Gordon and Julie’s Everyday Seafood

Blackened Grouper Cheek Po’ Boys

These are actually based on our love of Grouper Cheeks.

The Slaw above is actually an excellent one we did for St. Patrick’s Day and we used the leftovers here.

See that recipe below:

Adding Some Grilled Lemon Juice

So Very Delicious!

An Excellent Sandwich for any Everyday Seafood

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We Also Have:

Spanish Sofrito Tilapia with Sofrito Rice

This photo was when we originally made this dish.

The photos below are when we recreated it using only 3 fillets and leftovers.

I will give you both versions of this recipe down below.

This Recipe is a Keeper!

AND,

Lobster, Shrimp, and Sides

(Recipe at Bottom)

AND,

Cedar Plank Salmon in Classic Jezebel Sauce, Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus…

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Arabic Rice, Zucchini and Squash Fries

This Arabic Rice is Delicious!

The Salmon Steaks with my Jule’s Classic Jezebel Sauce with Dill

Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Pepper and Olive Oil

Excellent Everyday Seafood Dinner

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Click Here For: Julie’s Jezebel Sauce

An Excellent Glaze for Seafood and a Dipping Sauce

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Chick Pea Pasta with New Zealand Mussels, Garlic, Tomatoes, and Green Sauce

(Recipes Down Below)

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But First:

Blackened Grouper Cheek Po’Boys

The Ingredients:

1 Bag of Frozen Grouper Cheeks

4 Sub Rolls – Toasted

2 Lemons

4 oz. Kerry Gold Butter – melted

Blackened Seasoning Mix Ingredients:

1 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Smoked Paprika

1 tsp. Sweet Paprika

1 tsp, Thyme

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

1 Tbsp. Himalayan Salt – fine ground

1 tsp. Roasted Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper

1/2 tsp. Ground Mustard

1/4 tsp. Ground Cayenne Red Pepper

Pictured are all the ingredients.

Slice your Sub Rolls like a hot dog bun.

Thaw your grouper cheeks in running water in a colander.

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Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 tsp Wasabi

1 Tbsp. Ketchup

3 Tbsp. Tartar Sauce

1 tsp. Lemon Juice

In a small bowl add your Wasabi…

Ketchup, Tartar Sauce, then Lemon Juice.

Mix all the ingredients well and set aside in the refrigerator.

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Here are the spices I used to make my own Blackened Seasoning. I am using the 1/4 Cup to measure out the spices so I don’t get much more than that of all the Paprika’s I will be using.

Now the Smoked Paprika…

and lastly the Sweet Paprika. Place them all into a large measuring cup.

Now add your Thyme…

Onion Powder…

Finely ground Himalayan Salt…

Roasted Garlic Powder…

Ground Black Pepper…

Ground Mustard…

and lastly some Ground Cayenne Red Pepper… to taste.

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Mix the ingredients well and place them into a used spice jar that has a sprinkle top. Using this makes it easier to distribute the seasoning on the cheeks. This is what we did.

Slice your two lemons in half and set on a tray to later grill.

Here is the type of butter I used.

Slice off just more than half of the butter…

place it into a bowl and microwave it until melted.

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Place the grouper cheeks onto a large plate as shown.

Now add the melted butter and place all onto a large tray with the blackened seasoning.

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Get your cast iron skillet as hot as you can using your grill.

Using your tongs, dip a grouper cheek into the melted butter coating it well.

Set the buttered cheek onto the plate and sprinkle your blackened seasoning all over the one side.

Place the seasoned grouper cheek side down onto the skillet. Then season the other side of the cheek as shown.

After about 1 min. turn the cheeks and cook for another min. Meanwhile, grill the cut lemons as shown.

If needed, you can put a touch of peanut oil into the pan to help stop the cheeks from sticking.

Repeat these steps with the other grouper cheeks.

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Here I am grilling more cheeks as they cook fast as long as your pan is super heated.

I am also grilling the sub rolls.

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Here are all the grilled grouper cheeks and lemons.

We made a slaw earlier to be placed onto the rolls.

add the spicy sauce we made earlier then add your blackened cheeks. You can also add some of the blackened seasoning as well.

Add some of the lemon juice and get ready to eat!

