Chicken Sausage and Spinach Pasta Bake

Mozzarella and Garlic Chicken Sausage Pasta Bake with Spinach

Makes 2  9x13 (created by me)

5 links mozzarella and garlic chicken sausage, chopped into small pieces (Sams Club is where I got mine)

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

10 cups penne

24 oz mozzarella cheese, grated

67oz jar pasta sauce - good quality makes all the difference I think.  Go for Garlic flavored if you can

1-2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed and drained (fresh spinach could be substituted, but the mixture would have to be hot to wilt the spinach when you added it)

 

Cook pasta according to directions on the box for Al Dente.  Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium heat.  Add sausage.  Cook until starting to brown.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook until onion begins to brown - don't burn the garlic.  Return drained pasta to the large pasta pot.  Add mixture from the skillet, jarred pasta sauce, spinach, and about 1/2 the cheese.  Pour into two 9x13 pans.  Top with remaining mozzarella.  If baking immediately, bake for about 30 at 350.  If freezing - cover with plastic wrap and foil.  Label and freeze.  Thaw 1 day in advanced before cooking.

BBQ Chicken Pizza... on the Grill?

So I decided to do this post because Tuesday night Eric came home and I wanted to make a nice dinner. Well, one problem I faced was that our oven was (is) broken. It broils, it boils, but it doesn't bake. So until we decide to either fix the dinosaur or find a new one, creative cooking is on the loose!

BBQ Chicken Pizza on the Grill

1 breast chicken, cut into small strips
1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove of garlic
1-2 cups shredded Colbt & Monterey Jack cheese
Bulls Eye (or your favorite) Hickory BBQ sauce
1 pre-made pizza dough ball (you can find these is the supper market - they are wonderful to have on hand!)
olive oil
tin foil

On your stove top (we'll get to the grill in a minute, be patient!) heat 1-2 TBS olive oil in a skillet. Add chicken strips. Cook until start to brown - 3-4 minutes depending on their size - and flip. Add in red onion and garlic. Cook until they begin to caramelize (that is, turn a little brown). This can take a little bit, maybe 10 minutes, depending on how much liquid came out of the onions and chicken. When the mixture is done, turn it out onto a plate and cover with plastic, or a lid of whatever (to keep the bug off when you are outside).

Take out your pizza dough. Dust it with flour on both sides. Take into account how big your grill is. You might want to shape the dough into more of a rectangle, or two small circles. Keep in mind you are going to have to flip the dough on the grill. A tip on shaping your dough - warm or room temp is better than cold. An easy way I have learned to stretch the dough is to put your fists together and in front of you (like put up your dukes!) with the dough resting on top (where your rings sit). Rock and pull your fists outward to stretch the dough, rotating as you go. The dough should not be sticky. Add more flour if it is. Place your dough on a cookie sheet to bring outside.

Take to the grill the dough, chicken/onion mixture, BBQ sauce, olive oil, tin foil, large spatula, and brushes or spoons to spread sauce & oil. Heat the grill to medium or medium high heat (depending on the SHEER POWER of your grill :^) Brush the dough with olive oil. Place that side down on the grill. Close the grill for a few minutes. Open, brush top with oil, and flip. Acting quickly, spread a layer of BBQ sauce, chicken/onion mixture, and cheese. FYI if your crust is thin it will cook VERY quickly.

Close grill for a few minutes. Open again and check on the bottom. For me and my little grill, the dough cooks very quickly, so I will often slip some foil under the dough to prevent burning while the cheese continues to melt. Grill marks are good, charred is bad.

