Classic Lasagna with Bechamel

  I made this lasagna last night for my mother-in-law’s Birthday. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve made my Dad’s famous bolognese sauce and it has been on my brain the past couple of weeks. Since it makes so much, we usually eat it a couple of nights in a week and freeze the rest. It is the perfect meal to feed a crowd so I decided to make it for Renee’s birthday dinner. At the last minute, I decided to have some fun and make lasagna with the sauce instead of spaghetti.

   I’m not a huge fan of ricotta cheese in lasagna, so I decided to go the classic route and use a béchamel instead. It is one of the simplest sauces to make and it can be used in a variety of dishes. The only ingredients you need for it are butter, flour, milk and a little nutmeg. Sometimes, it’s even better with a little cheese melted in, but for lasagna, I like to keep in simple. Believe me, there is PLENTY of cheese in this recipe!

  The bolognese gets better the longer it simmers. Mine cooked for about 6 hours before I assembled my lasagna. I only used about half of the sauce and saved the rest for another night. You could seriously feed an army with this sauce. It’s pretty well known around these parts as the best spaghetti sauce you’ll ever eat. So, even if you don’t want to brave the lasagna recipe, do yourself a favor and at least make some spaghetti, k?

   I'm a fan of what some refer to as a 'crunchy lid'. I would be happy to just peel off the entire top layer of the lasagna and have it for my meal. But, I settled for a nice big corner piece so everyone could enjoy the deliciousness that is the 'crunchy lid'.  If you are not interested in a nice brown top, just add some spaghetti sauce to the top layer before adding the cheese and it will be gooier. Gooier? Is that a word?

  Classic Lasagna with Bechamel
 (serves 8-10)

For the Bolognese:
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2-5 cloves garlic, minced ( of course I use all 5)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2Tbsp butter
2 large cans plum tomatoes
1 jar tomato basil sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 lb ground beef
1lb sweet Italian sausage
dried Italian seasoning
1-2 Tbsp sugar
Fresh basil, chiffonade

For the Bechamel:
1/2 cup (1stick) butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
Pinch nutmeg
salt to taste

For the Lasagna:
12 lasagna noodles ( boiled 10 minutes, until al dente)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

To make the bolognese, brown beef and sausage til cooked through. Add some dried herbs, salt and pepper to taste; drain.
Meanwhile, saute the onion and bell pepper in olive oil and butter until translucent. Add minced garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes.
Combine veggies with meat and add tomatoes, tomato paste, jarred tomato sauce, and sugar. (Break the plum tomatoes up a little bit, depending on how chunky you want your sauce.) Season with more dried herbs, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer on low for as long as possible. Add fresh basil just before serving.

To make the bechamel, melt butter in a saucepan over med-low heat. Once melted, add flour. Stir constantly until well combined and no lumps remain. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to burn it!
Slowly add the milk, about a half cup at a time, stirring between each half cup until combined. Sauce should start to thicken up after each addition, but be careful that it doesn't get lumpy. After all milk has been added, add the nutmeg and salt to taste. Continue to cook the bechamel until it reaches a nice thick consistency ( about 5 minutes) stirring occasionally to avoid lumps. It is ready when it will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.

To assemble the lasagna, coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with bechamel. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly. Cover noodles with a couple of ladles bolognese, more bechamel, and about a cup of mozzarella. Continue with 3 more lasagna noodles, bolognese, bechamel, and another cup mozzarella. Make one more layer of noodles, sauces and cheese. You should have 3 layers in all. Top final layer with 3 remaining lasagna noodles and cover with bechamel. (If you want the top to be gooey, add a little bolognese; if you want crunchy, just use a little bechamel.) Top with remaining cup of mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake lasagna for 30 minutes. Raise temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't burn. You want the cheese to get brown and crispy but not burnt. Remove from oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

Serve with a green salad and garlic bread. Enjoy!

