Brushetta or Caprese Salad

 Gabe made this snack in Newport, CA and it was so amazingly delicious, He called it Caprese Salad

Ingredients-

• 10 ripe tomatoes
• 10 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 t basil
• mozzarella
• balsamic vinegar, drizzle over top
• sliced 1/2 an onion
• oil
• salt and pepper
• I bought previously sliced day old baguettes 

Instructions-

*set oven at 450 degrees before you start preparing the ingredients. Prepare a sheet pan with foil and spray nonstick on it.

*I quartered the tomatoes and added them to a bowl. add garlic,  basil, oil. salt and pepper- mix it all in a bowl.

*Gabe said cook tomatoes, oil, garlic till the tomatoes pop (35min) or till slightly browned (could be 45min). Then add basil, mozzarella and balsamic- till cheese is melted.

*Cook the baguettes on a oiled foiled sheet pan, Put oil on each toast, Bake at 400 for 4-5 min

10/17/24 I added everything to the sheet pan to cook. I shouldve left out the basil, mozzarella and balsamic. I'll try that next time. After 20 min i increased the temperature to 500

Bobbly Flay's chicken Parmesan

 4 servings

Youtube

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, smashed with some kosher salt to make a paste Two 28-ounce cans plum tomatoes and their juices, pureed in a blender One 16-ounce can crushed tomatoes 1 small can tomato paste 1 bay leaf 1 small bunch Italian parsley 1 Cubano chile pepper, chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 cups all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper 4 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water and seasoned with salt and pepper 2 cups panko bread crumbs 1 cup vegetable oil or pure olive oil Tomato Sauce, recipe follows 1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Fresh basil or parsley leaves, for garnish

FOR THE SAUCE-

Begin booking sauce first, simmer on stove top

FOR THE CHICKEN-

Between saran wrap flatten the chicken. Salt and pepper chicken. Then, Assemble the chicken dipping station- 3 different bowls or plates.

1. flour, salt and pepper.

2. egg with salt and pepper

3. panko

Saute and brown both sides of chicken on stove top.

It will be finished cooking in the oven.

350 for 20 min. 5 min before serving pour red sauce on top and sliced mozzarella

Two versions of Baked Ziti

Kay made this for our family. Initially I just thought "Ohhh another casserole, not my favorite." But once we started eating we couldn't stop. I think it was the combination of the white sauce and red sauce that gave it more depth of flavor and made it more delicious than other casseroles. This recipe is definitely a WINNER!

Easier Baked Ziti (quicker), preparing and cooking 40 min
1-2lbs ground hamburger (optional half could be sausage)
16oz favortie pasta
1 chopped onion (Sauteed)
2 jars Classico spaghetti sauce
1 jar Classico alfredo sauce
1/4-1/2 c milk
1 t garlic powder
1/2t onion powder
1 t season salt
1/2t Italian Seasoning
2c shredded mozzarella

-Prepare noodles.
-Brown and drain ground meat, saute onion.
-Dump sauces into 9x13 pan, use milk in the jars to get out extra sauce
-Add meat and noodles to 9x13 pan, Mix everything together.
-Sprinkle cheese on top.
-Bake 350 for 20 minutes



Original Baked Ziti,  preparing and cooking 60 min
16oz favortie pasta
1 lb jimmy dean sausage
1 chopped onion (Sauteed)
1/2t garlic
2c shredded mozzarella

1 jar Classico Spaghetti Sauce (24 Oz)

White sauce-

8oz cream cheese

1/2 cube butter

1 c whipping cream or heavy cream

1/2c Parmesan

1/2t garlic

-Cook pasta

-Brown sausage, garlic, and onion. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer 30 min, low heat.

-White sauce- put ingredients in sauce pan and heat gently.

-Use 9x13 pan, layer pasta, white sauce, red sauce and top with mozzarella.

Bake 350 for 20 min covered and 10 min uncovered.

