Meat Lasagna

I found this Lasagna recipe on AllRecipes. I made a couple tweaks but nothing major. I omit the parsley and used oregano instead of basil. I used spicy sausage and ground turkey. I reduced the sugar from 2 tbsp to 1 tbsp and I think the sauce was still very sweet. Next time I will omit the sugar completely and add some red pepper flakes.

Served with my Italian Bread recipe!

Update 9/2015: I've made it again, yummy! I will say it is better if you keep it covered while cooking for almost the entire time as it doesn't dry out as much. Instead of making one large pan I split it into two 9x9 pans and froze the other. To reheat - defrost overnight in the fridge and bake covered for 1-2 hours.

Meat Lasagna

Makes a heaping 9 x 13 baking dish

1 pound Italian sausage (sweet or spicy)
3/4 pound lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves (or oregano)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1 box lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned.

Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange noodles over meat sauce. Spread with one third of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with handful of the mozzarella. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella and repeat the layers.

Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Kale, Canneleni Beans, and Sausage soup

Kale season!!! This is a pretty fast soup, can probably be made and cooked in a half hour. I went a little overkill on the kale because I think it is so tasty, but adjust according to your preferences. Kale will wilt, but not as much as spinach. You can also use less broth and serve it as almost a sauce over pasta too.

I like Italian sausage because it has all the seasonings in it. I add extra black pepper and garlic, but that is just my preference.
 
Kale, Cannellini Beans, and Sausage soup
makes 3-4 servings

1/2 cup onions, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper
5 -8 kale leaves
6 cups chicken broth, I do a big can and do 1/2 that can filled with water
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 hot Italian sausage, out of casings

Prep kale
Hold kale leaf by the stem, the leaf part pointing down to the cutting board. Use knife and slide it along the stem, separating the leaf off the stem. Cut kale to bite sized pieces. The stems are edible, but tougher and need extra time to cook.

Make soup

Saute onions, garlic powder, kale stems, carrots, and celery. Once starting to get soft add in sausage, kale, and broth. Let cook at a rolling boil until sausage is cooked through and kale is tender.

Serve over pasta if you'd like.

Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Zucchini, and Spinach

I was looking for something tasty to make for dinner and I found this recipe. Of course, this is my version of it.

I went to the store and picked up some of the ingredients and got to work!

There aren't always spices on hand when I'm cooking, so my go to trick is to buy Italian chicken sausage. It has all the spices you need!. I purchased some mild chicken sausage, (I used 3 of the 5 in the package) took it out of the casing (because that's what always happens when I try to slice it...) and tossed it into a hot frying pan.

I couldn't find the jars of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, so I went to the olive bar/salad bar in the grocery store and picked out a few maybe a 1/4 cup and then grabbed 2 cloves of garlic out of the tomato and mozzarella salad mix. This was perfect because I didn't end up with any leftovers! I rough chopped those and added them into frying pan.

Next I sliced up the zucchini into circles and added it to the frying pan. While that is cooking up and being stirred on occasion, I boiled and cooked half a box of pasta.

The pasta and veggies finished cooking around the same time. So I added half a bag of baby spinach and the drained pasta to the frying pan. I added black pepper and some salt to taste.

Now was the really making things up part. I couldn't find the marscapone cheese at the grocery store so I purchase plain Greek yogurt and a lemon. But for the sake of this story, I combined the juice of 1/2 a lemon with the container of yogurt and used half in the dish. I added some pasta water to thin it out as well.

Honestly, I think it would have been just as tasty drizzled with olive oil and lemon. I would try that next time. Others have suggested Parmesan cheese too.

Overall? I loved the meal! I'd make it again, especially since it takes about 20 minutes!!


Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Zucchini, and Spinach
Makes approx 3-4 servings

Olive oil 
3 mild Italian spiced chicken sausage, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/3 c chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 zucchini, sliced
8 oz baby spinach
8oz of pasta
Lemon juice

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add sausage and garlic. When mostly cooked through add sun dried tomatoes and zucchini.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to box instructions. Take out 2 minutes early.
When pasta is done add to frying pan with spinach.
Coat with olive oil and lemon juice.

Enjoy!!

Shredded Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Happy Mother's Day!

