There are times that my lasagnas are created by what I have in the house. This one I opted to use spinach and roasted red peppers and turned out perfectly amazing! You can make this with or without adding Italian sausage. I don't mind 'oven ready noodles' when I am in a time crunch but, if you have the time - freshly cooked noodles are thicker and to me, always taste better - Enjoy! Diane
Roasted Red Pepper & Spinach Lasagna with Italian Sausage 1 pound Bulk Italian Sausage, optional 1 Large Vidalia Onion, sliced 2 cloves Garlic, chopped fine 2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella 16 oz Ricotta Cheese 1-2 Cups Parm/Reggiano Cheese, shredded 1 tsp Fresh Basil, chopped fine 1-2 large jars of your favorite Marinara 1 small jar of Roasted Red Peppers 1 package of Chopped Spinach Olive oil, to coat baking pan/s 1 Box of Lasagna Noodles (cook according to pkg) OR 1 Box of Lasagna 'Oven Ready Noodles' Heat oven 375. (Serves 4-6) Makes two 8x8 or one 9x13 Place Italian sausage and onions into skillet and crumble/cook until meat is no longer pink add chopped garlic into pan & stir the last few minutes so garlic does not scorch. Microwave spinach, strain out any liquid and set aside for assembly. You will be making 3 layers.
Let stand 5-10 before cutting into and serving. Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home
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Homemade Pappardelle with Spinach Basil Pesto Sauce ****************** Pappardelle Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 1 cup semolina flour, plus more for dusting 6 large eggs, at room temperature 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil Salt Directions: Make the dough. Sift both flours together on a large work surface and make a well in the center. Place the eggs, olive oil and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then pour into the well; with a fork, break up the eggs, then gradually mix the wet ingredients into the flour mixture just until combined. Knead by hand. Gather the dough into 2 equal-size balls; flour the surface. To knead each piece, push the dough away from you with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over itself and turn it counterclockwise. Continue pushing, folding and turning until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. Rest the dough. Pat each piece into a ball. Flatten slightly, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. (You can freeze 1 ball for later, or roll out both and freeze the cut pasta.) Roll out the dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and dust with flour. Starting in the middle, push away from you with a rolling pin, easing up on the pressure as you approach the edge. Continue rolling the dough into a sheet, turning occasionally, until you can see your fingers through the bottom. Let dry about 10 minutes. Cut the pappardelle. Dust the top of the sheet of dough with flour and loosely roll it into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4-inch-wide slices. Unwrap the noodles; dust with semolina and gently toss to separate. Place on a sheet pan and cover with a tea towel until ready to cook (or freeze in freezer bags for up to 2 months). *************************** Spinach Basil Pesto Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 Roma tomatoes, diced Directions: Blend the spinach, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a food processor until nearly smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Drizzle the remaining olive oil into the mixture while processing until smooth. Fold in cut up tomatoes. Pasta Recipe Adapted from : Michael Chiarello Pesto Recipe from: Dianne Casonnic Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home I ran across this recipe earlier in the week and had to give it a try! I am glad I did - the tastes really work well together - the spicy Italian sausage is mellowed a bit by the cream cheese sauce with sweet tomatoes. This recipe make a lot of food! It reheat great and I've frozen some to see how that thaws and reheats too (I'll update this post when that happens) I added some crushed fennel to my dish but, left off the wine for now. I will be trying that next time when I also try a different "pasta" such as Bow Tie! Enjoy ~ Diane Creamy Italian Sausage and Tortellini Ingredients: 1 lb. Italian sausage (bulk, casings removed) 1 can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning 1 "family sized" container of cheese tortellini. 1 box frozen spinach, cooked in microwave 1 box (4 cups) chicken broth 1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese 1/2 cup cold water + 2 Tbsp cornstarch dried basil and oregano to taste *crushed fennel, optional *1/4 Cup dry white wine, optional Directions: Brown the Italian sausage in a large heavy pot. If it came in the casings, cut them open and discard the casing. Break the sausage up into small bite sized pieces as you brown it. Once it's no longer pink, dump everything else in. Add the seasoning last, so you can adjust as needed. Give it a nice stir to distribute the cream cheese. It's done when the tortellini are tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened, roughly about 10 - 12 minutes after dumping it all together and bringing back up to a good medium boil. That's it folks! You can't get much simpler than that! Recipe Adapted from: Menu Musings of a Modern American Mom Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home I love when people make homemade lasagna because it always seems like such hard work, smells so good and tastes SO great! All that layering and getting everything to fit so nice, creating a taste explosion. As a tribute to the great lasagna makers out there - I give you - the lasagna "roll-ups." These are faster and easier to make. I made this recipe using ricotta, parsley and a mix of cheeses. My next adventure will be adding thinly sliced cooked carrot with some nice cooked spinach rolled in with the ricotta and maybe sweet basil strewn across the top with still the awesome gooey mozzarella cheese. The best part? If you have a picky eater at home, you can add or leave out anything they don't want in "their" roll ups. Enjoy ~ Diane Meatless Lasagna Roll Ups Ingredients: 1 (28-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce, divided *more sauce if preferred 1 (2-pound) container ricotta cheese 1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided 1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used a 6 cheese blend with Parmesan in it) 3 eggs, beaten 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 1 teaspoon salt 12 to 14 lasagna noodles, prepared according to package directions Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9x13 baking dish with olive oil (I use a paper towel just to smear around inside and on bottom of dish) Pour half the spaghetti sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan mix cheese, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, beaten eggs, parsley, and salt until well blended. Spoon cheese mixture over lasagna noodles, distributing evenly, and roll up. Place roll-ups seam-side down in prepared baking dish; top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until heated through. Recipe Adapted from: Mr Food Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |