Tomato based pasta casseroles are usually very boring to me. You could blame it on the simple fact that I don't love most tomato based pasta dishes, or, you can just assume that they really are all most boring and over done.
I was inspired by eggplant rollatini when making this recipe. My dad always hid eggplant in rice dressing and I remember his rice dressing being the best ever. If I was going to add eggplant, why not add in the best element of eggplant rollatini? The ricotta mixture of course.
Had my kitchen been better stocked I would have added lots of Italian seasoning, cracked red pepper, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and parsley into the meat sauce, but all I had was a bottle of Dale's, so I tossed in some of that.
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1/2 in chunks
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 package of Italian sausage, removed from casing
1/2 lb ground beef
1 16 oz container of ricotta cheese
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1 egg
2-3 cups of mozzarella cheese
4 table spoons Dale's steak marinade
1) Prepare ziti just shy of al-dente in heavily salted water. Also preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Saute onion and garlic until soft being careful not to brown it. Add in eggplant and cook until the eggplant is soft. It will reduce in size and almost completely disappear. Once done, scoot the vegetable mixture to one side of the plan and add sausage and beef to brown on the other side.
3) Dump in the spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Add in Dale's marinade. Simmer for anywhere between 20 minutes and 2 hours.
4) In a small bowl, mix together ricotta, parmesan, and egg. Season with salt and pepper (and, ideally, flat leaf parsley).
5) In a very large bowl mix the meat sauce with the cooked pasta and toss. Layer half the pasta mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish. Pour the ricotta over top and spread thin. Add the rest of the pasta mixture and top with mozzarella (and more parmesan if you have it).
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Easy Chicken Stroganoff
Ingredients
1 package of chicken breasts, cut into bite pieces
1 package of button mushrooms, cut in half if they're small, quartered if they're large
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of heavy cream (or milk)
1 package of lipton onion soup mix
1/2 cup of sour cream
pepper to taste
1) Season chicken breasts with pepper (I wouldn't add salt at this point, the soup mix is very salty so I would wait to add additional salt until after you have the whole thing together) and brown in a pan with a tablespoon of oil (canola, vegetable, olive, what-have-you).
2) Add in mushrooms when the chicken is browned. You can remove the chicken and brown the mushrooms separately but I did not. Cook until the mushroom are tender.
3) Add mushroom soup, heavy cream/milk, and onion soup mix. Let simmer for about 20 minutes to cook the onion soup mix and make sure the chicken is cooked through.
4) After that mix in sour cream.
And you're done! I served with with buttered egg noodles and a bit more sour cream on top.
1 package of chicken breasts, cut into bite pieces
1 package of button mushrooms, cut in half if they're small, quartered if they're large
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of heavy cream (or milk)
1 package of lipton onion soup mix
1/2 cup of sour cream
pepper to taste
1) Season chicken breasts with pepper (I wouldn't add salt at this point, the soup mix is very salty so I would wait to add additional salt until after you have the whole thing together) and brown in a pan with a tablespoon of oil (canola, vegetable, olive, what-have-you).
2) Add in mushrooms when the chicken is browned. You can remove the chicken and brown the mushrooms separately but I did not. Cook until the mushroom are tender.
3) Add mushroom soup, heavy cream/milk, and onion soup mix. Let simmer for about 20 minutes to cook the onion soup mix and make sure the chicken is cooked through.
4) After that mix in sour cream.
And you're done! I served with with buttered egg noodles and a bit more sour cream on top.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Chicken Cheddar Broccoli Noodle Bake
Long name, easy meal!
Begin by boiling water and cooking a bag of egg noodles.
Cut up two chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and season well with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook with a bit of oil until the meat is done. Throw in a package of frozen broccoli cuts and let the broccoli thaw some. Then add one can of Campbell's broccoli and cheese soup and one can of cream of mushroom soup, a half cup of heavy cream (or milk), a half cup of sour cream, and three cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Add noodles and stir.
Crumble up one sleeve of Ritz crackers and mix with 4 table spoons of melted butter.
Put the mixture into a baking dish (mine is 9x13) and top with crackers. Bake until bubbly and brown.
Begin by boiling water and cooking a bag of egg noodles.
Cut up two chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and season well with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook with a bit of oil until the meat is done. Throw in a package of frozen broccoli cuts and let the broccoli thaw some. Then add one can of Campbell's broccoli and cheese soup and one can of cream of mushroom soup, a half cup of heavy cream (or milk), a half cup of sour cream, and three cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Add noodles and stir.
