Butternut Squash Lasagna

Image credit: Kristina Gill via Design Sponge

I loved this recipe found on Design Sponge via Pinterest! (I would recommend clicking on the original recipe to see more of their beautiful photos of the process.) One of my favorite things to pick up at Farmer's Markets is Butternut Squash. I made soup with it last time I got it, and this time I was dying to try this new recipe, and it did not disappoint. I figured since I already had fresh mozzarella and a block of Parm cheese, it was the perfect time to make it. It was a bit time-consuming, but well worth all of the effort. It would be a lovely dish to serve to company. 

Butternut Squash Lasagna 

1 Large Butternut squash – Peeled, cored and sliced thin 1/4 inch
1 stick Butter, separated
¼ Cup Flour
3 ½ Cups Whole Milk
6 cloves Garlic
1 handful Spinach
1 bunch Italian Parsley
10 to 14 Pasta Sheets (I bought "no boil" noodles to avoid cooking noodles separately. I was tempted to buy fresh pasta sheets from local Italian Deli, but decided to stay on-budget :-)
3 Cups Shredded Mozzarella (I used thinly sliced fresh mozzarella from Costco)
½ Cup Parmesan (freshly grated is my fave - we usually have this on hand in fridge.)
10 each Sage Leaves – Sliced Thin
1 Lemon – Zest
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

1) Roast butternut squash:
Pre-heat oven to 375F. I used a large baking sheet and drizzled with olive oil and placed the squash slices on it, seasoned with salt and pepper, repeated another layer until all the butternut is layered. Covered with foil and baked for about 10- 15 minutes until the squash is cooked yet still firm enough to break apart.

2) Make cream sauce:
While squash is roasting, start on your roux: ½ stick of butter in the pot and melt until almost browned, whisk in the flour and continue to cook for about 30 seconds, slowly whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, Add the garlic and continue to cook at a medium heat until mixture thickens (took me about 30 minutes total, I think.) Transfer the mixture to the food processor (or blender) and blend in the Spinach/parsley. Season with salt and Pepper.

3) Assemble and bake lasagna:
Rub the Baking dish with a little butter and begin the layers: Cream Sauce, pasta sheets, Mozza, Parma, butternut – Repeat. Make sure the top layer has cheese on top. Cover with Foil and Bake for 40 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 15 or until the top is crispy golden brown.

4) Serve with Sage/Lemon Brown Butter:
While lasagna rests for 10 minutes before serving, make your Sage/Lemon Brown Butter: In small sauté pan bring the remaining 1/2 stick butter to a light brown color – Very hot and bubbling add sage, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Spoon over a little on each piece.

Voila, truly delicious and full of winning combination flavors. And yes, men like it, too.  :-)

Image credit: Kristina Gill via Design Sponge

Lasagna Soup

My sister Jessica told me about this dinner a little while ago, and I forgot about it until I saw it on Pinterest recently. To save a few bucks, I didn't add the Ricotta cheese or fresh basil at the end. But I did use fresh mozzarella cheese, which melted perfectly in the soup after serving, which I think I'd like better than Ricotta cheese anyways.

I adapted the recipe from A Farm Girl's Dabble. (Check out her photo, it is much more appetizing than mine.)

Lasagna Soup (Yield: 8 servings)

• 2 tsp. olive oil 
• 1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage 
• 3 c. chopped onions (I used one large sweet onion)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano 
• 1/4 - 1/2  tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (depends if you want it with a kick or not)
• 3 T. tomato paste 
• 28-oz. can diced tomatoes 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 6 c. chicken stock 
• 8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta 
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese 
• 1- 2 c. shredded FRESH mozzarella cheese 

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. 
2. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color. Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. 
3. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 
4. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. 
5. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. 
6. While the pasta is cooking, grate your parmesan and mozzarella cheese. 
7. Serve soup with Sprinkled cheese on top and mix individually so it melts in the soup. YUM!

Birthday BBQ

Jeremy and I both LOVE BBQ. We had a little family birthday party for Jeremy, and I thought it was the perfect time of year for a BBQ menu. I originally wanted to make a home made bbq sauce and follow Tyler Florence's recipe for BBQ pulled pork, but once the day got here, I figured I should go for easy as well as tried and true. I had no idea what his BBQ sauce would taste like, so last minute I decided to just use our favorite "Sweet Baby' Rays Original Sauce"

BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches:

7 pounds of Pork shoulder (bone out) - [fed 17 people]

Salt/pepper

1 large bottle of Sweet Baby Ray'z Original Barbecue sauce

Potato roll buns (I like these because they are soft and a little bit sweet, and they are smaller size than large hamburger buns. Perfect size for kids, and for adults too with sides of potato salad and beans).

