Posts Tagged ‘Spinach’
Manicotti Served
Manicotti is a child friendly food. Most kids love spaghetti and pasta. What could be more fun than stuffing tubes and then eating them? Kids can get a little messy, but that’s their job, right?
My friend, Chef John Farion, came over and brought me a large container of cottage cheese. I did not think that Spane and I could eat if fast enough for it not to go bad, so I decided to stuff something with it. Quite frequently, cottage cheese is used for lasagna, but I don’t like meatless lasagna, and I wanted it for Friday. Oddly enough, I had everything I needed already at home, so I bought some manicotti and brought it home.
Posted in Evening, Friday Food, Italian, Kids, Make Ahead, One Dish Casseroles, Vegetarian | 
Tags: bell peppers, cottage cheese, garlic, Manicotti, Mushrooms, nutmeg, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, Pine Nuts, shallots in oil, Sherry, Spinach | 
5 Comments »
Ham, spinach and cheese Quiche with a goose fat crust
Recipes in this Post
Ham, spinach and cheese Quiche with a goose fat crust
When I made the Roast Goose for Christmas dinner, I had a lot of goose fat. I didn’t want to waste it, so I rendered it, and have used it here and there. It’s wonderful stuff. I thought I could make a pie crust out of for the Quiche I was making for the picnic today.
Most of the time, I buy a ready-made crust in the refrigerated cookie dough section. The reason I do this is because my crusts don’t usually turn out that well. Today, whist visiting The Smitten Kitchen’s Pie Crust 102, I found out why – I have been using the wrong tool for the job – I’ve been using a food processor. So, if you’re using a food processor and your crust isn’t turning out flaky, that’s why.
Making a crust by hand is not that difficult. You just need a pastry dough blender, and a little elbow grease. My pastry dough blender died a couple of years ago, so I used a heavy fork. It worked just fine.
Posted in French, Indulgences, Make Ahead, Methods, One Dish Casseroles, Savories |
Tags: cheddar cheese, flour, goose fat, ham, nutmeg, Spinach |
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Veal Marsala Meatballs atop Tomato Basil Cream Sauce with Mushrooms
Recipes in this Post
Veal Marsala Meatballs atop Tomato Basil Cream Sauce with Mushrooms
I love to find things on sale, especially things that would usually be expensive, like ground veal.
I love cream. Why do I love cream? I love cream because you only need a little, and it stays fresh in the refrigerator for quite a long time. I also like it for those occasions when I have run out of milk for my coffee. I prefer milk.
That’s what happened to me this morning, I ran out of milk last night, and not wanting to the store unwashed, I used a little cream in my coffee. I’ve had that cream in my house for quite a while, and I knew today was the very last day to use it.
When we were at the supermarket today, someone was buying red sauce for spaghetti. That almost sounded good, but I wanted to use up what I had in my refrigerator. No problem, I thought, I can make spaghetti and meatballs, but use the veal, and make the sauce with the cream.
Veal has very little fat, so these meatballs are a good choice for those watching their weight. Omitting the cream makes the sauce another good low calorie choice. If you have vegetarian friends, serve the meatballs separately.
Posted in Diet, Evening, Friday Food, Indulgences, Italian, Sauces, Savories, Winter |
Tags: basil, breadcrumbs, cream, Marsala, Pine Nuts, shallots, Spinach, tomato, veal |
5 Comments »
Spinach Salad
Posted in Appetizers, Evening, Lunch, Reconstructed, Salads, Summer |
Tags: bacon, Blue Cheese, Candied Pecans, Grapefruit, Spinach |
3 Comments »
Recipes in this post
Scramble Burger Quiche Just Out of Bertha
Posted in Appetizers, Evening, French, Indulgences, Make Ahead, Morning, One Dish Casseroles, Savories, Sides, Spring, Summer, Sunday Mornings, Winter |
Tags: Blind Baking, Cheese, Eggs, Hamburger, Pie Crust, Quiche, Spinach |
3 Comments »
Recipes in this Post![Lasagna alla casa di Boswell - ricotta spinach sausage]()
A few days ago, I found a box of no-cook lasagna noodles in the sale section of the store. I had never tried no-cook lasagna noodles, so I bought them with the intent of making my own version of Lasagna.
I have been making this lasagna for many years, and it seems to get better every time. Yes, it is time consuming, but the rewards for the taste buds are worth the time and effort.
