Lasagna Soup-a mix of a few recipes

I have made this multiple times and it has kinda changed into a soup where I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand. My girls really really love it. Lyndee won't eat it with the cheese stuff. I think the cheese stuff is essential. It's a mix of allrecipes, and the 2 versions Mel has.

So I thought I would post it so I can remember what to do

I keep ricotta and mozzarella and parm frozen for this

You can totally do this in the pressure cooker but I hate cleaning the ring when I do it that way and I don't think it saves me much time so I do it on the stove.

SOUP Part
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1/2 tsp onion powder or flakes
2 cloves garlic
1 big can 28 oz crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)
 Pinch of black pepper
2 cans chicken broth
1 can water (from broth) plus 2 bouillon
 8 to 12 ounces bowtie pasta

CHEESE TOPPING:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese (plus more for serving)
1/2 cup  grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS
Put all the soup stuff together EXCEPT the pasta. Bring to low boil

While that is cooking, mix the cheese topping stuff together in seperate bowl and set aside.

Add the pasta and cook about 12 minutes until pasta is al dente

Serve by putting soup in a bowl and scooping cheese mixture on top (add more mozz if you want)

We think it's yummy and easy

Ravioli, The Christmas Eve Way

So, I was surprised I hadn't put this all up here and figured I had better :).

Here we go

Insides:
1 lb ground round beef (mom buys ground chuck)
1/2 pound sausage
4-5 garlic minced
Small onion (put in food grinder)
1/2 cup parsley
1meduim can spinach drained and ground
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp allspice
3 eggs
2 handful cracker crumbs

Fry sausage first, then cook ground onions and minced parsley in sausage until soft. Add ground round. Mix well, cook a few minutes add spinach and finish cooking. Remove from heat. Add 2 handfuls crumbs cook well. Add eggs and mix well.

Pasta: (we use butter)
3 cups flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoon margarine
1 cup warm
1/4 tsp salt

Sift flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well, add margarine and egg. Add enough water to make stiff dough. Knead until smooth, cover, let stand about 10 min. Cut in half, roll thin

Tomato sauce
Dice fine and sauté 1 onion in butter until golden brown. Add 4x 8 oz cans tomato sauce and 1 can water. Simmer 30-45 minutes. Watch closely so that it doesn’t burn.

Serve on ravioli and use plenty of parmesean cheese

Pesto and Sausage Baked Zitti

I have been waiting for my house to cool down enough for me to be ok with using the oven again so I could try this recipe. And it was really good! Really really good!

I actually made all of this the night before but had forgotten to buy ricotta cheese. So I stored the noodles, meat/ sauce mixture, and grated cheeses in separate bowls. Then I put it all together at lunch (Sam had run to the store) so then I could just throw it in the oven when I got home and we had dinner in like 25 minutes! Woohoo! I had a couple random leaves of basil left over so I threw those in with the spinach because really you can't ever have too much basil right? If you are making it ahead I recommend not cooking the noodles so they're completely soft because then they'll be all mushy.

Oh also if you're not cooking for a crowd, you may want to half it. Or have a ton of leftovers like me!

But really so good. I loved it.
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2013/06/pesto-and-sausage-baked-ziti.html

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound ziti noodles
• 1 pound Italian turkey or chicken sausage, casings removed
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup pesto
• 9 ounces baby spinach (about 5 ish cups)
• 15-ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan and set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the ziti and cook until al dente. Drain.
3. While the pasta is boiling, in a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat, add the turkey sausage, onion and garlic and cook until the sausage is cooked through, adding a bit of salt and pepper to taste (the amount will depend on the seasonings in the sausage). While it cooks, break up the sausage into smaller pieces. Drain any excess grease if needed.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, pesto and salt and pepper to taste (I added about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Simmer for 10-12 minutes. Add the spinach, stirring until it cooks down a bit into the hot sauce, 1-2 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese and 1 1/4 cups of the Parmesan cheese.
6. In the prepared baking dish, pour in the drained noodles. Dollop the ricotta mixture over the top of the noodles. Spread the sauce over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheese (1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan).
7. Bake until heated through and golden around the edges, about 20 minutes. Let stand 5-7 minutes before serving.

Italian Nachos- Nachos Week Day 1

I love good Italian Nachos. Mmm. And Sam had never had Italian Nachos so I searched around and found a few recipes and kind of just meshed them. So here you are!

I used Italian Sausage and pepperoni. You could also add shredded chicken. Or just do sausage, or just pepperoni or just chicken. These are very versatile.

Wonton Wrappers
Oil for frying
Salt
Italian Sausage
Pepperoni
Mozzarella Cheese
Pepperoncini
Diced Roma Tomatoes

Alfredo- esque Cheese Sauce:
4 Tablespoons of butter
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tablespoons of flour
2 1/2 cups half and half
2 1/2 cups grated parmesan- it melts in better if freshly grated

Heat up oil in frying pan and fry the wonton wrappers for like 15 seconds on each side. Then place them on paper towel. I thought these were still a little greasy- but that could be because I had a killer headache that day and so it made me feel awful- so maybe pat them with the paper towel. I also saw somewhere you could spray/ drizzle them in olive oil and bake them....

Cook and chunk up Italian Sausage.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan at about medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant- 30 seconds ish. Add the flour and mix it to form a roux. Slowly add half and half and stir often for about 5 minutes until thicker. Take off heat and stir in the grated parmesan. If not using right away put a lid on the pan and let it just hang out.

Now layer the chips, cheese, meats, pepperoncini, cheese sauce, whatever else you want to add (olives, jalapenos, etc) and either throw it in the oven until the cheese melts or put in microwave. I did the oven because I like nachos better that way.

Top with tomatoes and eat!

Yay!

Ideas mostly from:
http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/2011/01/05/italian-nachos-johnny-carinos-style/

Stuffed Mushrooms

I realized that some of our traditional New Year's Eve stuff wasn't up here and thought I would change that.  This is adapted from the Lion House Cookbook

50 medium sized fresh mushrooms
1 lb italian sausage
1 package 8 oz cream cheese
3 tbs fresh parsley
3/4 tsp garlic powder
shredded mozzarella

Wash and remove stems from mushrooms
Cook sausage
Mix in cream cheese, parsley and garlic powder
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil
Stuff mixture in mushrooms
Put cheese on top of stuffed mushrooms
Cook at 400 for about 30 minutes

Mom's Minestrone Soup

1-1 1/2 lb Italian Sausage (I like the falls brand at Winco)

1/2-1 med onion chopped

2 cloves crushed garlic

2-3 c water

1 medium zucchini chopped

3-4 cube beef bouillon

1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp salt

2 cans Italian Stewed tomatoes (I chunk these up in a food processor)

2 cups corn

8-16 oz cheese tortellini

Cook sausage, onion and garlic, drain.

Stir remaining ingredients together except tortellini with sausage

Bring mixture to boil. Let simmer (for 5 minutes or an hour...whatever)

Stir in tortellin and simmer 15-20 minutes until done.

Enjoy!

(This recipe freezes really well!)

Fiesta Dip

I think we originally got this one from the Lion House cookbook, but I can't remember.  Danielle and I love this one and every year we decide we need it for New Years Eve even when we are out voted (yay go us).  I also like to eat it for dinner.

Cook 1 lb of italian sausage, drain out the grease.  Add two cream cheeses and two cans of rotel, mix well.  Serve hot with tortilla chips.