Archive for the 'Main Dish' Category
I thought I would share my lasagna “recipe”. Steve and the kids absolutely love it. It is simple and easy to make which makes me love it. Most of the ingredients are ready-made and don’t require any prep work. I indicated the brands that I use (for Steph) but you can use any brand you like. It takes about an hour for this to cook though, so not something you’d want to make after getting home late from work.
Lasagna
1 box (9 oz) No-Boil Barilla Lasagna Noodles
1 lb Ground Pork
1/2 lb Ground Beef
1 jar (36 oz) Newman’s Own Marinara or Prego Spaghetti Sauce
2 eggs
1 container (15 oz) Ricotta Cheese (any brand)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese (don’t use the shaker stuff - get the Frigo from the cheese case)
1 lb Mozzarella cheese, shredded (I use the bags of already shredded cheese most of the time)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large skillet, brown the pork and beef. You can do them both at the same time, in the same pan. Drain the fat and crumble the meat in to small uniform pieces. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the 2 eggs lightly. Add the ricotta, parmesan and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Mix to combine and set aside.
Spray a 13×9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour 1/2 of the jar of sauce on the bottom of the pan and spread evenly. Place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, covering completely. It’s okay if the noodles overlap slightly. Top with half of the browned meat and then half of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese.
Pour the other half of the jar of sauce on top and place another layer of noodles on top,covering completely. Top with the remaining browned meat, then the remaining ricotta mixture and finally the remainder of the mozzarella cheese.
Bake, covered with foil, for 50 minutes. It should be nice and bubbly. Uncover and continue baking until the cheese on top is melted and slightly browned - about 5 or so more minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes before cutting.
The only sloppy joes my kids like to eat.
Sloppy Joes
Marge Englebert
1 1/2 lbs Ground Chuck
1/2 cup Celery, chopped fine
1 medium Onion, chopped fine
8 oz Tomato Paste
1/2 cup Ketchup
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
2 T White Vinegar
2 T Brown Sugar
Salt & Pepper
Brown ground chuck, celery, onions. Add other ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes. Serve on buns.
This recipe is from an episode of “Good Eats” that Steve and Jon watched and wanted me to try. Excellent but requires a lot of prep work.
Curry Chicken Pot Pie
Alton Brown
4 cups frozen vegetable mix, peas, carrots
1 to 2 T Canola Oil
3 T Butter
1 cup chopped Onion
1 cup chopped Celery
1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Milk
3 T Flour
1 tsp Curry Powder
2 T dried Parsley
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 cups cubed cooked Chicken
1 package Puff Pastry
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss frozen vegetables with canola oil and spread evenly onto a sheet pan. Place into oven and cook until golden brown.
In a saute pan, heat 1 T of butter and sweat the onion and celery. In another saucepan, heat the broth and milk.
Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the celery-onion mix and cook out the water. Add the flour and curry and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk mixture and cook until thickened. Add the parsley, salt and pepper.
Toss the browned vegetables and the chicken. Pour into a shallow baking pan, lined with foil, and top with 6 to 8 circles of puff pastry. Place into the oven and cook until puff pastry has browned and the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.
Ham and Potato Casserole
Linda Sisson
2 cups Ham, diced
6-8 medium Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 T Butter
3 T Flour
2 1/2 cups Milk
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter in a saucepan until bubbly (do not let it burn!). Add flour, stirring to make a paste. Add the milk and whisk until paste is completely mixed in and there are no lumps.
Add salt, pepper and onion powder to sauce. Simmer until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Lay potato slices in a casserole dish. Sprinkle diced ham between potato layers. Pour cream sauce over potatoes and ham.
Bake, covered for about 30 minutes; then uncovered for another 30-45 minutes until potatoes are tender and most of sauce has been absorbed by the potatoes. About 15 minutes before end of cooking time, sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over top of casserole.
Quick, easy and tasty. The original recipe didn’t call for the Italian Sausage - you can leave it out for a vegetarian version.
Three Cheese Tortellini with Sausage & Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Barilla Recipe
1 8-oz bag Barilla Three Cheese Tortellini
3 oz Roasted Red Peppers, drained
1 cup Bertolli Alfredo Sauce
1 pkg Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage (use as much as you like - probably 2 or 3 links and freeze the rest for next time)
Remove skin from sausage links and cut into 1-inch pieces. Brown in skillet over medium heat. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Cook tortellini according to package directions. While tortellini cooks, puree red peppers in mini-chopper or food processor. Add Alfredo sauce and pepper puree to skillet, scraping bottom to loosen sausage bits. Add sausage pieces to sauce and heat through while tortellini finishes cooking.
Drain tortellini and stir in sauce.
Serves 4 generously.