I really liked the sauce so I add some more to the fish.

Enjoy!

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Our Grilled Cabbage Slaw

An Excellent Edible Gift

With a Lovely Dressing…

Tossed and Ready to Eat

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Ingredients:

1 pkg. Pecanwood Thick Cut Bacon

3 Cabbage

3 Yellow Onions

1/2 Cup Bacon Fat

1 Cup Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp. Whole Grain Mustard

1 Tbsp. Delicatessen Mustard

Salt and Pepper to taste

~3 Tbsp. Parsley – thinly chopped

2 Cups Whole Pecan Halves

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Pecanwood Thick Cut Bacon

Here we are placing our bacon on our pottery specially made for this task.

Place a sheet of paper towel on top to prevent spattering.

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Cook the bacon in the microwave for about 10 min. or until crispy.

Carefully remove the bacon and place on a paper towel keeping the bacon fat for later uses. Continue this process until all the bacon is cooked. We clean the pottery cooker between each cook.

Slice the cabbage into ~1 inch thick slices.

Like so….

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Peel and slice your onions into quarters.

Heat your grill to medium high heat …

and place the cabbage evenly over the entire grilling surface as shown.

I then placed the quartered onions on the upper grilling surface to start their cooking.

Keep aware of your grill’s hot spots and turn and move the cabbage as it cooks.

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Here you can see the nice grill marks and a little char on the cabbage.

As the cabbage finishes cooking, place it on a platter as shown.

When there is room on the grill, bring down the onions and grill them the same as the cabbage.

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For the dressing, use a cast iron skillet as I find it retains its heat and cooks evenly.

Our Dressing Ingredients

Heat your skillet to medium heat and add a good amount of your bacon fat to the pan. Now add most of your lemon juice to the pan.

Now your grainy mustard…

Then your delicatessen mustard, and honey.

Now add your salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Whisk all this ingredients together.

Cook the dressing on the grill, or you can use your side burner if you have one.

As the dressing cooks, the mixture will begin to reduce and slightly thicken.

Taste your dressing and add ingredients as needed.

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Slice your parsley…

then chop your grilled cabbage into bite size pieces.

Here, I wanted a little more bacon flavor so I added the rest of the bacon fat.

Place the chopped cabbage into a large mixing bowl then add the parsley.

Slice your onions lengthwise …

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and place them in the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

Now, add your dressing to the bowl and mix all the ingredients well.

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Add your pecans to the bowl…

then add your bacon breaking it apart into bite sized pieces.

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Mix all the ingredients well.

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Place the cabbage mixture into jars which can last for a week or more in the refrigerator as the acid in the lemon juice will keep it from spoiling.

They also make excellent edible gifts.

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We Actually made This While on Vacation

Our Spanish Sofrito/Salsa Verde Tilapia and Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice

My Salsa Verde and Sofrito

The recipes are below this one.

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Our Spanish Sofrito/Salsa Verde Tilapia and Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice

Ingredients:

7 Tilapia fillets – Thawed if previously frozen

3-4 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

Salt and Pepper to taste

~ 4 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Sauce Ingredients:

1 Cup Dry White Wine (your favorite Chardonnay)

2 Cups Salsa Verde (Julie’s Homemade)

1 Cup Sofrito (Julie’s Homemade)

~10 Large Pepper Stuffed Olives – sliced in half

1/2 Cup Old Florida Chunky Salsa

1 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika

1/2 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper

2 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro – Chopped

2 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley – Chopped

2 Tbsp. Fresh Basil – Chopped

(The herbs we brought from home.)

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Ready to Get Started in our Vacation Rental Kitchen

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Place the thawed fillets on a sheet pan and liberally coat with the sweet paprika.

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Turn the fillets over and coat the other side as shown.

Now add your salt and pepper to taste.

Spanish Olives

Slice your pepper stuffed olives in half.

Place the sliced olives in a bowl for later use.

These black olives are for the Sofrito Rice recipe.

Slice them also in half as shown.

Place the black olives in a bowl for later use.