Crumble up one sleeve of Ritz crackers and mix with 4 table spoons of melted butter.
Put the mixture into a baking dish (mine is 9x13) and top with crackers. Bake until bubbly and brown.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Use ALL the cheeses!
I had to use a pound of hamburger meat that I had got for hamburgers and I didn't want hamburgers tonight so quesadillas it was!
This isn't really a recipe as I just browned the meat and added about a half cup of water, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, red/cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. You can decide the measurements depending on your own tastes or even use packaged taco seasoning (I wouldn't use the packaged stuff though because of the salt content). I considered throwing in a handful of cheese to make the meat stick together some and I remembered I had cream cheese. I dumped in about a half cup cream cheese and a handful of shredded Mexican cheese mix and cooked until it was melty.
In another pan I melted butter, added a tortilla, added cheese, added meat, more cheese, cover with another tortilla, flip when one side is golden, remove from pan when the other side is golden.
I wish I had taken pictures, they were gooey and looked so yummy (and they were), but I didn't want them to get cold.
This isn't really a recipe as I just browned the meat and added about a half cup of water, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, red/cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. You can decide the measurements depending on your own tastes or even use packaged taco seasoning (I wouldn't use the packaged stuff though because of the salt content). I considered throwing in a handful of cheese to make the meat stick together some and I remembered I had cream cheese. I dumped in about a half cup cream cheese and a handful of shredded Mexican cheese mix and cooked until it was melty.
In another pan I melted butter, added a tortilla, added cheese, added meat, more cheese, cover with another tortilla, flip when one side is golden, remove from pan when the other side is golden.
I wish I had taken pictures, they were gooey and looked so yummy (and they were), but I didn't want them to get cold.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Italian Sausage Eggplant Rollatini
This recipe proves why I would make a terrible vegetarian. I had ever intention of a healthy, meat free meal, until I realized I had bacon and sausage!
Having never had eggplant rollatini until tonight, I cannot say whether or not this would taste anything like a traditional rollatini, but I will be making it again.
Ingredients
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
5 slices of bacon (or panchetta) cut small
2 links of mild Italian sausage
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I use Classico roasted garlic)
1/2 cup riccota cheese
1 eggplant (pealed and sliced into approximately 1/4 inch thick slices)
2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1 tbs herbs of choice
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1) In a skillet saute sausage, 1/2 of he diced onion and two cloves of garlic until onion is tender. Remove the sausage mixture from pan when cooked and let cool in a medium sized bowl.
2) At the same time, In a sauce pan cook bacon with the remaining garlic and onion until the bacon is cooked through and beginning to crisp up. When the bacon is done, add the jar of spaghetti sauce and red pepper flakes, turn on low.
3) Mix ricotta and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese with the sausage mixture. Set aside.
4) In the same skillet you cooked the sausage, heat up about 1/2 inch of oil (I used canola). Whisk two eggs, a tablespoon of water and the herbs (I used pre-made herb mixture from Kroger for this) and set aside. In another bowl mix flour, salt and pepper. To bread the eggplant, coat in flour, dip in egg mixture, and coat again in flour. Fry until golden brown.
5) Stuff a large tablespoon of sausage and cheese mixture into each sliced eggplant and roll. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Pour tomato sauce mix over the top (not too much, just enough to coat the top, but not fall over the sides) and top with the remaining cheese.
(Later in the week I'll mix the left over sauce with cream, vodka, cooked chicken and pasta for a quick vodka sauce.)
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Butternut Squash Soup! Also avocado chicken salad.
The temperature here has plummeted from from the high sixties to the low thirties. After getting out for a quick Target run I needed winter food and nothing says winter like soup and sandwiches.
I've been dying to try butternut squash soup but have been putting off purchasing an immersion blender. Luckily for me my roommate also loves to cook and got a food processor for Christmas (!!!!!) so last night I made soup. I looked at a few recipes online, but decided to just go with what I had in the kitchen at the time.
I ended up using:
1 butternut squash roasted in the oven for about 30 minutes and skinned
1-2 cups of carrot
2 cups of chicken broth
1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced (I use the stalks with the leaves on them)
3 cloves or garlic
3 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1) Melt butter in a large pan then add onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. When the onions and celery are tender add the butternut squash and chicken broth* (I added the broth as needed to make sure it didn't get too runny, I wanted a thick soup). Add bay leaf and cook until carrots are tender.