I do not make a standard red sauce, although there are tomatoes in the sauce. There is a lot of meat – a little over three pounds all together. Mushrooms sautéed with shallots in butter and sherry. Italian sausage cooked and sliced on the bias.
I don’t like ricotta cheese, I never have. A lot of people who don’t like it use cottage cheese instead, but although I don’t like the texture of ricotta, I do like the flavor, so to compensate for the texture, I add spinach, nutmeg and Parmesan to the ricotta. It gives nice flavor with more nutrients as well.
This is a great lasagna. Don’t let the complexity of this dish put you off. Once the sauce is done, you are home free.
Recipe: Lasagna alla casa di Boswell
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 pound Ground beef
- 1 pound Ground pork
- 2 Garlic chopped
- 1 Onion chopped
- 2 Carrot chopped
- 1 Green pepper chopped
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups Milk
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 cup Red wine
- 1 can Whole tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Ricotta Layer –
- 2 cups Ricotta cheese
- 1 package Frozen spinach
- 1/4 cup Parmesan
- 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
– Mushroom Layer –
- 10 Mushroom sliced
- 1 Shallot chopped
- 1 teaspoon Dry sherry
– Other Layers –
- 1 pound Italian sausage sliced
- 2 cups Mozzarella sliced
- 1 package Lasagna Noodles cooked (or uncooked in this case)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Make the sauce
Make the Ricotta layer
- Defrost and remove all the water from the spinach. You can do this by putting the spinach in the microwave for 3 minutes. Then add the ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. Set aside.
Make the Mushroom layer
- In a sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the shallots and let them cook until they are translucent, then add the mushrooms. Add the sherry. Sauté the mushrooms until they brown with the shallots in butter and sherry. Set aside.
Make the sausage layer
- Pan fry the sausages on medium heat. Turn to brown on all sides. Remove from the pan, cool slightly, then slice them on the diagonal.
Make the pasta layer:
- Bring water and salt to a boil in a large pot. Cook the pasta just until it’s done, then drain and leave in cold water while assembling the lasagna.
Assembly:
- Spread some of the sauce on the bottom of the lasagna pan.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the some of the sauce on the pasta, then put the mushrooms.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put a layer of sauce and mozzarella.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the ricotta layer.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put some of the sauce and then the sausages.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the rest of the sauce.
- Put the last layer of mozzarella and sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Bake in a slow oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheeses are brown and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and let sit at least 10 minutes so the lasagna can settle.
- Defrost and remove all the water from the spinach. You can do this by putting the spinach in the microwave for 3 minutes. Then add the ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. Set aside.
Make the Mushroom layer
- In a sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the shallots and let them cook until they are translucent, then add the mushrooms. Add the sherry. Sauté the mushrooms until they brown with the shallots in butter and sherry. Set aside.
Make the sausage layer
- Pan fry the sausages on medium heat. Turn to brown on all sides. Remove from the pan, cool slightly, then slice them on the diagonal.
Make the pasta layer:
- Bring water and salt to a boil in a large pot. Cook the pasta just until it’s done, then drain and leave in cold water while assembling the lasagna.
Assembly:
- Spread some of the sauce on the bottom of the lasagna pan.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the some of the sauce on the pasta, then put the mushrooms.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put a layer of sauce and mozzarella.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the ricotta layer.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put some of the sauce and then the sausages.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the rest of the sauce.
- Put the last layer of mozzarella and sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Bake in a slow oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheeses are brown and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and let sit at least 10 minutes so the lasagna can settle.
Quick notes
If you have sauce left over, freeze it for another dish.
Variations
If you don’t like spinach, you can omit it. If you don’t want to use pork sausage, you could use turkey sausage instead.
Preparation time: 3 hour(s)
Cooking time: 45 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
Culinary tradition: Italian
My rating
Copyright © The Good Plate.
Recipe by Adrienne Boswell.
Microformatting by hRecipe.
Posted in Comfort Food, Evening, Fall, Holidays, Indulgences, Italian, Make Ahead, Methods, One Dish Casseroles, Sauces, Winter |
Tags: carrots, Casseroles, garlic, ground beef, ground pork, Italian, Italian sausage, milk, mozzeralla cheese, Mushrooms, nutmeg, onion, oregano, Parmesan, Pasta, red wine, ricotta cheese, shallots, Sherry, Spinach, Spring, whole tomatoes, Winter |
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