The trick to good Bolognese is gentle heat. Try to keep the Sun Oven between 250 and 300 and let this sauce slowly simmer all day.

Sun Oven Braised Lamb Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups meat from Basic Sun Oven Braised Lamb, shredded

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 carton (26-ounce) Pomì chopped tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Set Sun Oven out to preheat.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring often, until just softened, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the shredded lamb. Turn up the heat and add the wine. Cook until the wine has mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover the Dutch oven with a dark tea towel then set the lid slightly ajar.

Transfer to the Sun Oven and continue cooking for at least 3 hours.

Substitute cream cheese for the ricotta to make a tasty dip for a crudité platter.

Sun Oven Roasted Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

2 orange or yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped

1 plum tomato, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound fusilli pasta

Preparation

Set Sun Oven out to preheat.

In a medium pot, toss the onion, peppers, and tomato with the oil and salt. Cover and cook in the Sun Oven until vegetables are very soft, about 1 hour. Transfer the cooked vegetables to blender; add the ricotta and puree until smooth.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and put in a serving bowl. Pour the pureed vegetables over the pasta, tossing to coat. Sprinkle with the parsley and dust with Parmesan.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

The days are still short, so something that could be finished up on the stove, and served hot at dinnertime, seemed like the way to go.

This is one of the few pasta dishes that, in my opinion, is better with whole wheat pasta.

Sun Oven Chickpea Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 white onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 sprig rosemary

1 whole dried hot red pepper

2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas

10 ounces whole wheat pasta such as shells, fusilli, or cavatappi

2 teaspoons butter

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Set Sun Oven out to preheat.

In a large pot, combine the oil, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, rosemary, and hot pepper.

Cover and cook in the Sun Oven until the vegetables soften, about 2o minutes. Stir in one can of the chickpeas with its liquid.

Drain the second can of chickpeas and stir them in too. Cover and continue cooking in the Sun Oven until heated through and the flavors have blended, about 1 hour.

Remove from Sun Oven, discard the rosemary and hot pepper,  and transfer to the stove over medium-low heat.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water. Drain the pasta when it is slightly undercooked, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.

Stir the pasta into the pot with the chickpeas.

Continue cooking, stirring often and adding cooking water as needed, until the pasta is fully cooked, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter. Season to to taste with salt and pepper. Dust with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I got the idea for this sauce from my favorite local Italian restaurant, Franco Trattoria in Whittier. It’s a lot less labor intensive than regular bolognese and just as tasty. Like any good meat sauce it needs to simmer for at least three hours and only gets better if it cooks even longer.

Slow Simmered Sun Oven Tomato Sauce with Short Ribs

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 boneless beef short ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 carton (26-ounce) Pomì chopped tomatoes*

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Set Sun Oven out to preheat.

Heat the butter and oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the short ribs, turning to brown on all sides, about 10 minutes total.

Transfer the ribs to a plate. Lower the heat and add the chopped onion, carrots, and celery to the Dutch oven. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables just begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Put the ribs, with their juices, back in the pot. Turn the heat back up to medium-high and pour the wine over the ribs. When the wine has almost completely evaporated add the chopped tomatoes.

Season with salt, cover and transfer the pot to the Sun Oven. Cook until the meat falls apart easily when poked with a fork, at least three hours. Remove the Dutch oven from the Sun Oven. Using tongs transfer the ribs to a cutting board and shred. Stir the meat back into the tomato sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over pasta.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

*If you can’t find Pomì brand tomatoes look for another Italian brand that has no added salt, ascorbic acid, or other ingredients – just tomatoes.

This traditional pasta sauce is popular in Rome. It’s called arrabbiata (angry) because it’s hot and spicy. Increase or decrease the amount of red pepper flakes according to how “angry” you like it.

Covering the pot with a tea towel and the lid set ajar is a technique I came up with to keep sauces from coming out watery. The towel absorbs the excess moisture and keeps the cooking chamber condensation free.

Sun Oven Arrabbiata Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 ounces pancetta, chopped

2 (14-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices, coarsely chopped

1/4 teaspoon redd pepper flakes

salt to taste

12 fresh basil leaves, torn into 1/2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino romano cheese, plus more for serving

Additional 1 tablespoon olive oil for serving

1 pound penne rigate cooked according to the instructions on the package

Preparation

Set Sun Oven out to preheat.

Combine the olive oil, garlic, and pancetta in a medium pot. Place the pot, uncovered, in the Sun Oven and cook until the pancetta begins to brown, 10 to 2o minutes. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, the red pepper flakes, and salt. Cover the pot with a dark tea towel and the lid set ajar. Continue cooking in the Sun Oven until the tomatoes have reduced and separated from the oil, 40 minutes to 1 hour.

Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce in the pot. Stir in the Romano cheese and additional olive oil. Pass additional cheese when serving.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

On days when I’ve got nothing else going on in my Sun Oven, I like to make a big batch of smothered onions. Just slice up as many onions as your pot can hold. Put them in the pot. Add olive oil, about 1 tablespoon per pound, and a pinch of salt. Toss to coat, cover, and cook them in the Sun Oven.

