Made By Melissa

This is another recipe from Elly Says Opa. I have only made orzo a couple of times, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite side dishes. The orzo, paired with the pork milanese and green beans, made for an excellent dinner.

Parmesan-Pecorino Orzo

• 8 oz. orzo
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2.5 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup pecorino or Parmesan cheese (I used about 1/4 cup of each, oink oink!)

Heat butter until melted. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.

Stir in orzo and coat in the butter, toasting slightly, for a couple of minutes.

Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until done, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Off the heat, stir in the cheese. I added about 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley.

Ohhh laughing cow, how I love you. So many uses for your creamy goodness.

I was siked when I saw this recipe for Laughing Cow Alfredo sauce over at Danielle’s blog. I am always looking for new ways to use this cheese, and this recipe is super-easy! Danielle got this recipe from the Weight Watchers message boards. I doubled the recipe, so we would have some leftovers and added some grilled chicken and broccoli.

Laughing Cow Alfredo (Double recipe)

Put cheeses, milk, butter and garlic powder in a small sauce pan and set on low. Cook for 20 minutes or until creamy and smooth, stirring frequently.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Once the sauce is done, add broccoli and chicken, stir to combine. Serve over pasta.

Another Giada recipe, another success. I saw this recipe on food network back in January, and had flagged it to try, but just recently got around to it. A perfect cold-day comfort food, and very easy to make.

Cheesy Baked Tortellini

• Olive oil
• 2 cups marinara sauce ( I used the same one from this blog entry)
• 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 pound purchased cheese tortellini
• 2 ounces thinly sliced smoked mozzarella ( I used about 1 cup of shredded mozzarella)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

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.

I had saved the recipe for the meatballs from Amber’s Blog when she first made them last year, but honestly forgotten all about them until they made a come-back on the What’s Cooking? board recently. I thought that they would pair perfectly with Chelley’s homemade spaghetti sauce. Original meatball recipe is from Rachel Ray. I made the meatballs like Amber and baked them in the oven, but added them to the sauce for the last 5 minutes. I also added a can of drained, diced tomatoes to the sauce since I like to have a chunky sauce. We had the meatballs over spaghetti, with a salad and garlic bread. I don’t know what it is about Italian food, but I cannot eat it without garlic bread!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

• 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup milk (or water)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh, flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 ounces mozzarella cheese (cut into 20 - 1/2″ cubes)  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, soak the breadcrumbs in the milk.
Add the beef, garlic, parsley, Parmesan cheese, egg and 1 tsp salt to the soaked breadcrumbs and stir with a fork until combined.
Place about 2 tablespoons of mixture in your hand and press a mozzarella cube into the center. Shape the meat around the cheese, forming a ball. Repeat with remaining mozzarella.
Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Chelley’s Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 28-oz. can tomato puree
• 1 28-oz. can tomato sauce
• 2.5 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• Water from rinsing extra sauce and puree from inside of cans
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 14.5-oz can chopped tomatoes, drained

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat until onion is tender. Add tomato sauce, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, parsley, basil, water, salt, and sugar.

Stir and lower heat to a slow simmer. This best if it’s left to simmer for at least 2 hours. This made a little to much sauce for the amount of meatballs, so I set aside about 2 cups to freeze.

This baked pasta dish comes from Bexxie’s Blog. I love that it is creamy, but does not have any ricotta cheese, so Nate will eat it! Be prepared to eat left-overs for several days, or serve this when you have company because this recipe makes a lot! Original source is WilliamsSonoma.com.

Baked Rigatoni with Beef Ragu

• 1 lb. rigatoni
• 2 Tbs. olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbs. dried oregano
• 1 large can (28 oz.) peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream (I low-fat free 1/2 and 1/2, but the real stuff would be better)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 lb. whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup grated Parmesan or aged Asiago cheese

Preheat an oven to 350ºF.

Bring a large pot two-thirds full of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni, stir well and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite), about 15 minutes or according to the package instructions. Drain the rigatoni, place in a large bowl and toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.

In the same pot, heat the 2 Tbs. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring to break up the meat, until no pink remains, about 10 minutes. Drain off any fat. Add the parsley, oregano and tomatoes and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the tomatoes break down and the flavors have melded, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cream, raise the heat and return to a boil. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Return the rigatoni to the pot with the sauce and toss to coat well.

Oil the bottom of a shallow 3-quart baking dish. Spread half of the pasta mixture in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella. Top with the remaining pasta, the remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan. Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the top is crusty and golden brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for about 5 minutes and serve. Serves 6.

This recipe popped up in my google reader from Sweet Tea in Texas. It worked out well since I was planning on searching for a gnocchi recipe that day. I bought a large box of gnocchi on my last trip to Sam’s Club and it had just been sitting there since. This recipe was great since I had most of the ingredients on hand already. The only problem was the spinach. My oh-so-picky husband does not like cooked spinach, so I needed to think of something green and leafy I could substitute. Since I was already using sausage in the recipe, my mind went to Zuppa Toscana soup, he eats the kale in the soup without even thinking about it. The end result was very good and something I will make again. So here is my version, with kale and a few other changes, the original recipe can be found at realsimple.com.

Gnocchi with Sausage and Kale

• One 17.5 ounce package shelf stable gnocchi
• 1 roll bulk sausage ( I used Jimmy Dean light)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• medium bunch of kale leaves, rinsed and chopped, stems discarded (or 1 5oz. bag of baby spinach)
• 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing

Heat the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, crumbling  it with  a spoon. When sausage is almost completely browned, add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, chicken broth, kale and seasonings, cover, stir occasionally. It will look like a lot of kale, but it will wilt down as it cooks. While sausage mixture is simmering, cook the gnocchi according to package directions.

When gnocchi is cooked, drain and add to the sausage mixture, add Parmesan cheese and toss together. Divide among individual bowls and top with additional Parmesan.

I can never make lasagna in my house, unless I plan on eating it alone. See, Nate does not like ricotta cheese, or even cottage cheese. He actually does not like anything with that creamy texture- cream cheese, sour cream etc., but that’s a whole other post.

Anyway, back to my lack of lasagna. Instead, I make stuffed shells. That way, I can stuff half of them with plain mozzarella and keep my husband happy, while still enjoying all of there stuffed, cheesy Italian goodness on my half. I use the cheese filling from Giada’s Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce recipe. Someday I will try the arrabbiata sauce, but today was not that day.

I used homemade marinara sauce this time. I have made marinara sauce twice now and am still tweaking the recipe a little, but I will post that when I am happy with it.

Stuffed Shells with Meat Sauce

• 12 ounces (1 box) jumbo pasta shells (approximately 36 shells) (I make a 9×13 casserole dish- which is about 3/4 box of shells)
• 1 pound ground beef/ground turkey
• 3-4 cups marinara sauc
• 2 (15-ounce) containers whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 1/3 cups grated Parmesan
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 3 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves (I do not use)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I use about 1 1/2 - 2 cups total)

Pour 1 cup of marinara sauce over the bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Partially cook the pasta shells in a large pot of boiling salted water until slightly tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain pasta shells and place in prepared baking dish, spreading them out so that they don’t stick together and allow to cool.

Cook ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink, drain. Stir in remaining marinara sauce, let simmer over medium-low heat while you make the cheese filling. In a medium bowl, stir the ricotta, Parmesan, egg yolks, basil, parsley, mint, salt, and pepper, I add an extra 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella to cheese filling. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Fill the cooked shells with the cheese mixture, about 2 tablespoons per shell. Arrange the shells in the prepared dish. Spoon the meat sauce over the shells, then sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake in the lower third of your oven until the filling is heated through and the top is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.