Talk about an easy dinner! We really did the easy route tonight by picking up salad and breadsticks from Olive Garden.
Easy Lasagna
1lb. ground beef
9 lasagna noodles
1 jar (14 oz.) traditional spaghetti sauce (your favorite)
2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 large container cottage cheese
1/4 c. grated romano cheese
1. Brown ground meat; add spaghetti sauce and 1 jar of water. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
2. Place about 1/4 c. of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" baking pan. Place 3 lasagna noodles on top.
3. Layer meat sauce, 1/3 of the cottage cheese and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Continue with 3 layers ending with mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray (so that the cheese doesn't stick).
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil for the last 10 minutes. Before serving sprinkle with romano cheese.
*** if your lasagna noodles are too small to cover the pan, break them apart to fit. If you prefer, you can pre-cook the noodles and in that case, only bake the lasagna for 1 hour.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Pork Roast with Tomato Sauce
Talk about a chance encounter with a pork roast, some veggies and my favorite dutch oven. I had a pork shoulder roast in the freezer and decided that sounded good for dinner. Here is the recipe that I created. You don't have to use the dutch oven (mine has been described before; Rachel Ray version). You could create this is a saute pan and transfer to a crockpot.
Pork Roast with Tomato Sauce
1 pork shoulder roast (boneless about 2 lbs.)
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 c. water
2 T. olive oil
1. Place 1 T. olive oil into large dutch oven or saute pan, on medium high heat. Place roast into pan; brown on all sides. Remove roast from pan and set aside. In the same pan; place the other 1 T. of olive oil; toss in the celery and onion.
2. On medium heat, stirring occasionally, saute onion and celery for about 10 minutes; if needed, add 1/2 c. of water but not more oil.
3. Once the onion and celery are softened a little bit; place the meat back into the pan. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper; place 3 bay leaves onto roast. Add the can of diced tomatoes (around the roast, not on top of it) and the rest of the water.
4. If using the dutch oven, place into a 350 degree oven for 3 hours. If using a crockpot, place all ingredients in the crockpot (being sure to not place the tomatoes on the roast); cook for 6 - 8 hours on low.
We shredded the pork roast and served it over buttered egg noodles; I placed the sauce (tomatoes, onion and celery) into a bowl and we spooned that over the roast and noodles. My family LOVED this dish. Next time I am going to add 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 c. of water; making a spaghetti sauce and adding little baby meatballs. Should be fun!!
Pork Roast with Tomato Sauce
1 pork shoulder roast (boneless about 2 lbs.)
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 c. water
2 T. olive oil
1. Place 1 T. olive oil into large dutch oven or saute pan, on medium high heat. Place roast into pan; brown on all sides. Remove roast from pan and set aside. In the same pan; place the other 1 T. of olive oil; toss in the celery and onion.
2. On medium heat, stirring occasionally, saute onion and celery for about 10 minutes; if needed, add 1/2 c. of water but not more oil.
3. Once the onion and celery are softened a little bit; place the meat back into the pan. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper; place 3 bay leaves onto roast. Add the can of diced tomatoes (around the roast, not on top of it) and the rest of the water.
4. If using the dutch oven, place into a 350 degree oven for 3 hours. If using a crockpot, place all ingredients in the crockpot (being sure to not place the tomatoes on the roast); cook for 6 - 8 hours on low.
We shredded the pork roast and served it over buttered egg noodles; I placed the sauce (tomatoes, onion and celery) into a bowl and we spooned that over the roast and noodles. My family LOVED this dish. Next time I am going to add 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 c. of water; making a spaghetti sauce and adding little baby meatballs. Should be fun!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup
It's soup time! This is a creamy, dreamy chicken soup recipe. My suggestion would be to make a huge batch and freeze some for later.
Creamy Chicken-Pasta Soup
3 T. butter
4 oz. button mushrooms
1 c. sliced celery
1 c. shredded carrots
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 T. all purpose flour
6 c. chicken stock or low salt chicken broth
1 1/2 c. half and half
2 T. fresh parsley
1 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into 1/2" pieces (use either boneless skinless breasts or tenders, depending on what is on sale)
1 c. penne pasta
1/4 pound sugar snap peas, halved diagonally
3 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1. Melt butter in a heavy stock pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms, celery, carrots and onion. Cook until celery and onion are tender, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook 3 more minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually add in chicken stock. Bring soup to simmer, stirring frequently. Add half and half and chopped parsley; simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken and simmer until cooked through, about 5 more minutes. Soup can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate.
Cook penne pasta in large pot of boiling water until just tender. Drain pasta. Bring chicken soup to simmer. Mix in cooked pasta and sugar snap peas; simmer again 2 minutes. Mix in lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper.
*** if freezing soup, do not add these ingredients; add when reheating soup at a later date. Pasta gets mushy after freezing. ***
Creamy Chicken-Pasta Soup
3 T. butter
4 oz. button mushrooms
1 c. sliced celery
1 c. shredded carrots
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 T. all purpose flour
6 c. chicken stock or low salt chicken broth
1 1/2 c. half and half
2 T. fresh parsley
1 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into 1/2" pieces (use either boneless skinless breasts or tenders, depending on what is on sale)
1 c. penne pasta
1/4 pound sugar snap peas, halved diagonally
3 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1. Melt butter in a heavy stock pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms, celery, carrots and onion. Cook until celery and onion are tender, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook 3 more minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually add in chicken stock. Bring soup to simmer, stirring frequently. Add half and half and chopped parsley; simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken and simmer until cooked through, about 5 more minutes. Soup can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate.
Cook penne pasta in large pot of boiling water until just tender. Drain pasta. Bring chicken soup to simmer. Mix in cooked pasta and sugar snap peas; simmer again 2 minutes. Mix in lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper.
*** if freezing soup, do not add these ingredients; add when reheating soup at a later date. Pasta gets mushy after freezing. ***
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