Chicken Jumbo Shells

Need two 9x13 pans, serve with french bread

12 oz Jumbo Shells
2 Chicken Breasts (chopped food processor)
1 onion chopped and sauteed
1/2lb chopped mushrooms (not necessary, but I love them)
3-6 chopped garlic cloves
1 24 oz can of spaghetti sauce

White Sauce-
8 oz cream cheese
3 T butter
1/2c parmesan
1/2c milk
2 c shredded mozzarella (1 cup for white sauce and 1 c for top of prepared shells)
Cottage cheese filling-
8 oz cottage cheese
1 T basil and parsley
1 egg
salt and pepper

This was more work than I usually like to do. But we don't have them much and I wanted something different for dinner. This recipe uses 3 different pans- 1. to cook pasta, 2. to saute onion, chicken, mushrooms, and red sauce. 3. warm up the white sauce

Saute onion for 7 min, then add garlic and mushrooms with salt and pepper cook for a few minutes. Add chicken till cooked thoroughly, add spaghetti sauce.

In separate pot heat up and stir the white sauce. Turn off the heat, In same pot combine cottage cheese, basil, parsley, egg

In separate pot boil the jumbo shells.  in 9x13 pan lightly spray the pan and then add red sauce to the bottom of the pan. Place the empty shells on top of the sauce . Assemble the shells with the white sauce cottage cheese filling first, then on top of the cottage cheese add the meat red sauce. After all the shells are filled pour the rest of the red sauce over the top.

Cook 350 for 30 min. Last 5 mintues add 1 c of mozzarella to melt on top of shells.

Weirdly enough, I actually noticed these prepared shells tasted much better on day 3 of sitting in the fridge. Initially on the day I made them we had them for dinner and I honestly didnt really enjoy them so much, but my family almost ate one whole pan (so it passed their taste buds).  Next time make this a few days ahead and place foil/wrap on top and let sit in fridge for at least 3 days.

One pot Lasagna

Dang delicious

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 Italian sausage links, casing removed
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 8 ounces farfalle pasta
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 cup ricotta cheese (cottage cheese)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
2. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, garlic powder and red pepper flakes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Bring to a simmer and stir in pasta and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 13-15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in mozzarella and Parmesan until well combined. Using a small cookie scoop, top with dollops of ricotta and cover until heated through, about 2-4 minutes.
5. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Calzones

Ideas from Food Network

A few varieties to make
1. ham and pinneapple
2. sausage and onion
3. pepperoni
4. spinach and cheese

The dough (either from scratch or frozen/defrosted rhodes rolls or dry pizza mix from store)

The Filling

• 15 ounces whole milk ricotta (cottage cheese)
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Black pepper
• 2 whole eggs plus 1 whole egg, beaten

Mix the filling in a bowl and set aside.

I used a dry mix from the store to make the dough. Let sit 10 min. Then roll out circles of dough and plop 3-4 T of the filling on to the roll dough. Fold half of the dough over itself, and then press the edges to seal. Brush the surface of each calzone with the beaten egg, and then bake until nice and golden brown, 10 to 13 minutes. Serve with warm Marinara Sauce.

Spinach Dip

1 T oil
1 small onion chopped
2 garlic cloves
2-3 cups chopped spinach
1/2c milk
6 oz cream cheese
1/2c mozzarella
2 dashes Worcestershire
salt and pepper

preheat oven 425 degrees
Saute onion till soft add garlic for a minute. Add cream cheese and let it slowly melt, add Worcestershire, milk stir with a whisk. When the cream cheese is melted and every thing is mixed well add: spinach, mozzarella and salt and pepper to taste.
Could be heated up in a crockpot over 3-4 hours.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. serve with olive oil glazed toasted french bread

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Forkknifeswoon

• 16 jumbo pasta shells (Cook a couple of extra shells to allow for a few breaking while the pasta cooks.)
• 1-1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
• 4 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, roughly-chopped
• 12 oz skim-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
• 1-1/4 cups marinara sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about a minute or two. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt but are still bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. The spinach should be reduced by half. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil and salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with a generous amount of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and place in the baking dish.
4. Cover with the remaining sauce and bake covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top begins to brown and the sauce begins the bubble, another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with a dusting of Parmesan.

Cheesy Baked Tortellini

Food Network

Olive oil
2 cups marinara sauce
1 sauteed onion
1/2 lb beef cooked
I didn't have 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese (or cottage cheese)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 pound purchased cheese tortellini
2 ounces mozzarella
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

I Doubled this and froze some for future dinner.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish.
Whisk the sauce, mascarpone cheese, parsley and thyme in a large bowl to blend. 
Cook the tortellini in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Add the tortellini to the sauce and toss to coat. Transfer the tortellini mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top the mixture with the smoked mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheeses on top melt, about 30 minutes.

