Absolutely, Fabulously Famous Macaroni & Cheese

  

 

 

 

 

 

If there is one dish I'm known for, this is it! It is my required dish for all family get-togethers. I'm not sure they'd even let me through the front door if I didn't have it in my hands. Whenever I make it, no matter where I take it, someone asks for the recipe. So here I am, sharing it with the world!
      Now I will warn you, this is NOT cheap! It is NOT healthy! It is NOT quick and easy! But it is definitely worth it! Make this for a crowd on a special occasion. And expect to be forced into making it for all future special occasions. It is that good!
  

 

 

 

 

Kristin's Famous Macaroni & Cheese

(severely adaped from Emeril) 

 

1lb small pasta shells
1 stick butter, plus 1 Tbsp, plus 2 Tbsp
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 cups half and half

3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
2-3 cloves garlic (finely grated)
4oz shredded gruyère cheese
4oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4oz shredded creamy havarti cheese
8oz shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup(or more) panko breadcrumbs

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Boil pasta in large pot of salted water, until cooked through.

 

Meanwhile, melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add flour and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, being careful not to burn. Slowly add half and half, stirring constantly until fully incorporated and there are no lumps. Continue cooking sauce until thickened just enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt, white pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.
Add about 3/4 of the parmesan and stir until cheese is melted. Remove cheese sauce from heat.
 
  When pasta is done, drain and stir in one tablespoon butter and the garlic. Add cheese sauce to pasta and stir until combined.
  In a separate bowl, combine shredded cheddar, gruyere, and havarti cheeses.

Spray a deep 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Put about one third of the pasta in bottom of dish and layer with one third of the shredded cheeses. Repeat twice, so that you have 3 layers of pasta and cheese, ending with cheese.
 
  In a small bowl, melt 2 tablespoons butter and stir in panko and remaining parmesan cheese. Sprinkle evenly over top of casserole.

  Bake macaroni & cheese, at 350 degrees, for about 25 minutes until top is lightly browned and bubbly.

 

 

Enjoy immensely!

 

 

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!

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!

  

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.

Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan

This is the best broccoli you will ever eat. People who don't like broccoli, like this broccoli. I swear, just try it. I made this one time when my vegetable hating brother-in-law had dinner with us. He didn't want to try it, but I made him. He ate every bite. The next day, my mother-in-law called asking for the recipe "that made Tyler eat broccoli". Yes, it's that delicious. I think I got this from Food Network Magazine , but I can't be sure because I clip out tons of recipes and put them in my own book.



Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan


head of broccoli, chopped
garlic, sliced
parmesan cheese
panko breadcrumbs

Preheat a foil-lined baking sheet in a 450 degree oven. Blanch the broccoli and garlic; drain.

Toss the broccoli and garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, and panko. Arrange on baking sheet and cover with more cheese and breadcrumbs.

Roast until browned, about 15 minutes.



Simple, easy, and tasty! (even for non-vegetable lovers!)