Stuffed Shells

Lasagna has always been on of my favorite recipes.  Here is something very similar but with a slight variation because its shells.  Also a quick tomato sauce is included, but feel free to use any store bought sauce if you are short on time!

Ingredients:
12 oz box jumbo shells
1 6 oz can tomato paste
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1/4 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
pinch crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups mozzarella cheese, split into 1 1/2 and 1/2 cup
1 egg
1 cup parmesan cheese
8 oz container frozen spinach
20 oz ricotta cheese
1/4 cup store bought alfredo sauce or heavy cream (optional)
4 basil leaves
dried parsley
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil a large pot of water.  Once water has boiled, add 2 tablespoons of salt and toss in the jumbo shells.  Allow to cook about 14 minutes.  Drain and allow to cool in colander.

In a small sauce pan heat the oil and saute the crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, and onions on medium heat until they become translucent.  They will also smell fantastic!  This should take 5-10 minutes.

Then add the tomato paste and stir together with the garlic and onions.  Fill the empty can with water and dump into the pot.  Stir together until completely combined.  Stir in the 2 cans of tomato sauce and fill only one with water and empty into the pot.  Stir until combined. I know this water in a can thing sounds crazy, but it gives it the perfect consistency and flavor!  Leave on a medium low flame and cook for 20-25 minutes.

Put the frozen spinach in the microwave and cook according to the package.  Drain as much excess water as you possibly can.   

Mix the spinach with the alfredo sauce or heavy cream as well as one egg.

Stir in the ricotta,  1 1/2 cups mozzarella, and parmesan cheese until combined.

Line two baking dishes with about 1/3 of the tomato sauce.  Then stuff each shell with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling and line in the baking dish.

Cover the top with the remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes in the oven.  Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese melts.  Serve and enjoy!

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Mushroom and Onion Flatbread

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinnly sliced,
1 pizza dough, homemade or storebought
8 small mushrooms, cremini or white button, thinnly sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup mozzarella chese
1 garlic clove
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. 

In a large skillet, add the chopped garlic clove and the thinnly sliced onion. Saute on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Sprinkle with salt about half way through to help pull out the moisture from the onions.  Then toss in the thinnly sliced mushrooms and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes or until the onions and mushrooms are soft and brown.  Add the balsamic vinegar and stir.

Meanwhile, roll out your pizza dough about 1/8 inch thick.  Put on an oiled baking sheet and bake in the hot oven for about 5 minutes or until it browns.  Then flip the dough over and put in the oven for another 2 minutes.  Take it out of the oven and place the mozzarella cheese on the dough.  Then put the mushroom and onion mixture on top.  Put back in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Cut and enjoy!

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Florentine Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients:
Filling:
1 lb ricotta cheese
1 cup bechamel sauce (recipe to follow)
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained completely
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt
pepper

Bechamel Sauce:
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons flour

Lasagna:
1 lb. lasagna noodles
4 cups tomato sauce (I just made a quick one with canned sauce and add some garlic and sauted it for a half hour)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you are making everything else.

In a small sauce pan eat the oil up for the bechamel sauce.  Once it is hot, whisk in the flour until it is thick.  Then add the milk and stir vigorously. Turn the heat to medium and allow the sauce to thicken for about 10 minutes, stirring every minute or so.

Defrost the spinach in the microwave.  Once it is completely defrosted, put it in a kitchen towel and squeeze it and drain it completely.  It should be completely dry. 

In a large bowl stir the ricotta cheese, drained spinach, bechamel sauce, egg, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Be light on the salt as the cheese is very salty. 

Once the water has boiled, salt the water and put the lasagna noodles in being careful not to break them.  Cook them based n the package directions, usually abut 14 minutes.  Once they are cooked, drain the noodles and allow them to cool for a few minutes.  Try to separate them without burning yourself and lay them over the sides of the pan.

In a 13 x 9 inch baking dish, lay the sauce on the bottom just to cover.  Take one lasagna noodle and place it flat on cutting board.  Put about 1-2 tablespoons of filling on one end and roll it to the other.  Place it in the pan.  Do this with every other lasagna noodle.  Once they have all been made and are in the pan.  Cover the top with the rest of the sauce.

Bake covered for 40 minutes.  Uncover the lasagna and sprinkle some mozzarella and parmesan cheese over the top if desired.  Put back into the oven for another 15 minutes or until top is golden.  Serve and enjoy!

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Lasagna

Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb lasagna noodles

5 cups tomato sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 lb ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 tablespoons parsley

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once the water has boiled, add salt and the lasagna noodles.  They take about 10-12 minutes to cook.  Stir them every so often so they do not stick together.  Once they are finished cooking, strain in a colander and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Then separate the noodles and lay them over the sides of the colander so they do not get stuck together.  Be careful, steam gets trapped in between the noodles and will release when you separate them. 

I usually make a homemade sauce, but if you want you can use a store bought.  Heat it up for a few minutes in a saucepan beforehand.  In a large bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese.  Then add the egg and parsley.

