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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Spinach Ricotta Flatbread

Ingredients:
1 pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Roll dough out extremely thin.  About 1/8 inch thick.  You should almost be able to see through it.  I used a rolling pin and then stretched it further with my hands.

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil, red pepper flakes, basil, and garlic cloves until the garlic begins to turn brown.  This will take about 5-10 minutes.  Don't let the garlic burn.

Lightly spray a nonstick baking sheet.  Put the dough on the sheet.  Bake the dough in the oven for about 3 minutes or until the top turns golden.  Then flip it over and bake for another 2 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and brushed the crust with the olive oil mixture.  Spread the ricotta cheese over the top and then sprinkle with parmesan.  Return to the oven for about 3 minutes.  Then sprinkle the top with the fresh spinach leaves and bake for another 5 minutes or until spinach begins to wilt.  Cut and enjoy!

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Spinach Salad with Fried Goat Cheese

Ingredients:
Salad:
3 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried
10 strawberries, washed and dried
10 oz fresh goat cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumb
1/2 cup flour

Balsamic Dressing:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Cut the spinach into 1/4 inch slices and put on a sheet tray to chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Place the spinach in a large bowl once it has been cleaned and dried.  After the strawberries have been cleaned and dried, cut the stems off and slice into thin slices.  Toss these in the bowl with the spinach.

Set up a breading station.  The flour goes in the first plate, then beat an egg in the second bowl, and the panko bread crumbs are put into the third bowl. 

To make the dressing whisk all of the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until after the goat cheese has been fried.

Take the goat cheese out of the freezer and put it through the breading station.  First the flour, then into the beaten egg, then into the panko.  Set back on the baking sheet to freeze for 15 more minutes.

Heat a large skillet with canola oil just to cover the bottom.  Once the goat cheese is done freezing, take it out and put it in the pan.

After 3 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown, flip over the goat cheese.

Now you can dress the salad with the dressing.  I served the salad and goat cheese separately.  But either way, after 3 minutes on the second side, remove from the pan and set aside for the top of the salad.  After salad is plating, add the goat cheese on top.  Enjoy!

All photographs were taken by Emily Barbo!

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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 Chicken Breast

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 package frozen spinach
8 oz goat cheese
1 egg
1 cup flour
2 cups bread crumbs
salt
pepper

Directions:
Butterfly each chicken breast.  Butterflying just means to "unfold" the meant you are using.  Basically just slice the chicken breast in half creating a hinge by not cutting all the way through.  Now you can pound the chicken breast by using any heavy object to pound untilt the chicken is about 1/4 inch thick.

Microwave the spinach based on the package directions and squeeze all of the water out.  Now place 1/4 of the spinach over each chicken breast in a thin layer going 1 inch from the edge.

Now spread 2 ounces of goat cheese over the top of the spinach on each chicken breast.

Now starting from the short end, tightly roll the chicken breast up to create a pinwheel effect.  You can also fold the oddly shaped ends in like you are making a burrito.  Once it is rolled up place toothpicks at the seam to hold the chicken together.

Now salt and pepper the chicken on all sides before doing a standard breading procedure.  First each chicken breast goes into the flour, then into the beaten egg, then into the bread crumbs.

Heat a large skillet on high with 1 tablespoon of oil.  Brown the chicken on all 4 sides in the pan.  About 3 minutes each side or until chicken is browned. 

Now bake chicken in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.  Serve and enjoy! (Don't forget to remove the toothpicks)

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