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Salt and pepper the pig on both sides. Put the pork in a roasting pan (fat side up) and roast it for about 6 - 6.5 hours. An instant-read thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the pork should register 170 degrees F, but basically, what you want to do is to roast it until it's falling apart. (We pulled it out a couple times and tried to start pulling meat apart with 2 forks, until it actually was "pulling apart" rather easily.)

While the pork is still warm, you want to "pull" the meat: Grab 2 forks. Using 1 to steady the meat, use the other to "pull" shreds of meat off the roast. Put the shredded pork in a bowl and pour the sauce over. Stir it all up well so that the pork is coated with the sauce.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto the bottom half of each hamburger bun. Bon appetit!

Baked Beans (a mixture of my friend Kelly McDonald and Pioneer Woman)
3 Large cans (28 oz) pork and beans (I like "Bush's" brand) and drain a little of the liquid
1 med (sweet) onion chopped
1 lb cooked bacon cut up in pieces
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 - 3/4 cup brown sugar
a splash of cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard

Cook Bacon. Then stir together all ingredients, place in baking dish, cover with foil and bake for a long time maybe 1 1/2 -  2 hours on 300 degrees.

Loaded Baked Potato Salad.
I have this recipe posted here, and I doubled it for the amount of people we had over.

Stuffed Spinach Shells

(I'm really embarrassed about the lame photos for this post. I'll try not to use iphone anymore!! But still wanted to post this recipe b/c it's really yummy!!!)

I've always loved food. I grew up in New Orleans, and in my opinion ate at the best restaurants in the world. Ok, I guess I can't say "world", because I'm definitely not a "world traveler"- The only place I've been out of the country is Mexico. Anyways, my heart (and taste buds) are in New Orleans. When I was in High School, I applied to a favorite local Italian restaurant, Figaro's, close to my (childhood) home on a whim, and was hired that same day. One of my favorite things there was their Stuffed Pasta Shells. And it also reminds me of my mom, too, she would always order it. So I tried to find a close enough recipe to resemble this said stuffed shell recipe. After searching around, this is what I found.

On a side note, my 14 month old LOVES LOVES LOVES this. She wanted to eat the whole pan. And she had leftovers again and again until they were all gone.

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Shells
(Makes 6 servings)

6 oz jumbo shell pasta (1/2 a standard box or about 20 shells)
15 oz ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 can (or jar) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 cups grated Fontina or mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg
salt
freshly ground black pepper
24 oz jar marinara sauce



1. Cook pasta shells according to package directions, drain well and let cool.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Combine ricotta, garlic, spinach, artichokes, 1 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Parmesan and the egg. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper (you won’t need much salt since the cheese is salty).
4. Spread a cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.
5. Fill the cooked shells with about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture. Arrange the shells in rows in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining sauce over the shells and sprinkle with the remaining Fontina and Parmesan.

6. Bake covered with foil for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Citrus Garlic Shrimp Linguini

This is one of my mother-in-law's recipes. It's so delish! I got the recipe after the first time we had it. It is  a Curfew family favorite, and especially in our home, too! I now keep frozen (raw) shrimp from Costco in the freezer, and use them for this fancy and easy meal. It only takes about 30-40 minutes to make from start to table. Here is the recipe...

Citrus Garlic Shrimp Linguini

1 pkg linguini

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup (fresh squeezed) orange juice
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled
3 tsp grated lemon peel
2 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
shredded parm cheese - lots and lots!!!
minced fresh parsley

1. cook linguini according to pkg directions. meanwhile in a blender or food processor, combine the next eight ingredients; cover and process until blended.
2. pour into a large skillet. heat through. add shrimp. cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. drain linguini. toss with shrimp mixture. sprinkle with cheese and parsley.

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmigiana

This is FANTASTIC!! (I'm channeling my best Tyler Florence impression.)

I recently started reading The Pioneer Woman's blog, and I thoroughly enjoy it. I saved about 15 recipes from her site that I want to try. But this one caught my eye the most. Either that, or I already had 2 large chicken breasts in the fridge. The smells of the kitchen are fantastic, and tasting the sauce as I was going was even better. And even fantastic for my lunch leftovers today.

(Adapted from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat (1/4 - 1/2")
1/3 cups All-purpose Flour
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1/3 cups Olive Oil
1 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1/3 cup of chicken stock
1 large can (28 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
1 Tablespoons Sugar
Handful  Chopped Fresh Parsley
1/2 - 3/4 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 pound Thin Linguine

Directions:

• Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.
• Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.
• At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.
• Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
• Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.
• Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in splash of chicken stock and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow stock to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
• Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.
• Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.
• Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

Tomato Basil Pizza

I've seen and heard about the Pioneer Woman for quite some time, so I figured it was about time for me to make something from her website. I love all of her pictures and the step-by-step commentary and visuals.