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We Brought our Rice, and Rice Cooker With Us on Vacation

For your Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice recipe, add about 2 cups of rice to your rice maker’s pot. Rinse the rice about 3 times or until the water is clear. This is done by placing a few cups of water into your rice bowl and using your hand to stir the rice for about 45 seconds. You will begin to see the milky white starch to come off the rice. Pour the water out of the bowl and fill the bowl back again with a few cups of water and repeat the previous steps until the water is clear. Remove the remaining water from the rice.

Add the vegetable broth until it is about one inch above the rice.

One inch is about one knuckle above the rice.

You can place your finger inside to make that determination.

Close the lid and turn the rice maker on as shown.

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Meanwhile….

Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice Ingredients:

2 Cups Rice

~ 2 Cups Vegetable Broth – or until the broth is one inch above the rice.

1 Small bag of Frozen Peas and Carrots

~ 30 Pitted Black Olives – sliced in half

1 Cup Sofrito (Julie’s Homemade)

1/2 Cup Salsa Verde (Julie’s Homemade)

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Back to the Tilapia

Add your olive oil to a large cast iron skillet and turn on to medium high heat.

Oyster Bay New Zealand Pinot Gris

Here is the wine I will use to de-glaze the pan after the tilapia is cooked. Also pictured are the fresh herbs from our garden we will use for the tilapia.

Letting the pan get hot on the Stove Top

(We did bring this from home.)

Adding some of the Tilapia fillets to the pan. Just sear the fillets for about 2 min. on each side as they will continue to cook while in the sauce.

Pictured are the olives and both of Julie’s homemade Sofrito and Salsa Verde… which were both so good!

Once the fillets are cooked, place them back onto the sheet pan which I used to hold the fillets for seasoning.

Here are the last of the fillets.

See all those bits in the pan? They are pure flavor!

Liberally add your white wine to the pan or about 1 Cup of wine.

Adding the wine to the pan will de-glaze the pan or lift up any pieces of fish that were stuck to the pan or what is called fond. Using your spatula, move the wine around the pan scraping up the fond.

Let the wine cook for about 2 minutes and continue to stir the mixture.

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For the Sofrito Rice recipe, I cooked the frozen peas and carrots in a sauce pan with a little bit of boiling water and when done, I drained off the water.

Now, add the cooked peas and carrots to a larger pot as shown above.

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Back to the Tilapia, add your sliced green olives to the wine and fond.

Saute the olives in the wine.

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For the Sofrito Rice, add about 1 Cup of Sofrito to the peas and carrots.

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Now add your sliced black olives to the pot.

Here you see the olives cooking in the wine and I am stirring the Sofrito Rice ingredients.

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Once the olives have cooked for a few minutes in the wine, add a cup of Sofrito to the pan.

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Now, add 2 Cups of your Salsa Verde to the pan.

Turn the heat down to medium and let the Tilapia sauce simmer and reduce.

NOTE: It was at this point that we decided to add some Salsa Verde to our Peas and Carrots. Photo not shown.

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Add your Cayenne to the Tilapia pan sauce.

Now add your Smoked Paprika and stir all the ingredients together well.

Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed.

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We had these green beans as a nice side dish to our meal. These taste a lot like Julie’s Grandmothers. Not everything needs to be homemade from scratch. Bring along some cans to add to your homemade vacation meals.

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Here on the left is the rice mixture and on the right is the Tilapia Sauce.

Here I added about 1/2 Cup of this Old Florida Chunky Salsa to the Tilapia Sauce.

As the Tilapia Sauce reduces, I will chop the fresh herbs.

Be sure to stir the sauce occasionally so it won’t burn.

Here on the right the Tilapia Sauce has reduced to my liking, so turn off the heat.

I then added the cooked Tilapia fillets to the sauce and then will continue to cook over the hot sauce. You can nestle the thicker fillets in the sauce. I also poured the left over juices from the fillets into the skillet.

Add your cooked rice to the peas, carrots, and other ingredients and fold together.

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Beautiful, Rustic, and Delicious

Add your freshly chopped herbs to the rice.

Both of these recipes were really good and will be a staple to our family favorites.

