ve been laid off for 3 months.)
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- Lamb??!! When was the last time you priced lamb? It amazes me when people so obviously out of touch with reality, tell me how to live. $35 for one meal would blow my weekly groceries?! We belong to the middle class, which now is the upper poor class. I haven''t had lamb in several years. I teel you what, Amanda, my damily of four will come live at your house. $35 a meal - we could eat like kings.
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- Two words "smack ramen"
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- I guess I''m just an old fashioned guy...none of the above listed recipes sound good to me! For me, a pound or two of lean ground beef, a jar of Prago, and a package of spaghetti would suit me & my partner just fine! and I think it would cost a total of about $10!
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- I hated eating beets when I was a kid. Worst food I can remember on the school lunch menu. As for goat cheese and lamb - do they think we all live in Manhattan and will go for the exotic stuff???
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- Sorry, I should have said ricotta. But same deal as goat cheese. Too expensive.
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- I don''t know ANY kid who will eat beets (I hate them myself), lamb is expensive, goat cheese isn''t cheap either, and pistachios are probably the most expensive nut next to macadamias! Ricotta is no longer inexpensive and can be somewhat replaced by store brand cottage cheese. The mint could be deleted and hey why not just have romaine salad, a far less expensive and simple vegetable like green beans and plain old spaghetti, meatballs and sauce. I bet I could feed a family of six for the price of $10 or less!
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- Funny...I can spend less than $10 on a spaghetti meal and it''ll taste decent. Won''t be gourmet, but it''ll be edible.
$35 on one meal a waste of money. First of all, rigatoni isn''t spaghetti. It''s pasta, but spaghetti is the long, thin noodle stuff, something that reporter should have researched before writing that headline.
Second...who in blazes except maybe Martha Stewart puts lamb meat and goat cheese on pasta? Talk about going overboard.
Go to the grocery store, buy a pound of ground turkey or chicken (if you''re into eating healthy) or some plain old ground beef. $5 or less. Buy a box of noodles for $2 or less. Buy some sauce for $2 or so. And you have spaghetti. For about 2 more $ you can add canned sawdust, aka parmesan, if you so desire. Since you most likely won''t use all the meat, noodles, sauce, or cheese unless you''re cooking for like...4, it''ll cost you less than $10 in the end.
I''m sure this is a great recipe, but it''d only be a recessionary budget for Martha Stewart. Not for the rest of us. - Reply to this comment
- No, kidding. If they think $35 is a shoestring budget for spaghetti, then they are buying their shoestrings from Ferragamo.
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- I don''t know where the chef bought the ingredients but if it took $35.00 to prepare a spaghetti meal for a family the chef got ripped off. From our local grocery we can purchase 5 filet mignon ($3.50 ea), a bag of potatoes and a canned vegtable and produce for less than $35.00. Perhaps Katie Couric provided the chef, That might explain the $35.00 spaghetti meal. Maybe someone at CBS needs to take a paycut and come down to reality with everyone else.
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- Credibility2, shame on you for assuming that we who don''t have a "well stocked pantry" are any less aware of quality than those of you who do have that pantry. (Only because you can afford to and, just maybe, we can''t.)
- Reply to this comment
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