2) Place everything from step one into a food processor and puree. I had to add more chicken broth here to get it to the consistency I wanted. (Make sure you take the bay leaf out too, I was picking out bits of bay leaf from my soup because I forgot). Pour back into the pan.
3) Add cream, yogurt or sour cream, cheese and season with pepper. I didn't need to add any extra salt because of the cheese. I also added a little bit of cayenne for a bit of warmth.
* I usually keep vegetable broth on hand, but my grocery store doesn't seem to carry it any longer. So if you have veggie broth, go with that.
Because no soup is completely without a sandwich, I also made an avocado, bacon, and chicken salad sandwich with turned out just lovely. I adapted one of my guacamole recipes for this one after seeing an avocado chicken salad on Pinterest.
1 chicken breast, chopped into bite sized pieces (recipe for chicken below)
2 avocados (one chopped into bite size pieces)
2 tablespoons of sour cream
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 table spoon of lemon juice
4 slices of bacon cooked crispy and chopped
1) In a food processor or blender, mix one avocado, sour cream, mayonnaise, and lemon juice.
2) In another bowl mix chicken, bacon, and chopped avocado.
3) Add the sour cream mix to the chicken mixture and stir until the chicken is evenly covered with the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve on your bread of choice.
Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken
2 bone in chicken breasts
4 table spoons of unsalted butter
2 cloves of garlic
zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Prepare chicken by cleaning under cool water and drying completely, with your fingers loosen the skin from the meat, but do not remove the skin.
2) In a small bowl mix butter, 2 cloves of garlic that is either grated or minced (a Microplane really is the best tool here), and lemon zest. Mix thoroughly either with hands or a fork.
3) Stuff equal amounts of butter mixture under neath the skin of the chicken breast and press it evenly. Season with salt and pepper.
4) Bake on 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.
I'm extremely cautious of over cooking chicken breasts so I check mine after 25 minutes and every 10 after that. It's usually done by 35.
I've been dying to try butternut squash soup but have been putting off purchasing an immersion blender. Luckily for me my roommate also loves to cook and got a food processor for Christmas (!!!!!) so last night I made soup. I looked at a few recipes online, but decided to just go with what I had in the kitchen at the time.
I ended up using:
1 butternut squash roasted in the oven for about 30 minutes and skinned
1-2 cups of carrot
2 cups of chicken broth
1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced (I use the stalks with the leaves on them)
3 cloves or garlic
3 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1) Melt butter in a large pan then add onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. When the onions and celery are tender add the butternut squash and chicken broth* (I added the broth as needed to make sure it didn't get too runny, I wanted a thick soup). Add bay leaf and cook until carrots are tender.
2) Place everything from step one into a food processor and puree. I had to add more chicken broth here to get it to the consistency I wanted. (Make sure you take the bay leaf out too, I was picking out bits of bay leaf from my soup because I forgot). Pour back into the pan.
3) Add cream, yogurt or sour cream, cheese and season with pepper. I didn't need to add any extra salt because of the cheese. I also added a little bit of cayenne for a bit of warmth.
* I usually keep vegetable broth on hand, but my grocery store doesn't seem to carry it any longer. So if you have veggie broth, go with that.
Because no soup is completely without a sandwich, I also made an avocado, bacon, and chicken salad sandwich with turned out just lovely. I adapted one of my guacamole recipes for this one after seeing an avocado chicken salad on Pinterest.
1 chicken breast, chopped into bite sized pieces (recipe for chicken below)
2 avocados (one chopped into bite size pieces)
2 tablespoons of sour cream
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 table spoon of lemon juice
4 slices of bacon cooked crispy and chopped
1) In a food processor or blender, mix one avocado, sour cream, mayonnaise, and lemon juice.
2) In another bowl mix chicken, bacon, and chopped avocado.
3) Add the sour cream mix to the chicken mixture and stir until the chicken is evenly covered with the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve on your bread of choice.
Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken
2 bone in chicken breasts
4 table spoons of unsalted butter
2 cloves of garlic
zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Prepare chicken by cleaning under cool water and drying completely, with your fingers loosen the skin from the meat, but do not remove the skin.
2) In a small bowl mix butter, 2 cloves of garlic that is either grated or minced (a Microplane really is the best tool here), and lemon zest. Mix thoroughly either with hands or a fork.
3) Stuff equal amounts of butter mixture under neath the skin of the chicken breast and press it evenly. Season with salt and pepper.
4) Bake on 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.
I'm extremely cautious of over cooking chicken breasts so I check mine after 25 minutes and every 10 after that. It's usually done by 35.
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