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Cilantro Galore and Spring Onions Going in These Next Two Recipes

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Julie’s Salsa Verde

(Gordon wanted to drink this, he thought it was that good.) 🙂

Ingredients:

1 28 Ounce Can of Whole Tomatillos (Costena Brand)

1-2 Jalapeno Peppers, Deseeded

3 Spring Onions

1 Bunch of Cilantro

1/2 Cup of Sugar

1 t. Garlic Salt

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This was so easy and fast. I was thrilled to find this can of whole Tomatillos. I was dreading having to use fresh ones. They are just so sticky and you have to remove that husk from them which sometimes takes a bit of work.

You just throw everything in the blender and zap it until it’s ready.

Couldn’t be simpler! Just place into jars and keep refrigerated.

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Julie’s Sofrito

(Sofrito is Puerto Rican)

Ingredients:

4 Cubanelle Peppers, Deseeded

2 Medium Sized Spanish Onions

(I have 3 pictured because one looked a little bad. I probably used about 2 1/2 Onions though.)

4 Plum Tomatoes (I used Roma, they are similar.)

1 Large Red Bell Pepper

2-3 Spring Onions

12 Large Garlic Cloves, or 18 Regular Ones

1 Bunch Cilantro

4-6 Culantro Leaves

Hawaiian Sea Salt, or any you so desire.

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Yet another very easy recipe.

If you cannot find Culantro in your usual super markets then you can at the local Asian and Spanish grocery stores.

My Culantro Herb Plant

Just Chop Everything and Place into Your Blender

You of course want to deseed your peppers and remove the stems.

Blending the Onions and Peppers

Deseeding the Red Bell Pepper and Chopping it and the Tomatoes

In Go the Tomatoes and Red Bell Pepper

Next, Add the Green Stuff

Garlic Cloves and Hawaiian Sea Salt

Then Add The Culantro

Place into jars and keep refrigerated.

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Spanish Sofrito Tilapia with Sofrito Rice

This is the same recipe from above except that we substituted some of the ingredients with what we had in our house once we got home from our vacation.

This was so good when we originally made it that when we got home and saw our leftover ingredients we wanted to remake it so as not to let anything go to waste.

We had some leftover Tilapia, Salsa Verde, Sofrito, Florida Salsa, Olives….

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We Fried the Tilapia Same as Recipe Above

Instead of a Chardonnay Above we used a Key Lime Wine

This was to deglaze the pan from the fried Tilapia.

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We didn’t have any of our Spanish Olives leftover from the recipe above so we opened a jar of Garlic Stuffed Olives, which was perfect. Here Gordon is slicing them in half. I also love the presentation of the large olives sliced in half and not chopped up into diced size pieces.

We also didn’t have any frozen peas and carrots for the rice that we make above so we opened up this can and added it to our Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Gordon Cooking our Sofrito/Salsa Verde Sauce

(Isn’t it beautiful?)

Cooking the Sauce Same as Above

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Bringing to a Boil

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Gordon Slicing Black Olives for the Rice

Gordon decided to cook the black olives and the colorful carrots in the rice cooker to save time.

You simply make rice according to the rice maker instructions and then add the colorful carrots and olives. That way everything cooks together at once. When the rice is done, the veggies are done.

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The Pan Left is for Rice, The Pan Right is for Tilapia

Gordon wanted to add more ingredients to the rice so when the rice cooker with the vegetables was finished, he dumped everything into the wok that already had some olive oil in it. He put it on a medium heat. He then added the drained can of peas and onions and some leftover Florida Salsa.

Place the Tilapia back into the sauce just to warm…

then happily heap onto a plate and enjoy!

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Lobster, Shrimp and Sides

Here I found some nice lobster at our Military Commissary (Grocery Store) which were pre-cooked. This can be a problem if you don’t reheat them properly. Luckily, they didn’t cook them to death in the first place.

It Doesn’t Get Any Easier Than This

I simply put the lobster on a sheet pan in a 350’F oven for about 10 min.

When done, the lobster will come out warm and nice and should be eaten right away. In a small saute pan melt some butter with some minced garlic. Break open the lobster tail and claws and dip them in the garlic butter. Don’t forget the legs as they have some meat in them as well.

Here is a great vegetable side dish. In our lower oven we roasted some Zucchini and Yellow Squash cut into strips at 375″F for about 25 min. which were coated with an egg wash (two eggs beaten together with a little water) then coated with some bread crumbs, grated Parmesan Cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Roast the fries until browned as shown.

