Category Archives: Italian

What makes this dish so special? Instead of using ricotta cheese, it uses goat cheese and cream cheese. Yum!

Ingredients:
8 whole Lasagna Noodles
¼ cups Shallots, Finely Diced
2 whole Garlic Cloves, Finely Minced
3/4 pounds Italian Sausage
5 ounces, weight Frozen Spinach, Thawed And Excess Water Squeezed Out
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
¼ teaspoons Dried Chili Flakes
¼ cups Goat Cheese
¼ cups Cream Cheese
3 cups Marinara Sauce
1-½ cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Salt
Olive Oil

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook lasagna sheets until they are cooked enough that you can roll them, but not cooked all the way.

In a skillet over medium heat, heat a dash of olive oil and sauté shallots until they are translucent. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the sausage to the pan. Use a wooden spoon to crumble the meat and break into small pieces. Once the meat is no longer pink, add the spinach, thyme and chili flakes. Season with kosher salt. Remove pan from the heat and add goat cheese and cream cheese. Stir to combine.

Spread about one cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a lasagna dish. Set aside.

Spoon/spread about 3-4 tablespoons of the spinach-sausage mixture across each lasagna sheet. Carefully roll up each sheet and place the rolls, seam side down inside the baking dish. Cover the tops of each roll with a few spoonfuls of marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

Did I change anything? The recipe above reflects the changes I will make the next time. There was WAY too much spinach in the original recipe. I like spinach, but that was a lot of spinach. I also increased the amount of Italian sausage.

What did the family think? Everyone loved it even with all of that spinach.

Where did this recipe come from? Tasty Kitchen

photo from Tasty Kitchen

I am SO glad this made enough for lunch leftovers today. It’s a cloudy, chilly fall day today and a little risotto will make the perfect lunch.

Ingredients:
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, in juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, finely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 bunch flat-leaf spinach (10 to 14 ounces), washed well, tough stems removed, chopped (about 7 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:
In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice) and 3 cups water. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.

In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.

Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).

Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, Parmesan, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Did I change anything? I added a little Italian seasoning, but I think next time I will just buy the Italian-style diced tomatoes instead. I also didn’t use as much spinach because I didn’t buy enough.

What did the family think? Hubby and I really liked it. The kids were not impressed with the tomatoes or the spinach. They avoided them, but did manage to eat their dinner with minimal complaints. (These are the same kids who happily ate their spinach salad that was sitting right next to their risotto.)

Where did this recipe come from? Martha Stewart

photo from Martha Stewart

We are back from vacation, the kids are back in school and I am back in the kitchen. The boys love pizza and really anything that involves pizza/pasta sauce, so I knew this would be a hit. I just wish I would have made more…everyone wanted seconds.

Ingredients:
1 pound pizza dough, homemade or store bought
All-purpose flour, for work surface
1/2 lb. Italian sausage
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella (6 ounces)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Divide dough into 4 pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, stretch out each piece, first to a 3-by-4 inch oval, then to a 6-by-8-inch oval (let dough rest briefly if too elastic to work with).

In a large skillet cook Italian sausage until done. Add spinach leaves and cook until just wilted.

Dividing evenly, scatter sausage/spinach mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Dividing evenly, top with mozzarella and 1/4 cup marinara.

Starting at the shorter end, roll up each stromboli, and place, seam side down, on baking sheet. Using the tip of a paring knife, cut two slits in the top of each. Brush with oil. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve stromboli with 1/2 cup marinara for dipping.

Did I change anything? The original recipe called for salami and broccoli. I’m not sure I want broccoli in my stromboli. I wish I would have added some roasted red peppers to it. Since this is like a rolled up pizza basically, you can add just about anything to it that you’d normally have on your pizza.

What did the family think? Everyone loved it and wanted seconds, but there were no seconds. Note to self: make twice as much next time.

Where did this recipe come from? I got the idea for this recipe from Martha Stewart.

photo from Martha Stewart