Surprisingly the kids loved this.

Blueberry & Avocado with grapefruit dressing

A Bountiful Kitchen

• 1 large head of lettuce, preferably Romaine or leaf lettuce, washed,dried and chopped
• OR one 8-12 oz bag of Spring mix or Spinach (about 15 cups total greens)
• 1 pint of blueberries, washed
• 1-2 avocados, cut into chunks or sliced
• 1 cup dried apricots, sliced
• 1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or Blue cheese, crumbled, I used regular white cheese (mozzarella) and sliced it up in small cubes
• 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds or almonds (salted or unsalted)
• could add cooked quinoa
• 
  

FOR DRESSING- (2 quantities to choose from)
less    More

2/3    ¾ cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1/4    ½ cup white or golden balsamic vinegar
1       2 cups light olive oil or canola oil*
1/2    1 teaspoon salt
1/2    1 teaspoon pepper
1/8    ¼ cup green onion, white part only
1/8    ¼ cup honey or sugar, more or less to taste
optional- 2 cups leftover chicken breast meat, cooked and cut into chunks

I made the less version of the dressing

1. Place the lettuce in a large bowl. Toss with remaining ingredients, reserving some of each of the ingredients for topping the salad for presentation.
2. Make the dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in blender until green onions are smooth.
3. Drizzle dressing on top of salad or dress the salads individually.
4. Refrigerate any leftovers.

This salad may be made ahead and all of the individual ingredients stored in Ziplock bags until ready to serve. Do not cut the avocados until ready to serve. 
-For serving, reserve some of the ingredients and place on top of the salad after tossing the rest of the ingredients together in bowl. Drizzle dressing on top. 
-If you are doubling the salad, one recipe of the dressing will cover a double or triple batch of salad.
-If you need to cut the avocados early, toss them with some lemon juice and a bit of the dressing and seal with plastic wrap pressed next to the avocado in a bowl or ziplock bag without smashing the avocado. Pressing all of the air out and tossing with something acidic will prevent the avocado from browning! Make sure to refrigerate.
- I used a mixture of Butter lettuce and Spring Mix in the salad photographed, which I love, but don='t recommend if you're going to let the salad sit in the fridge for a while. Butter lettuce is wonderful, but very tender and doesn't hold up well if it has to sit for very long, refrigerated or unrefrigerated! Romaine or other bagged lettuces which have been spun very dry that are pre packaged work well if you have to let the salad sit for a while on a buffet table.

Lasagna

Makes 2 (9x13) baking dishes of lasagna.  Bake one and freeze one
Recipe from Western Family brand Lasagna noodles package.

16 oz lasagna noodles

Red Sauce---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 lb ground sausage
1 lb ground beef
2 chopped onions
2 T minced garlic
1 T dried basil
2 t dried oregano
3 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
3 jars of Hunts spaghetti sauce (24 oz each) (I did add some refried beans b/c I wanted some more fiber and 1 can of stewed tomatoes)

Ricotta/cottage cheese mixture-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 eggs
1/2-1c parmesan
2- 24 oz cottage cheese (one time I used the 48oz cottage cheese, another time I used half cream cheese)

2 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese or just slice it (I used only one pound and I sliced it b/c it was previously frozen cheese (which falls apart) and cutting it is easier)


On stove top- Saute onions till brown, put in crockpot. On stove cook sausage and beef, put in crockpot.  Add to the crockpot: Spaghetti sauce, garlic, basil, and oregano. Put the crockpot on high for 4 hours, to let all the flavors combine.
On stove top boil noodles.
In a bowl- Mix eggs, parsley, parmesan, and cottage cheese.

Preheat oven at 375

Spray one 9x13 pan with oil, the other pan line with aluminum foil (to make the lasagna easier to pull out of the pan when frozen) and spray with oil too.  Layer the bottom of pans with sauce., layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, spread 1/3 of ricotta mixture, top with 1/3 of mozzarella.  Repeat two additional layers.  Bake with foil for 20 min, then remove foil for 20 min till cheese is melted.