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Cedar Plank Salmon in Classic Jezebel Sauce, Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus…

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Arabic Rice, Zucchini and Squash Fries

This Arabic Rice is Delicious!

The Salmon Steaks with my Jule’s Classic Jezebel Sauce with Dill

Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Pepper and Olive Oil

Excellent Everyday Seafood Dinner

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Here I am soaking the cedar wood plank in water using a cast iron lid to keep it down.

In Order To Make……..

Jezebel Cedar Plank Salmon Steaks

WITH…..

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Arabic Rice, Grilled Asparagus and Squash, and Zucchini Fries

(We’ve got 3 recipes in the making here.)

Ingredients for the Arabic Rice:

1 1/2 Cups Brown Basmati Rice

3/4 Large Red Onion – diced

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil – I used one from the country of Jordan

1 Tbsp. Ground Cardamom – or more to taste

1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin – or more to taste

1 Tbsp. Ground Coriander – or more to taste

5 Cardamom Pods – seeds removed

~1/2 Cup Dried Cherries

~1/2 Cup Pitted Dried Apricots

~1/2 Cup Chopped Dates

~1/2 Cup Mixed Jumbo Raisins

1/2 tsp. Himalayen Salt

1 tsp. Dried Valencia Orange Peel

2 Whole Cinnamon Sticks

2 Bay Leaves

Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Garnish with chopped chives

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Add your rice to your rice cooker’s bowl and wash with fresh water a couple of times until the water runs clear. This removes the coating. Use your fingers to mix the rice with the fresh water and pour out the milky water and any non-rice pieces. Then add one inch of water above the rice. Use your index finger and your first knuckle to measure this 1 inch measurement. Cook the rice in your cooker until done.

Slice your Red Onion in half then dice it as shown.

Here I placed them in a bowl for later use.

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Grilled Asparagus Ingredients:

~30 Asparagus

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 1/2 Tbsp. Lemon Pepper

Wash your Asparagus then slice off the woody ends as shown. Usually about 1 inch of the end depending on the freshness of the Asparagus.

Place the Asparagus into a large baggie and add your olive oil.

Add your lemon pepper and close the bag letting it sit overnight or at least for a few hours.

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Yellow Squash and Zucchini Fries:

Ingredients:

3 Yellow Squash – sliced

3 Zucchini Squash – sliced

2 Eggs – beaten

2 Tbsp. Water

2 Cups Wheat Panko Bread Crumbs

1/2 Cup Grated Asiago Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

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Slice all the squash into thin French fry wedges as shown.

Crack your eggs into a large bowl…

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then add your water to the bowl and whisk until combined.

Pour your Panko Bread Crumbs into another bowl …

then add your shredded Asiago Cheese and mix all the ingredients well.

Add your pepper and salt to taste and mix well again.

Dip your squash wedge into the egg mixture to thoroughly coat.

Then dip it into the Panko and cheese mixture,

and set it on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil as shown.

Slice the ends off of your Zucchini squash and cut them into wedges as before and place them into the egg, then Panko mixtures.

Here you can see I have the bowls and tray all in a row to simplify the process.

Line the squash fries in rows on the tray as shown.

Sprinkle a little more Asiago cheese on the squash if wanted.

Bake the fries in a 400’F oven for about 25 min. or until browned.

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Here you can see the rice is perfectly cooked and ready for the Arabic Rice recipe.

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Thaw and rinse clean your salmon fillets.

Using a pair of food pliers, remove the bones as shown. You could also remove the backbone if you desired. They are also easily removed after the Salmon is cooked.

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I like to use a Wok for rice dishes as they remind me a making Asian foods and the ease of moving the ingredients around which the Wok provides.

Heat the Wok to medium high heat and add your oil.

When the oil comes to temperature, add your Red Onions and saute them for a few minutes.

Now add your Cardamom…

Cumin…

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and Coriander to the Red Onions and mix well.

Here I am also using the Whole Cardamom Seeds which I am removing from their Pod.

Mix the Red Onion and seasonings well adding more oil if needed.

Add your Dried Cherries to the Wok…

Then your Apricots…

Chopped Dates…

and Raisins to the Wok and continue to mix well.

