Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen

Despite being extremely preoccupied with the latest addition to our family, I did manage to get food on the table a couple of nights this week!  I haven’t had much time to read through the latest issue of Cooking Light, but this recipe did catch my eye and I put it on our weekly menu.  I really liked the flavor of the turkey sausage and the cherry tomatoes were a great fresh addition to this dish.  Photographing food with a puppy in the house is my latest challenge, he is into EVERYTHING!

Three-Cheese Baked Penne (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat penne (about 8 ounces tube-shaped pasta)
Cooking spray
2 (4-ounce) links sweet turkey Italian sausage
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
10 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 garlic clove, minced
Dash of salt
1 (8-ounce) can garlic-and-herb tomato sauce
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add bell pepper and next 6 ingredients (through salt) to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until bell pepper is tender. Stir in tomato sauce. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add pasta to pan, tossing gently to coat. Spoon pasta mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Stir in mozzarella and goat cheese; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until bubbly and top is browned.

Serves 6

WW pts per serving=7

Oh sweet mercy this pasta was so so so good!  The toasted pine nuts truly made the dish, they are small but packed with so much flavor!  Kind of high in WW points, but worth it!  Tastes great reheated for lunch the next day too!

Spinach-Feta Pasta with Pine Nuts (adapted from recipezaar)

Ingredients:

8 oz pasta (I used campanelle)
1.5 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz crumbled low fat feta cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 T toasted pine nuts
fresh spinach to taste (I used 5 big handfuls, I love the stuff!)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.  Heat olive oil in large deep skillet or wok, add garlic and saute over medium heat for about 30 seconds, being careful not to let garlic brown.  Stir in cooked pasta.  Stir in feta and Parmesan cheese and cook for 2-3 minutes, until feta cheese just starts to melt and pasta and cheese is thoroughly melted through.  Stir in spinach and continue to heat until spinach barely starts to wilt.  Take pasta off heat and stir in the pine nuts.  Transfer to serving dish and serve.

Serves 4

WW pts per serving = approx. 8

I don’t think I cooked a single meal last week, I was in another cooking slump. Tyler thankfully stepped in to make dinner last night (don’t ask me what we ate Monday-Friday last week, it’s honestly a blur of cereal and take out). I had been in search of a healthier lasagna recipe for awhile. I love cheese and Italian food and I love big dishes of it that you can eat for days, makes for good lunches! This lasagna was very good, although I can’t say it was as flavorful as the last lasagna I made.

Hearty Lasagna (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
1 pound 93% lean ground beef
Vegetable cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup (1 ounce) finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 (15-ounce) container nonfat ricotta cheese
1 egg white, lightly beaten
12 cooked lasagna noodles
2 cups (8 ounces) part skim mozzarella cheese
Fresh oregano sprigs (optional)

I’ve made stuffed shells before, but this time I wanted to make a more WW friendly recipe. I had a tub of fat free ricotta cheese that needed to be used up so that was my inspiration. In general, I think fat free cheese is terrible. The shredded stuff certainly is. When “melted” (I use that term lightly) it often comes out waxy. I can’t stand it. Ricotta is a different consistency, but I was a little nervous about the taste, so I made sure to add plenty of other things to this mixture to give the filling a great taste. I think I succeeded!

5 Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Shells (made up by me!)

12 oz package pasta shells
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 of a small onion, chopped
1/3 cup Kraft grated parmesan and romano cheese
1/4 cup grated asiago cheese
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dry
1 egg
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce (26 oz, I use Tyler’s favorite Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese or italian cheese blend

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place shell pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 glass pan.

Mix ricotta, garlic, onion, spinach, parm/romano, asiago cheese, oregano, salt and pepper, and egg in a bowl.

Stuff the cooked pasta shells with the cheese mixture (I used my medium Pampered Chef scooper, made stuffing them quick and very easy!) , and arrange in the prepared baking dish. Cover evenly with the 2 cups of marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-25 minutes in preheated oven, or until bubbly.

Serves 5 (4 shells per serving)

WW points per serving= approx. 8
(kind of high, but they are very filling. You could decrease the points by decreasing the amount of parm/romano and asiago you use, I plugged in all the info into etools to approximate the pts. value.)

My first issue of Cooking Light finally came this week! I was so excited to see my very own copy in the mailbox last weekend and quickly thumbed through it, then later sat down and bookmarked all the recipes I wanted to try. It is a fantastic issue, with a section about growing your own tomatoes and basil (two things I want to do this summer!) and a section about making your own pasta with K.C.’s own Lydia! I am trying to do a better job about bringing my lunch to work this week. I had been taking Lean Cuisines for the last couple of weeks, and although they are easy, pretty tasty, and easy to track w/WW, they aren’t that healthy with all that sodium and preservatives. So I chose this recipe so that I would have plenty of leftovers for lunches. Each serving is over a cup of salad which is more than enough! I really loved this recipe. It is easy on the dressing, and Tyler would prefer more so next time I might divide it and do double the dressing for him. I found the flavors that stood out the most were the red pepper, the goat cheese, and the arugula. This would be a great recipe to take to a summer picnic.

Chicken Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

2 cans fat free chicken broth
1 1/4 cups uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
3 cups chopped grilled chicken breast strips (such as Tyson)
1 1/2 cups trimmed arugula
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup prechopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano (I used dried)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

I really love pesto and can’t wait for summer when I can grow a few basil plants on our deck so I have it free for the taking! This pasta was so simple to make, unfortunately it didn’t reheat very well for lunch the next day, not really sure why, but it lost the strength of it’s flavor. So make it in small batches and eat it fresh I bought fresh pasta at the store and it was good, but not so much better than the dried stuff that I was blown away. It did shave about 10 minutes off the cooking time though, which is always nice when you’re in a hurry! We’ll definitely be making this again, and I’ll hopefully make a double batch of pesto so I have more for later!