In a 13 x 9 inch baking dish, pour a little sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Then layer 3 noodles across the bottom of the dish.  Take a few teaspoonfuls on each individual lasagna noodle.  Spread it across so the entire noodle is covered.  Then spoon sauce over the top of the cheese layer.  On the next layer, use 5 noodles and lay them in the opposite direction of the first layer.  You can cut off the extra and use that on future layers.  For the last layer, leave 3 noodles for the top.  Lay them on the previous layer and just pour sauce on top of that without any of the cheese mixture.  Sprinkle with a little bit of parmesan cheese.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40- 45 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

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The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Pasta

Cannelloni Al Forno
Tutto Italia
Disney World's Epcot Italy Pavilion
Orlando, FL

Words cannot describe how good this place is.  First of all you walk in and you feel you are standing on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.  There are beautiful paintings every where of famous places in Italy and famous artwork from Italy.  All of the staff in this restaurant are from Italy, even the chefs.  You know you are going to get authentic italian food in this place.  Honestly you can't go wrong with anything on this menu.  My family and I have tried multiple items on the menu and nothing is short of delicious.  Before you even order your meal, steaming baskets of fresh bread come out that you swear your italian grandmother is making in the kitchen.  Of course if you have an italian grandma.  Most American restaurants serve butter with their bread, but in Italy oil is very common.  The oil is imported from Italy and is absolutely delicious.  Plus they add fresh basil, fresh cracked pepper, garlic, and crushed red peper flakes in the oil and when you dip the steamy bread into this flavored oil you honestly feel like you died and went to heaven.  Then you look at the menu and of course you can't decide what to get cause everything is written in italian and sounds delicious.  The language is quite beautiful.  The one dish that I promise is definitely the best on the menu is the cannelloni.  It has everything anybody could want in a pasta dish.  Pasta, tomato sauce, spinach, 3 cheeses, and a cream sauce.  There is no way this thing can be bad.  It comes to the table and of course you aren't allowed to touch the dish cause it just came out of a 500 degree broiler that creates a crust of  mozzarella and ricotta cheese on top.  You crack through this crusty shell of cheese on top to find pillowy softness underneath.  Light, thin sheets of pasta in a tube shape stuffed with the richest ricotta cheese and most tender spinach you have ever tasted.  Underneath the two cannelloni is a thin layer of the lightest, freshest tomato sauce you have ever tasted.  The top is delicately topped with another layer of tomato sauce and then a layer of bechamel sauce, which is a typical thickened cream sauce.  Then like I said before, you have the crust of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses on top.  The contrast of textures and flavors of this concoction is ridiculous.  This really is the best thing I ever ate.  If you want it you have to get there fast because the menu always changes.  You cannot miss out on this authentic and delicious italian masterpiece. 

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Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

These are a delicious healthy lunch or a great side at dinner.  It tastes delicious and is so easy to make.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 portobello mushrooms
1/4 of an on onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 box frozen spinach
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3 basil leaves
2 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the spinach in a microwave safe bowl and cook in the microwave for 6-8 minutes.  When it is done drain well and squeeze out of the liquid in the spinach.



Take the stems out of the portobello mushrooms and place the mushrooms face up in a baking dish.  Chop up the stems and reserve.  In a large skillet saute the onions and garlic for about 6 minutes.  Then add the mushrooms stems and the spinach and cook for another 5 minutes.  Finish with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

Once the mixture is caramelized and browned, take out of the pan and allow to cool in a bowl.  Once cool, add the chopped basil, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  Stir the mixture. 

Take half the mixture and stuff it inside the mushroom cap, packing it down.  Do the same with the other mushroom. 

Then top the mushrooms with either mozzarella cheese, or additional parmesan cheese.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the mushroom is full cooked. Serve and enjoy!

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Baked Rigatoni

Here is a really easy recipe that is also very delicious. It is almost like baked ziti except I use rigatoni because I like the way the sauce binds to this shape of pasta.  Most of the ingredients can be found in your kitchen right now and it is very quick to make and also great for a crowd.  Enjoy this delicious pasta dish!

Ingredients:
1 jar of store-bought tomato sauce or homemade sauce (my mom's recipe for tomato sauce will be up soon, obviously it is WAY better than the store-bought)
1 lb rigatoni pasta (ziti or any other short pasta will work too
1 8 oz bag or block of mozzarella cheese (don't use fresh here because there is too much moisture and will make pasta wattery)
1 lb ricotta cheese
5 tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons fresh parsley
2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Bring pot of boiling water to boil.  Put a handful of salt into the water, then add your pasta.  Stir pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes.  Drain the pasta and pour into a 13 x 9 greased baking dish. 

To the baking dish add the ricotta cheese until every noodle has been covered with the sauce.  Then add your parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Stir to incorporate.  Next add the sauce to the pasta and ricotta mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated.  Now add 3/4 of the shredded mozzarella cheese and all of the parmesan cheese.  Stir until everything is evenly mixed.  Add the additional mozzarella cheese on top and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbly.  Enjoy!

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Pasta con Aglio e Olio (Pasta with garlic and oil)

Here is an easy, easy recipe that you can make using things you probably have around.  Ease doesn't always mean not very delicious, and here is a perfect example of this.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

5 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 lb long pasta (linguine or spaghetti work best)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (about 2 handfuls)

salt

pepper

1 cup reserved pasta water

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

1 whole fresh mozzarella (optional)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  This will be for the pasta to cook in.

In a very large skillet, heat 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Chop garlic very fine.  The finer it is the more flavorful it will become.  Once oil is hot pinch in the red pepper flakes.  Be careful, these are very hot.  Then add the garlic.  Stir constantly so the garlic does not burn.  Once he begins to turn light brown lower the heat to low.  Burnt garlic is bitter and will ruin your dish. 

After water begins to boil, add a handful of salt to the water.  Add your pasta and stir.  Pasta will take about 8-10 minutes.  One minute before pasta is done, take out one cup of pasta water and reserve.  This water is a great thickening agent because of its high starch content.  Drain the pasta and pour into the garlic and oil.  Make sure the heat it still on low.  Using tongs, toss the pasta around while adding parmesan cheese and then pasta water.  Continue adding a little bit at a time of each until it is all gone and you see a thicker sauce.  Now you can add the parsley and 1/2 inch cubes of mozzarella cheese.  Continue tossing for about 1-2 minutes or until cheese slightly melts.  Finish with ground pepper.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

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