Now add your Cinnamon Sticks and Bay Leaves to the mixture…

then your Salt…

and Dried Orange Peel, and again mix all the ingredients well.

The aroma of this is amazing!

Now remove some of your rice from the bowl and add it to the other ingredients in the Wok.

Begin to break up the rice with your wooden spatula while mixing all the ingredients together. Add as much rice as you like until the consistency looks good to you. Use any leftover rice for other meals.

Here is the finished dish which was garnished with some chopped chives.

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Here I have removed the Squash Fries from the oven as they have browned to my liking.

Set them aside to be eaten later.

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Slice some lemons in half to be grilled along with your Salmon.

Here are the four Salmon Fillet Steaks and a brush for the Jezebel sauce.

Turn on your grill to high and heat for about 8 min. When at temperature, reduce the heat to medium and place your cedar planks on the grates. TIP: Buy an entire board of cedar wood at your local home improvement store and have them cut the wood into manageable planks. This is much cheaper than buying the already cut wood planks. Just make sure that the wood is untreated.

Place some oil on the plank and brush it evenly over the wood’s surface.

Now place your Salmon on the plank, placing one inside the other as shown.

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Add about 1/2 cup of your Jezebel sauce to a small bowl and …

use your brush to evenly coat the fish with your sauce/glaze.

Add your Asparagus to the grill as shown, over medium heat.

Close the grill for about 8 min. then turn the Asparagus using your tongs.

Add your lemons to the grill and cook them until they have grill marks on the cut side. Grill the fish until firm and you see the white fat coming out of the fish which should take about 15 min. total time depending on the thickness of your fish and the amount of times you open your grill to tend to other items.

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Here you can see the nicely grilled Salmon Steaks which we garnished with some fresh Dill Sprigs.

Pictured above are the grilled lemon and Asparagus.

Here is the plated meal… this was really good and the Jezebel sauce was a huge hit.

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What an Excellent Dinner!

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Chick Pea Pasta with New Zealand Mussels, Garlic, Tomatoes, and Green Sauce

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Ingredients:

1 Large Onion – diced

4 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tbsp. Garlic infused Olive Oil

~9 Garlic Cloves – sliced thinly

1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

~13 Cherry Tomatoes – sliced in half

24 oz. New Zealand Mussels – frozen

1 package Chick Pea Pasta – reserving 1/2 Cup of the water to create the sauce for the dish

~1 Cup Green/Herb Sauce (This Green/Herb Sauce recipe can be viewed here): Simply Easter

1 Small Bunch of Parsley – Chopped finely

Salt and Pepper to taste

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Kerrygold butter is an Irish butter, which is very good and worth the extra cost.

Here is the Pasta, Garlic, and Cherry Tomatoes we used in this recipe.

Above are the New Zealand mussels we used. There are a few different brands to buy here in the U.S. that I have seen. I believe some of the best mussels in the world come from New Zealand. Other amazing mussels come from the U.S. waters around the state of Washington.

To start, place a few Tbsp. of Olive Oil into a large saute pan and turn the heat to medium high. I used Garlic infused Olive Oil to add the extra Garlic flavor, but most any good Olive Oil will due.

Now add your butter.

Now is a good time to slice your Onions and Garlic.

When the butter has melted, add your sliced Onions to the pan.

Add your Red Pepper flakes to the pan.

Stir and saute the Onions and Pepper flakes for about 2 min.

Now add your mussels to the pan. Stir the ingredients and cover the pan with a lid.

Turn the heat down to medium heat and let the ingredients cook for about 8-10 min. stirring occasionally.

Pictured are the Mussels in the Onions.

In a large pot, add water and bring it to a boil. When boiling, add your pasta.

Here I am again stirring the Mussels and other ingredients.

Now that your Mussels have cooked, add your Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes.

The juices from the sliced tomatoes will add to the sauce when done.

After about 8 min. or as prescribed on the the noodles box, test that your noodles are cooked by eating one. If it is still very firm then they likely need to cook another min. or two. When the noodles have just a little bite to them they are cooked properly and called al dente or “to the tooth” in Italian. While cooking with the other ingredients, the noodles will absorb some of the sauce and fully cook.