Prepare this 2-3 days before you need it and let it sit in the fridge.

I made the SAUCE in the morning and put in the crockpot.  Then I mixed the cottage, eggs, parsley and parmesan in a bowl and set in the fridge. Shredded or slice the cheese.

The girls will assemble the ingredients in a 9x13pan.

4/9/19
 after putting 2 lasagna layers down I began to run out of the ricotta cheese mixture. So there was about 1/2-1 c left. I melted a block of cream cheese and added one more egg with salt and pepper, parsley and parmesan and finished one more layer of noodle, red sauce, ricotta/cream cheese, and topped with mozzarella. Turned out great.

9/22/23

Made this and it was so ridiculously yummy. I used one jar of hunts, one jar of canned whole tomatoes and lastly one jar of prego, let it book for 1-2 hours.

This time I didnt boil the noodles, it just put them in hard. I added 1/2c water toward the lasagna edges and bubbled up aluminum foil on top (so the cheese doesnt stick to the foil). I also put a good amount of aluminum foil under the pan b/c the liquid can boil out into the oven which can make more mess to clean up. I did cook for 1 and 1/2 hour. So delicious

Crispy Chicken Parmesan

FoodNetwork and Delish

1 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
1/2 c. grated Parmesan

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. canola oil
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 1/2 c. marinara sauce, store-bought or homemade
Pound out 6 chicken breasts till flat.
Salt and pepper both sides of chicken.  

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. 

Combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan on a sheet of waxed paper/plate/ziplock bag. Spread the flour on another sheet of waxed paper. Working with 1 piece of chicken at a time, dip both sides into the flour, shaking off excess. Dip each piece into the egg whites, shaking off excess, and then press both sides into the breading to coat. (for a crunchier breading- dip the chicken in an egg then flour mixture and egg mixture then panko and repeat.)

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken (in batches, if necessary) and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken, in 1 layer, to the baking dish, cover each chicken breast with slice of mozzarella  Bake in oven 12-15min.  Pour warmed spaghetti sauce on top of chicken right before serving.

Serve with steamed broccoli, spaghetti sauce, salad, defrost frozen rolls in fridge the night b4 (Preheat oven to 350F. Bake rolls 15-20 minutes,),  and spaghetti noodles

2 different cakes mixes

1. Chocolate cupcakes, after cooked, cut the top and bottom of cupcake apart and fill with vanilla pudding, then top with choco frosting. (or who we really kidding, just buy the premade stuff)

2. Made a vanilla cake but wanted a choco swirl in it. So i then mixed part of vanilla cake with choco pudding mix and added 1/2c-1c milk. Put vanilla cake mix in greased 9x13pan, then put plops of choco pudding cake mix in the pan and swirl the mixes together.

3/24/16, thursday, pounded chicken flat and salt and pepper each piece, coat with the breading, saute both sides on stove top, then freeze, put wax paper between each chicken piece.  On sunday pull out chicken, put on cookie sheet, put slices of mozzarella on chicken and bake 425 15min

3/24/16, thursday, make cupcakes, can put in fridge or freezer till sunday. Then sat or sunday, make pudding mixture and fill inside of cupcakes and top with frosting

3/27/16 make the pudding let sit in bowl 30 min, then put into cupcakes, then make sauce pan fluffy frosting  (to make choco frosting- add cocoa powder  or melted choco chips to sauce pan)

Lasagna Rolls

Food Network

1 can of cream of mushroom
5 cooked lasagna noodles
1/2 (16oz) bag of chopped spinach
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1/2c Parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese
2 cups marinara sauce

5 slices of cooked bacon (or ground beef or sausage)

 450 degrees F
Pour half of the cream of mushroom on to bottom of 9x13 pan and mix in 1c of marinara sauce.

In bowl mix the other half of cream of mushroom, spinach, eggs, salt and pepper, and Parmesan.

Pour 1/4c of soupy mixture onto the edge of lasagna roll. Put mozzarella on top of soupy mixture and a slice of bacon, then roll up.

Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching on to the 9x13 pan, Pour the rest of the marinara sauce over the top and sides of the rolls.  Put remaining cheese on top of rolls.

Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer