Baked Ziti with Sausage and Bechamel

Cooked ziti pasta  mixed with sausage, marinara sauce and topped with a creamy bechamel. I love me some tomato and cream flavors and this made my heart go zing!    Don't be intimidated by the bechamel, it's just a simple white sauce...and if you have never made white sauce before, this is going to improve your cooking skills by about 100 percent.  You will be able to make Alfredo, saucy chicken, creamy shrimp...the sky is the limit once you master this simple sauce!

This recipe is a real crowd pleaser too.  Feeds about 8-10 hearty appetites.   Add salad and bread and it's a perfect buffet dinner.

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Gnocci, Sausage and Spinach Soup

We started calling this 'shut up soup', because we took one bite and said "Oh shut up!, that is so good!". 

I am a soupateer, a soup savant, a master of the broth!....(you could say, I love soup :) and this soup is a 5 spoon award winner.   It is flawless, it has a deep flavor and isn't to heavy.  Very simple to make with not too many ingredients.  Soup perfection....ahhh.

I based it on a recipe I saw on Pinterest.com (my new addiction, right after soup :).   Here is a link:  Cinnomonspiceandeverythingnice.com  The only change I made is I added a bit of tomato paste because I love the flavor of tomato and cream and wanted to intensify that. I would also double the batch. Serves about 6 the wasy it is and it's even better the next day so double up!  Serve with Spedini Bread!

If  you are not a big gnocchi fan, I am sure you could substitute a thick pasta like rotini or penne and it would be very good!

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, diced

1 roasted red pepper, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

 salt and fresh black pepper to taste

1 pound Italian chicken sausage (bulk or removed from casings)

4 cloves, garlic, minced

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried basil

32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth

1 pound gnocchi

2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, rough chopped

3/4 cup half & half or heavy cream  (I used half and haf and got a great result)

 Parmesan cheese, fresh grated

 In a dutch oven or soup pot,  saute onion and red pepper in olive oil over medium-low heat until tender. Season well with salt and pepper. In a separate, large skillet brown the sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks. Add garlic and tomato paste to onion mixture and saute until fragrant.

  Drain sausage and add to onion mixture along with the basil and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper, simmer for 20 minutes.

  Add gnocchi and spinach, bring to a simmer and cook until gnocchi puff up and start to float, about 10 minutes. 

Add half & half and fresh basil, bring to a simmer for three or four minutes. Serve with Parmesan cheese and Spedini Bread.  Yumbo!

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Cheesey Spedini Bread

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about!  This bread goes with everything...I mean everything...you could probably have it with a bowl of captain crunch in the morning and all it would do is make  your cereal taste better! 

Not...I repeat, not a diet bread...one cup of butter my friends...yep, one cup of butter...be still my clogging arteries.

Ingredients

1 loaf french bread, sliced (sourdough works well too)

1 package, presliced mozzarella or provolone (about 1 lb)

2 cubes butter, softened

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 teaspoons dried basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine 2 cubes butter, garlic and basil.  Mix well. (note my photo only has one cube...I made a half loaf, watching my girlish figure :)

Spread butter on both sides of bread. Lay one piece of cheese between each slice.

Rub a bit of butter on top of the loaf.

Wrap in foil, leaving the top of the bread exposed.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until everything is all ooey, gooey and full of cheesy love!

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French Apple Tart

I am a huge fan of Ina Garten.  I just think everything she makes is so darn pretty and easy!  I totally stole this recipe from her but tweaked it a little and made it a bit easier.  You can take a look at her recipe at French Apple Tart.  There is a nice video that might help as well.
 This is my first but certainly not my last time making this.  Way to impress folks with this one and really, can't tell you how easy it was...that seems to be a theme in my blog..easy, schmeasy!
 You can see the little globs of apricot jam that I was supposed to strain prior to glazing, but I'm a lazy cook...not sure I hate the little globs...maybe I'll strain next time?  Maybe not...
I'd love to hear some feedback on how this came out for you!


Ingredients
1 package puff pastry sheets (I used Pepperidge Farms)

4 Granny Smith apples

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced

1/2 cup apricot jelly 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.

Lightly flour working surface.  Using one full sheet plus 1/3 (seal by pressing) of the second sheet, roll into a 10 x 13 rectangle.  (refrigerate remaining dough for another use).  Keep pasty chilled while preparing the apples.

Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baler. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices.

 Place overlapping slices of apples down the middle of the tart and continue making  rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. (I tend not to use the apple ends in order to make the arrangement beautiful.) Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly in the microwave and brush on tart.  Loosen the tart from the parchment/foil lining before it cools completely so avoid sticking.  Serve warm...would be yumbo with vanilla ice cream! 

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Blueberry Muffinosity!

When the going gets tough, the tough make muffins!  It's so therapeutic. When Rachel was little and had a bad day, we would  make muffins after school, talk and laugh...it was, and is, so calming. I still make muffins for friends, neighbors and those that are worthy of true muffinosity. (a new culinary buzz word :)   I have tried so many different muffin recipes but this is still my number one go to, tried and true, can not dork it up muffin recipe!

 This is a very versatile recipe...substitute any fruit you like, chopped peaches are wonderful!  Vary the yogurt flavor as well and come up with your own favorite!
Great for holiday mornings.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 8 oz container vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup raw sugar (regular granulated sugar will work too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease or line a 12 cup muffin tin.
In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar and yogurt.
Toss blueberries in flour mixture.  Make a well in center and add wet ingredients.
This is where you want to be careful....fold/mix gently until just combined.  The batter will be a bit dry and that's okay...over mixing will yield a tough, purple muffin.

Fill muffin tins almost to the top...I like a big old muffin!

Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Yumbo!

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Eula's Casserole

I'll bet most people have a 'go to' casserole in their family recipe box...they almost all include a can of cream of ka-ka (cream style soup), and this one is not much different, but every time I make this, I get asked for the recipe!  It feeds a crowd and has a fresh flavor that not all creamy casseroles have. 
Eula was my mother-in-law, probably one of the nicest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing...she had a true heart of gold.  She was a wonderful cook, and I'm not so sure she would be thrilled to know that her name is attached to one of the simplest dishes she made, but we started calling it Eula's Casserole years ago and it's too late to change now!  
This feeds about 6 people and is delicious with a side of french bread.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, cubed
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 cups grated swiss cheese
4 cups cooked rotini noodles
2 cups broccoli florets
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 9 x 13 casserole dish with non stick spray. (or for easy clean up line the dish with foil).
In large bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream and chicken soup.  Add chicken (or turkey),  noodles, 2 cups of the cheese, broccoli and lemon juice, mix well.  Pour into prepared casserole dish, cover with foil.  Bake for about 45 minutes or until bubbly in the center.  Remove foil, top with remaining 1/2 cup of swiss cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

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Cream Wafer Cookies

My grandma was a lousy cook.  I mean spit it out in your napkin kinda bad.  Everything was fried to a crisp in a cast iron skillet on her stove...you better have a sharp knife if  you are going to dine with Grandma 'cause hackin' through some of those pieces of chicken was a chore!
  Now, that being said, the one thing my Grandma made well, were these light as a feather cream wafer cookies.  She made them every Christmas.  The recipe has a total of 4 ingredients which would have served her well.
Turns out they are an old Betty Crocker recipe. I have no idea why she made them pink for Christmas, she probably had only one drop of crusty red food coloring in her cabinet! 

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup heavy cream
Sugar
1 container Butter Cream frosting
Red food coloring

Heat oven to 375ºF. Roll one-third of dough at a time 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured surface. (Keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll.) Cut into desired shapes . I used a shot glass.  Generously cover large piece of waxed paper with granulated sugar. Transfer cutouts to waxed paper. Turn each cutout to coat both sides.

 Place on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Prick each cutout with fork about 4 times.

Bake 7 to 9 minutes or just until set but not brown.

 Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Mix frosting and a drop or two of red food coloring until pink.
Spread between two cookies.

These make really cute gifts!

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