We had such nice weather. I met mom in Chinatown for some dim sum, then I went home to make my mom something special for dinner. I normally make mom macadamia nut white chocolate chip cookies, however this year I decided to make something different. I went with Emeril Lagasse's Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo with white rice. Original recipe found here. This is a fairly time consuming dish, but is quite tasty! It takes about 4 hours from start to finish, however half of the time you aren't doing anything but occasionally stirring the pot as it simmers away. I spent that time visiting with my father and sitting outside. What a great day. :)

I sliced up the 12 oz package of chicken sausage (mild Italian, they didn't have spicy) and let that brown in a little oil in the dutch oven for about 8 minutes. This is uncovered and stirred occasionally. I was a little worried because things were sticking to the bottom. I believe it was due to it being a different type of pot than I usually cook with. FYI, a large regular pot also works fine.

While that was browning I diced up some onions, celery, and a green bell pepper. I also combined the spices that make up the "Essence" seasoning. The recipe that is posted on Food Network creates 2/3 of a cup and then only asks you to use 1 tbsp of it... So I changed the measures to less than what was originally listed. We also like our food on the spicier side, so this recipe has some added kick to it. My adjustments are listed in the below recipe.



Once the sausage was browned I took it out and put the chicken in the pot. The recipe calls for 4lbs of chicken thighs, but I used 2 lbs of chicken breast to keep it healthier and I thought that 4 lbs was a bit overkill.. I forgot to put the seasoning on it first, so I just dumped in the entire mix on the chicken and tossed it around a little. I let that get nice and brown for about 8 minutes and then pulled it out. By this point there is a quite a bit of "things" stuck in the bottom of the pot. However, that is the flavor and this is a 1 pot meal (well, 2 if you make rice in a pot...)!

I let the chicken cool on a plate then put it in the fridge. It doesn't come back into the picture for another hour or so.

This next step is a little tricky and I basically made it up as I went. You need to make a roux. Use 1/2 cup (or so) of oil and then slowly combine in about 1 cup of flour. I used a bit over 1/3 of oil and about 3/4 cup of flour. Stir this constantly while scraping up the flavors that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. This step only took me about 5-10 minutes and the original recipe says 20-25 minutes. My pot was very hot at this point. I continued to cook this until brown and looked a little like Thanksgiving stuffing. Sort of clumpy and soft.

I added in the onions, celery, and bell peppers in next. Stir this around until its combined in with the roux. Then 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp cayenne, and 3 bay leaves; stir around. Add sausage back in. I added in 6 cups of chicken broth and 3 cups of water; stir around.

Bring this to a boil then let it simmer for about an hour. I think I waited 50 minutes because I'm impatient.

Add chicken after desired time has elapsed and submerge into the pot. By this point you have a pretty good idea for how thick the broth is going to be. (The shredded chicken will add some "thick" to this too). If you like it thicker take some more flour and combine with hot water until it turns into a paste similar to what the roux looked like, and slowly add into the pot.

I let the chicken breast stay in there for about an hour. I checked and by that point it was very tender and starting to shred when I used a fork to test it. I took the chicken out to shred using two forks. At this same time I stirred in a 16 oz bag of frozen okra. After the chicken was shredded I added it back in. Adding in the chicken thickens this up a lot as well.

Its nice to serve over rice or mix in rice if you want it a little thicker too.

THIS IS VERY SPICY. My family likes food spicy. If you do not, please taste as you go and add the spices in slowly. 

Here is my dad's never fail white rice recipe.

Happy Mothers Day to my mother!! xoxo.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo
 Serves 4-8

1 tbsp oil
12 oz chicken sausage (Italian flavor), cut crosswise
2 lbs chicken breast
Essence seasoning below
1/3 c oil
1/2 c flour
1 celery heart (approx 1 cup)
1 med onion (approx 1 cup)
1 green bell pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne
3 bay leaves
6 c chicken broth
3 c water
16 oz bag of frozen okra

Essence seasoning: 2/3 tsp of each: paprika, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, dried oregano, thyme

1. In large pot heat 1 tbsp of oil over med high heat. Add sausage and cook until browned. Remove.
2. Season chicken with Essence and add into pot. Cook on med high heat until well browned. Remove and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Combine1/3 c oil and 1/2 c flour and stir slowly and constantly until its a brown roux (color of chocolate).
4. Add onion, celery, bell pepper and cook until wilted. Add sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaves. Stir. Slowly add in chicken stock/water and stir until combined. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med low and cook stirring every once in a while for an hour.
5. Add chicken and simmer for approx an hour or until chicken is tender and falling apart.
6. Remove chicken and add okra.
7. Shred chicken and add back in.