The longer they cook the better they’ll taste. They can be used in soups, as a topping for flat breads, as a pasta sauce, or served as a side dish. Season them with salt and pepper and fresh or dry herbs. Store them in the fridge in an airtight container (before adding any seasonings) for up to three days.

They’ll make your weeknight meals taste like you spent hours slaving over a hot stove when in reality you were out running errands while the Sun Oven did all the work.

Sun Oven Smothered Onion Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds yellow onions, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Put the onions in a large pot with a pinch of salt. Add the oil and toss to coat. Cover and cook in the Sun Oven until the onions are soft and golden, at least 2 hours. Transfer the pot to the stove. Over medium-high heat continue cooking the onions until any liquid evaporates. Turn up the heat and add the wine. Stir frequently until the wine evaporates. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley. Toss the onions with cooked pasta and the Parmesan cheese.

Makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta.

This classic Italian tomato sauce will appeal even to the pickiest of eaters. Try it with a pat of butter on each serving. That’s how they eat it in Italy.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

2 cups strained or crushed canned tomatoes*

salt to taste

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and additional butter (optional) for serving.

Preparation

Set Sun Oven out to preheat.

In a medium sized pot combine the onions with the butter. Place the pot, uncovered, in the Sun Oven and cook until the onions are soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the carrots and celery and continue cooking until soft, about another 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and salt. Cover the pot with a dark tea towel and set the lid slightly ajar. Let the sauce simmer in the Sun Oven until the flavors have blended. Remove the sauce from the Sun Oven, add more salt if needed. Serve over pasta with the cheese and butter.

Makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta.

*Look for a brand of tomatoes that contain only one ingredient – tomatoes. No salt, no citric acid, no seasonings. I’ve never found a non-Italian brand that has none of these and even some of the Italian brands are guilty of unwanted additions, so read the label carefully. Pomì, sold in cartons, is good and available in most U.S. supermarkets.

Pasta sauce is easy to make in the Sun Oven. The trick is to allow some of the moisture to escape from the pot without letting condensation build up in the cooking chamber. I’ve found that putting a tea towel over the pot and setting the lid slightly ajar does the trick. I usually make the sauce in the early afternoon while the sun’s shining and cook the pasta on the stove at dinner time.

Sun Oven Pasta Sauce with Black Olives

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices, coarsely chopped

10 black olives, pitted and julienned

Preparation

Set Global Sun Oven out to preheat.

Heat the oil and garlic in a pot over medium-high heat just until the garlic starts to change color, about 1 minute. Stir in parsley then the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot with a tea towel and set the lid slightly ajar. Transfer pot to Sun Oven and cook until the tomatoes have reduced and separated from the oil, about 1 hour.

Makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta

I’d be the first to admit that pasta, with the exception of baked pasta dishes such as lasagna or macaroni and cheese, is better when cooked the traditional way; in a large pot of rapidly boiling water. However, it is possible to make decent pasta in the Sun Oven. I’d just say it’s something I’d save for emergency situations, camping, or when I need something to blog about.

One Pot Sun Oven Pasta and Meatballs

Ingredients

2 cups pasta, cavatappi or fusilli

1 tablespoon olive oil

2/3 cup water

1 pound ground beef

1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs

1/3 cup dry red wine

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

Preparation

Set Global Sun Oven out to preheat.

Coat a large oval roasting pan with cooking spray. Scatter pasta in the pan and toss with olive oil. Add water and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Place bread crumbs in a large bowl and stir in wine, let sit until wine is absorbed. Stir in egg, garlic, 1/4 cup of the Romano cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add beef to bread crumb mixture and combine well with a fork. Form 16 even balls. Arrange meatballs on top of pasta in roasting pan. Season tomatoes with 1/8 teaspoon salt and and pepper to taste. Pour tomatoes over and around meatballs. Sprinkle remaining Romano cheese over tomatoes, cover and cook in Sun Oven until meatballs are cooked through, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

It’s still cloudy here in southern California today but tonight’s ragù was made with leftovers from the solar braised ribs I blogged about yesterday. Paired with a salad and a good glass of wine it makes a great weeknight dinner. Make sure to set aside 1 cup of the onions and 1 cup of the sauce from the ribs to make this sauce. It’s more than enough for a pound of rigatoni.

Rigatoni with Beef Ragù

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup cooked onions leftover from braised chuck ribs

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 (14 ounce can) strained tomatoes

5 ounces leftover braised chuck ribs, shredded

1 cup leftover sauce from chuck ribs

2 tablespoons butter

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

1 pound rigatoni prepared according to the instructions on the package

Preparation

Heat the oil and the garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the tomato paste. Stir in the cooked onions and the wine and cook until the wine evaporates. Stir in the tomatoes, the shredded meat, and the leftover sauce. Simmer until thickened, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Toss the sauce with the butter and rigatoni. Sprinkle with the cheese and serve immediately.