Yum yum. You could do this with any kind of pizza you want really. Once you get the hang of it, you'll love it (I burned my first crust, don't get discouraged - it can scrape off ;^)

I will also post a link to my friend's blog where she did a Cooking 101 on Grilled Pizza with pictures that might help too.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/07/cooking-class-bbq-grilled-pizza.html

The Joys of Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those foods that is just so good, and there are as many recipes as there are cooks. I am going to share three of my favorites today. To start, I have to tell you about a recipe book my first grade class made. The teacher sent home a paper requesting our favorite recipes. Many delicious items came back (and I do quote) - "Mandy's Favorite Chocolate Mint Snow-Top Cookies, Morgan's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies," and " Kim's Favorite Pumpkin Spice Cake," etc, etc. You get the idea - chocolate, peanut butter, spice; a treat for all seasons. So what did little Rachael Harris say her favorite recipe was? Lasagna. Yup. And I am not even Italian.

So to start....

Rachael's Favorite Lasagna (at least in 1st grade)

2 15 oz. part skim Ricotta cheese
1 12oz part skim mozzarella cheese
8oz provolone cheese
1 egg
1 pkg. lasagna noodles
1 recipe for Italian tomato sauce (homemade or bottled)

Grate hard cheese and combine with Ricotta and egg. Boil water in a large pot, cook noodles and drain. Pour small amount of sauce into a 9X13 pan. Starting with noodles, layer with cheese. Pour remaining sauce over layers and back at 350 for 45 minutes.

For another version of this, see http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/simply-lasagna-69196.aspx

And there you have it - simplicity at it's finest. As you get older you are more willing to try more adventurous food. I personally would call this next lasagna adventurous. It takes a while to prepare and it is definitely more difficult than the above. However, it is Eric's favorite. It is a recipe by PAULA DEEN, who I love. I can't find which cookbook it is from (I have them all), but I have it printed from 4 years ago when it aired on food network. So here it is, lasagna 2...

Eric's Favorite Lady and Son's Lasagna (Paula Deen original)

Sauce
2 cups canned, diced tomatoes
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup onions, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup chopped, fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 1/2 tsp The Lady's House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 bay leaves (never leave out bay leaves!)

1 1/2 Lbs ground beef
6 to 9 Long strip lasagna noodles
12 oz cottage cheese, mixed with 1 beaten egg and 1/2 cup Parmesan
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
2 cups cheddar, grated
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 cup mozzarella, grated

To make the sauce, in a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Crumble the ground beef in a saucepan. Cook until no pink remains, then drain off the fat. Add the ground beef to the stockpot. Simmer for another 20 minutes. While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Remove bay leave.

Preheat oven to 350

To assemble lasagna, place a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9X13X2 dish. Layer 1/3 of each, noodles, cottage cheese mixture, Gruyere, Swiss, and cheddar cheeses. Pinch off small pieces of cream cheese and dot over other cheeses. Add another layer of sauce. Repeat layering 2-3 times ending with sauce. This may be covered and refrigerated at this point. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top with mozzarella and continue to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. Note: If lasagna has been refrigerated, bake for 40 minutes total.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.



Few! Did you get all that? Next and last is a lasagna that is a little off the beaten trail. It is my adult favorite. This is what is great about lasagna, there are so many combinations to choose from! This is a recipe from my mom. I remember having it growing up and I have always loved it. In fact, I plan to make it Monday night. It is one of the only ways I will eat a green olive.

White Sauce Chicken Lasagna
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
green olives, chopped (to taste but do add them even if you don't think you like green olives - TRUST ME they add amazing favor)
1 cup of cottage cheese
1-2 breasts shredded chicken (a quick way is to chop the chicken into smaller pieces, boil the it for a few minutes, let it cool, and then shred it up)
Lasagna noodles

Combine everything but chicken and noodles. Layer in a 9X13 pan sauce, chicken, noodles, ending with sauce on top.


So you might have found yourself wondering - cottage cheese or Ricotta? I personally love the creamy texture and flavor of Ricotta. Others simply hate the stuff (hard to believe I know). At the end of the day, it is a personal choice. But I can bet with a good lasagna, you can fool even an avid Ricotta cheese hater (I speak from experience). Enjoy!