Serve over rice.

Enjoy!!

Skillet Pasta

Whilst I was perusing my Martha Stewart Living, April 2012, I found this great pasta basic recipe! The article is titled "Rethink your pasta routine"

So here we go, skillet pasta in under 20 minutes (maybe 30 minutes if you are slower at prepping)!

"1 Create a flavor base.
your pasta water is coming to a boil, heat olive oil or butter in a pan, and cook some onions, leeks or garlic. This is also when you'd introduce cured meat or sausage.

2 Build another layer.
This could mean adding mushrooms, tomatoes, or seafood to the pan or blanching a green vegetable right in the pasta water.

3 Toss in the pasta.
Cook your pasta until just underdone. Then scoop it straight from the pot into the pan. Add a little pasta water to create a silky sauce.

4. Finish with a flourish.
Take the pan off the heat, and add one final layer of flavor: a sprinkle of herbs, cheese, breadcrumbs or even crunchy sea salt."

 So what did I do?

Step 1: Create a flavor base.
While the pan was heating I diced up some onion and a carrot (because I have carrots and always forget to eat them). Once the 1/4-1/2 of sweet onion, 1 small-ish carrot, and 1 tsp garlic powder was in the pan I turned the pasta water on.  Then I added my meat. I used 2 spicy Italian chicken sausages and a chicken breast. I love using sausage because it has all the flavorings already there, you rarely have to add much to the dish. Only spice additions was about a tsp of red pepper flakes because I like my food a little spicy.

Step 2: Build another layer.
I blanched my mushrooms in my salted boiling pasta water (30 seconds) and then tossed them into the pan with the meat. Then I added in 2 cups of dried egg noodles to the boiling water. Cook pasta according to package directions, but be sure to get them out at al dente (probably about 4-6 minutes). They will cook more in the frying pan.

(2a. Here is where timing comes into play, make sure your meat is cooked all the way before you add the pasta in.)

Step 3: Toss in the pasta.
Add pasta to the frying pan. There was quite a bit of liquid from the meat and the mushrooms so I didn't add in any pasta water. In fact I added a tbsp of corn starch to thicken the liquid into more of a sauce. I also added in my ricotta cheese at this point and started to combine until it was the creamy texture I wanted.

Step 4: Finish with a flourish.
Nope, I just didn't do anything here. I added some cracked pepper but that was it.

This made about 2-4 servings. I was hungry so, for me it was dinner and tomorrows lunch. But if you have small kids or are serving it with salad/bread/having dessert etc, you can probably feed more folks.

Enjoy!

Tuscan Bean Soup

I love hearty soups for lunch and dinner! I've seen variations of this Tuscan Bean Soup, so I decided to improvise and use many of the flavors that I had already in the kitchen.  Spicy, warm, and hearty, I serve this soup with some pasta.
When you use kale you normally don't include the stems, I chopped the stems up rather small and put them in the pot with the celery and onion to give it extra time to cook. I also didn't have enough kale so I added in some collard greens.

The soup gets most of its flavor from the sausage but I wanted to add a little more flavor with the oregano and red pepper flakes.Using chicken sausage is a leaner option and the soup doesn't get a greasy texture either but maintains all the flavor.

For extra protein I added the chicken breast in addition to the chicken sausage and the can of beans.

Enjoy!


Tuscan Bean Soup
Approx 6 servings

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
3 stalks of Celery (diced)
1/4 lg Sweet Onion (diced)
Kale stems (diced)
1 chicken breast (chopped small)
2 hot Italian chicken sausages (out of the casings)
1 tbs Tomato paste (optional)
to taste salt and pepper
6 cups Chicken stock
1 can Cannellini beans
1 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 tsp oregano (optional)
8-10 pieces Red Leaf Kale (chopped up)
4 pieces Collard Greens (chopped up)

Directions
Heat some olive oil in a large pot, saute the celery, onion, and stems until onion is translucent.
Add chicken breast and sausage. Break up sausage as it cooks.
Once meat is cooked add in tomato paste and enough broth to just cover the mix. Stir until paste dissolves.
Taste. Add a little salt (sausage has a lot of salt in it already), and fresh cracked pepper.
Add in rest of chicken stock and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Add in beans.
Taste. Add in red pepper flakes, oregano, more s & p as needed.
Wilt the greens into the soup, about 10 min.
Depending on the levels of broth at this point I added in an extra 2 cups of water.


Serve over pasta or rice (Optional).