Fresh Fettuccine with Homemade Pesto

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves
2 T pine nuts, toasted
2 T low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/4 t salt
1 (9-ounce) package fresh fettuccine (I found it in the produce section at HyVee, but I’ve also seen it in the dairy section at other stores)
3 T shredded Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. To prepare the pesto, puree the basil, pine nuts, broth, oil, garlic, and salt in a blender or food processor until a smooth paste is formed.

2. Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine according to package directions, drain, and transfer to a bowl and keep warm. Add the pesto and the parmesan, toss to coat. Serve with the pepper.

Serves 4 (one generous cup of pasta)

WW points per serving: 5

Source: Take-Out Tonight: 150+ Restaurant Favorites to Make At Home, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2002

I’ve been in search of a good lasagna recipe since we got married.  I’d tried several and just wasn’t pleased.  Either they took too long to make or the sauce was bland or all I could taste was spinach or the cheese was weird or whatever.  I gave up and switched to ziti for the weeks I wanted a big dish of Italian food we could take for leftovers all week.  Then I saw this recipe over on Annie’s blog and decided I’d give it one more try.  She has never led me astray so I figured it was worth a shot :)  I was a little nervous when I saw the recipe originally came from allrecipes.com.  I was reminded of the time I made a lasagna while we were dating and I followed the allrecipes recipe that called for 5 tablespoons of Italian seasoning.  I thought the recipes could not be wrong so why would I deviate from it?  The sauce turned black from all the seasoning and it was DISGUSTING.  Tyler ate it all plus the leftover sauce, what a trooper.  So I was a bit hesitant, but I’m so glad I gave allrecipes and their lasagna another chance because this one was so delicious!  Definitely a keeper!  I’ve got the recipe and my shortcut technique below!

Deep Dish Lasagna (original recipe from allrecipes.com, you can see Annie’s version here)

• 12 no boil lasagna noodles
• 1 pound hot ground Italian sausage
• 2/3 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1 pound part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dried
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage with the onions, garlic and 1/2 the parsley; drain. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, Italian seasoning, oregano, and basil; mix well. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes; stirring occasionally.
3. In a bowl, combine remaining parsley and Ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, eggs, garlic salt, and pepper; mix well.
4. In lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish, spread 2 cups sauce mix. Begin layering with 4 noodles, 1/2 cheese mix*, 1/3 remaining sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat this layer again and the last layer will be noodles, sauce and mozzarella cheese. (*to simplify the layering I hold the no boil noodle in my hand and spread the cheese mixture on it.  Makes the layering go much quicker and it’s not as messy as trying to do it in the pan with sauce everywhere, see picture below.)
5. Bake covered in a preheated oven at for 45 minutes. Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

I was a little unsure when I first saw this recipe (recommended by another Cooking Light fan!) because the ingredient list is so basic.  I’m glad I gave it a shot though, it is delicious and will definitely replace our old “go-to” baked ziti recipe.  It fills a 9×13 pan, we’ll be eating it for lunch all week!  So glad I don’t have to take a boring old turkey sandwich for lunch tomorrow!

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

1 (1-pound) package uncooked ziti (or any short tube-shaped pasta, I used rigatoni)
1 pound hot turkey Italian sausage (I buy the already ground Johnsonville sausage)
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
 Cooking spray
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

This is one of those meals where as I was making it I kept getting more and more excited. I knew it was going to be tasty, I knew I was going to love it. I knew I was going to want to make it again tomorrow! I was right! Mushrooms, like asparagus (and well, frankly most vegetables) are a food that I didn’t know I liked until I was an adult. Tyler’s dad has introduced me to a lot of foods I didn’t know I liked, mushrooms being one of them. This recipe originally called for shiitake and cremini mushrooms, neither of which I could find at HyVee. So I subbed baby bella and “regular” mushrooms (I don’t know what to call them!). Still had that great mushroom-y flavor that I love.

Mushroom Rigatoni Bake (original recipe from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked pasta (I used campanelle)
2 teaspoons butter
1/4 cup sliced green onions
8 ounces sliced baby bella mushroom caps
4 ounces sliced regular white mushrooms
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (I used dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Asiago cheese, divided

Oh these were delicious and way less work that I imagined (although I did have Tyler do a lot of the prep since I was so sore from our afternoon hike!)  As I was perusing all the end of the year “best of” blog entries I kept finding amazing recipes that I knew I just had to try in 2008.  This one comes from Delish, a really fantastic and colorful food blog.  I had never made stuffed shells before, and buying the big box of pasta shells made me a bit nervous.  I was worried they would all break and I’d be out of luck when I went to make them.  Fortunately just enough shells make it through the trip home and the boiling process in one piece for me to make my meal.  I had just enough whole shells for my amount of filling.  This made a huge dish of food, which is great since it will give us leftovers for lunch this week.  You could easily freeze some of the shells and just reheat them later.

Cheesy Stuffed Shells (adapted from Delish, original recipe can be found here)

12 oz package pasta shells
1 lb ground beef
6 oz cream cheese
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
3 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (26 oz, I use Tyler’s favorite Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil)
1/2 - 1 cup mozzarella cheese or italian cheese blend

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place shell pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

Place the beef in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until beef is evenly brown and crumbly. Drain grease from skillet. Add garlic, onions & herbs. Saute 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat and add in cream cheese, ricotta, and 1/2 cup of marinara.

Stuff the cooked pasta shells with the beef mixture (I used my medium Pampered Chef scooper, made stuffing them quick and very easy!) , and arrange in the prepared baking dish. Cover evenly with the rest of the marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-25 minutes in preheated oven, or until bubbly.