Italian Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze

     There are very few dishes I make time and time again.  I usually change recipes each time I make them. Sometimes, I only make small changes, and sometimes I change it up completely. But, I only make one kind of meatloaf. It's just that good. I probably like this meatloaf so much because of the Italian flavors, but it is also moist and delicious. Nothing is worse than dry, hard, bland meatloaf. Gross! This is none of those things. It's so flavorful and it literally falls apart on your plate. It was hard to get an actual 'slice' of meatloaf for the pictures. MMMmmm!
     I got this recipe out of my favorite cookbook, The Best of Cooking Light. Surprisingly, I follow the recipe almost exactly. The only thing I change is the topping. They use plain ketchup and ,of course, that just doesn't work for me. So, I decided to add a balsamic glaze and some cayenne pepper to the ketchup. Perfect! I served this with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.

Italian Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze
 Adapted from Cooking Light

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup breadcrumbs (of course I use panko)
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped basil
1/2 cup shredded provolone
2 large egg whites
2 cloves garlic, minced (I use more :)
1lb ground beef
cooking spray
1/3 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp balsamic glaze
pinch cayenne pepper

Combine boiling water and tomatoes in a bowl, let stand about 30 minutes until soft. Drain and chop.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine tomatoes, 1/2 cup ketchup and next 7 ingredients. Shape into a loaf and place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Stir together 1/3 cup ketchup, balsamic glaze, and cayenne pepper. Spread over top of meatloaf.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until temperature reaches 160 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.


Enjoy!!

Tuscan White Bean Soup with Sausage

    
        One of the best things about winter is soup. There are so many wonderful soups it's hard to choose a favorite. Okay, not really, chili is definitely the best. But this is a great one! It's warm and comforting, light yet hardy. This recipe came from The Pioneer Woman but I decided to use sausage instead of shrimp. Mostly because it would keep in my fridge longer. This soup would have been even better if it had actually been cold outside when I decided to make it. Instead we were sitting at the kitchen table with the back door open, sweating. Ahhh, winter in Alabama! It was delicious anyway and the whole time I was thinking this could be on the menu at any fabulous Italian restaurant in town.

Tuscan White Bean Soup with Sausage
 (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
  

5 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
3 cans (14.5 Ounce) Cans Great Norther Beans, Drained And Rinsed
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
2 teaspoons Dried Oregano
1/4 cup Tomato Paste
3/4 cups Dry White Wine
1 can (28 Ounces) Whole Or Diced Tomatoes
4-6 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 bunch Kale (more If Desired)
Plenty Of Torn Fresh Basil
1 Turkey Polka Keilbasa sausage (cooked)
Fresh Parmesan cheese


Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and stir to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook about 2 minutes, getting lots of flavor in the bottom of the pan. Stir in red pepper flakes and dried oregano; stir and cook for another 30 seconds.

Pour in wine and stir, scraping the flavors from the bottom of the pan. Cook until reduced by half.
Add canned tomatoes, if using whole tomatoes, break up a bit. Add the drained and rinsed beans. Pour in chicken broth. Stir to combine and allow it to simmer for 20-25 minutes. Season to taste.

Rinse and chop kale and add it to the pot with a bunch of torn basil. The kale will wilt, like spinach, so don't be afraid to add a lot. Simmer 5 more minutes and add any more seasonings if needed.
 
Ladle soup into bowls and top with cooked sausage. Sprinkle Parmesan and additional basil on top. Serve hot.

Yumm!

  

Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes

    This is a great side dish! It's creamy and delicious, but doesn't make you feel heavy. It is also quick and easy to put together. I served this the other night alongside my Creamy Chicken Marsala, but was just as good the next day as a light lunch. I think this would be the perfect summer side dish for a cookout. Oh wow, how good would these be cooked on the grill with a nice juicy ribeye? yumm! I can't wait for the farmer's market this summer. I have so many dishes I would like to recreate once the vegetables are at their best. Or.....how about adding sausage or chicken and making this a main dish? Sorry, I think I'm a little scatterbrained today! Enjoy!

 Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes
 ( Proud Italian Cook )
2 tomatoes
1 cup part skim ricotta
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
small bunch chopped fresh basil
small bunch chopped fresh parsley
salt&pepper
panko breadcrumbs for topping
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve tomatoes and scoop out the seeds. Salt the tomatoes and turn upside down on paper towels to draw out moisture.

In a small bowl, mix ricotta, Parmesan, and herbs. Season with salt&pepper to taste. Fill the tomato halves with cheese mixture.

Top each tomato with panko and spray with cooking spray. Bake on 400F for 25 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.


yumm!

Creamy Chicken Marsala

   Have I ever mentioned my love of Italian food? I could eat it everyday. There has actually been a couple of times in the past I've prepared an Italian dish almost every night of the week without realizing it until Brian said, "Are we having Italian again tonight?"  This recipe is a nice change of pace from your average American Italian dish because it doesn't contain tomatoes and it goes really nicely with mashed potatoes instead of pasta. I even substituted bacon for the pancetta because that's what I had on hand and I felt like being a little rebellious.


Creamy Chicken Marsala
   From Simply Recipes

Olive oil
2 oz pancetta (I used 3 slices bacon) cut into 1/4in cubes

1/2 medium onion, diced 

Flour for dredging

1 lb chicken cutlets

3/4 cup dry Marsala wine

6 Tbsp heavy cream

Salt&pepper

Minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Coat pan lightly with olive oil and heat on medium high. Add the pancetta and cook until just crisp and lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan, and set aside. Add the onions to the pan and cook until translucent and slightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan, and set aside. If needed, add more olive oil to pan so you have about 2 tbsp.

Season chicken cutlets with salt&pepper and dredge in flour. Working in batches, brown the cutlets on both sides until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Pour off the excess fat and add the Marsala wine to the pan. Scrape brown bits from the bottom and cook until wine is reduced by a quarter. Stir in the cream and boil until sauce thickens. Add chicken, pancetta, and onions back to the pan and heat through, 1-2 minutes.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Eggplant Ricotta Stacks with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

    I love that my husband is an adventurous eater. He will try anything and likes almost everything. Which is great for me because I love to cook new and interesting dishes. The only two things I can never get away with are eggplant and vegetarian meals. This dish is both of those. I had planned this dish for tonight because Brian wasn't supposed to be home. But his plans fell through and I didn't have any meat thawed out to prepare a different meal. He decided to give it a try and go pick something else up later if he needed to. He didn't need to. He liked it so much, he got seconds. I'm not saying he likes eggplant now and he definitely won't be a vegetarian anytime soon, but at least now I can get my eggplant fix without having to wait for a night when he's out.

    This dish is a spin on eggplant Parmesan. I breaded my eggplant in panko and baked it in the oven until it was nice and golden brown. I layered the eggplant with homemade sun dried tomato pesto, ricotta cheese, and tomato sauce. Then sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top and baked it in the oven. So delicious! You can use store bought pesto, but it's very easy to make your own and SO much tastier! You can find my pesto recipe at the end of this post.

 

1 lrg eggplant
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, divided
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup tomato basil sauce
cooking spray
salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray.

Peel eggplant and slice into 1/2 inch rounds ( you will need a total of 12 rounds to make 4 stacks)
Combine panko with  2 tsp Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Dredge eggplant slices in egg then panko and lay on baking sheet. Spray the tops of the eggplant and bake for 15 minutes. Turn eggplant and cook for 15 more minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

Combine ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1tsp Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.

Cover bottom of a casserole dish with 1/2 cup tomato sauce. Lay out four eggplant slices and top each one with about 2 tbsp ricotta mixture and 1 tbsp pesto. Add another layer of eggplant, ricotta, pesto, and finish with a final eggplant slice on each stack. Top each one with more tomato sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.




Basil Pesto

1 1/2 cups basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender. Process until pureed.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

To make sun-dried tomato pesto simply add 1/4 cup jarred sun dried tomatoes and blend.