I followed her directions for TOMATO BASIL PIZZA (with a Pesto Sauce).



It was a yummy and fresh meal last night. Head over to her blog for the recipe.


I'm still on the lookout for a good pizza crust recipe. I wasn't a big fan of hers. I thought it was a bit dense and heavy on the olive oil flavor.

Mom's spaghetti

I was craving my mom's spaghetti for a few months, and finally after all these years asked her for the recipe. My mom doesn't have any recipe's written down, so i knew she'd have to write it down while trying to think what she does. she's amazing in the kitchen, can just throw stuff together, and i don't think i've ever seen her measure anything. so i knew making this would be a challenge, because her directions didn't include exact amounts, just a little bit o' this, and a little bit o' that. but i wrote down my notes along the way of specifics, and now i'm not afraid to make this every again because it turned out excellent. Jeremy is my taste tester, and when he is raving about something, i know it must be good.



Ingredients:
2 lbs. sirloin ground meat
1 onion chopped
3 or so celery stalks chopped
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
lots of chopped garlic ( i used 4 heaping teaspoons of chopped garlic from a jar)
salt/pepper
2 tsp worsheshire sauce
1 tiny can of tomato paste (6 oz)
1 large can of crushed tomatoes (about 15oz)
1 reg can of tomato sauce (28 oz)
2 T brown sugar
lots of chopped fresh parsley
about 1/2 T dried basil
sprinkle of a little bit of oregano
and spaghetti noodles of course! (i sometimes like to use angel hair noodles)









6) Stir Good, and let simmer for an hour or more. And its always better the next day!

Tomato Basil Chicken

I've been trying alot of my sister-in-law, Natalie's, recipes lately. And we made this last night, and it knocked our socks off!! I have to blog and share it. I put off trying this recipe for a while, because Jeremy hates tomatoes. He ended up LOVING this, and says this is fighting for first place as his all time favorite meal. WOWZA! You gotta love it when your husband, or any food guest for that matter, RAVES about the meal you prepared. I served it with Leslie's (my mother-in-law) Cashew Rice Pilaf - also one of Jeremy's favorite.

This picture doesn't do it justice. :)

Tomato-Basil Chicken
1 T. Butter
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 can (14 oz.) Italian seasoned tomatoes (if not already cut up, coarsely chopped)
1/2 c. julienned FRESH basil leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat butter in skillet. Add onion and cook over medium heat until translucent, 5 min. Increase heat to high; add tomatoes and cook until liquid is almost evaporated, 5-10 min. Add cream and bring to boil; boil until slightly thickened, approx 3 min. Stir in basil, salt and pepper. Arrange chicken in shallow baking dish; pour sauce on top. Bake for 20-25 min.
(Serves 4)

the next time I made this dinner, i had fresh mozzerella, so i added slices of it on top of the chicken breast before i poured the sauce on. super good!

Cashew-Rice Pilaf
1/4 c. butter
1/3 c. finely chopped onion
1 c. uncooked regular long grain rice
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 c. cashews, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. chopped FRESH parsley

In large saucepan, melt butter. Saute onion until soft. Add rice; stir until coated. Stir in broth and salt. Cover; simmer 24-30 minutes until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in cashews and parsley.
(Serves 4)

Chicken Milano

My favorite dish at Macaroni Grill is their pasta milano. yummy. I found a comparable recipe online and gave it a whirl. It turned out excellent! The sauce was amazing. If you love pasta and creamy sauces, you will love this recipe!!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup chicken broth, divided
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
8 ounces dry fettuccini pasta

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter; add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and 3/4 cup of the chicken broth; increase to medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are tender. Add the cream and bring to a boil; stirring. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm oil and saute chicken. Press on chicken occasionally with a slotted spatula. Cook for about 4 minutes per side or until the meat feels springy and is no longer pink inside. Transfer to a board; cover and keep warm. Discard the fat from the skillet.
In the same skillet, over medium heat, bring 1/4 cup chicken broth to a boil; stirring the pan juices. Reduce slightly and add to the cream sauce; stir in basil and adjust seasonings to taste.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, transfer to a bowl and toss with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the sauce.
4. Cut each chicken breast into 2 to 3 diagonal slices. Reheat the sauce gently if needed. Transfer the pasta to serving plates; top with chicken and coat with the cream sauce; serve.