Italian Wedding Soup

Per Jason's Request (and quite delicious)

1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 egg slightly beaten
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon parm. cheese
1 teaspoon italian seasonings (basil, oregano, etc whatever you have)
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup orzo pasta
grated parm. cheese (for garnish)

1. In a medium bowl combine beef, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasonings. Shape into 3/4 inch balls (I tried to make mine a little smaller even).
2. In a bowl bring broth, spinach and pasta to a boil. Slowly drop in meatballs and stir gently so they don't break apart. Bring to a gentle boil for about 10 minutes.
3. Serve with parm cheese sprinkled on top if desired. Makes about 4 servings, took about 25 minutes to make. And it was great!

Pesto Sauce

Shayna was able to get me a whole ton of fresh basil for pesto this week. Here is my recipe:

Basil Leaves (2 or 3 cups packed)

Extra Virgin Olive oil

1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3 large cloves of garlic

kosher salt to taste

Rinse the basil leaves and remove any stems/buds. Put in blender or food processor. Next add olive oil, I usually start with 1/3 cup and then add more (if needed) so that it starts to process/blend. Add in cheese, nuts, garlic, and salt and process until smooth. That's it!

Now, what to do with the pesto sauce?

- toss with pasta: add in some more Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese

- make a sandwich: roasted red pepper, spinach, a slice of fresh mozzarella

- drizzle on eggs (for real, it's good)

- make a cream sauce: add pesto to some butter/heavy cream

- make a red sauce: add pesto to red sauce (maybe use to make lasagna)

- baked pasta and vegis: in a casserole dish toss cooked pasta, pesto, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced summer squash, spinach, (any other vegis you have?) and sprinkle mozz. cheese on top, bake till vegis are tender

- add pesto into homemade meatballs

- use as a topping for burgers

- pesto pizza? yes please!

- pesto combined with butter (maybe a topping for corn on the cob)

- pesto in your tuna melt? why not?

- pesto and clam sauce on linguine

- a spoonful of pesto stirred into homemade (ore store bought) hummus, dip fresh vegis in :)

- pesto cornbread: add three tablespoons into the batter and bake as normal

- pesto as a topping for a baked potato

- rub into chicken before baking

ALSO, pesto freezes great! At the end of last summer I made a whole ton and froze it in an ice cube tray. Once frozen I popped out the little cubes of pesto and stored in a freezer zip lock bag. We had fresh pesto all winter (actually, I think it only lasted till February, this summer I'll freeze more!)

Lasagna

I'm astounded that we haven't posted a lasagna recipe yet, given that it's one of our favorites and something that I've made more times than just about anything else (aside from scrambled eggs and smoothies) in my cooking/baking/kitchen-semi-savvy lifetime. I usually make it pretty much the same way, although once in awhile, I'll switch it up a bit. This time, I put ground meat (beef) into half of it, since I know Kyle grew up with meat lasagna and prefers it, and I like to have the option between the 2 (Note: I would never make the meat lasagna if my sister and her husband- who both keep kosher- came over for dinner. Check out kosher dietary laws here to find out why). So here's the lasagna recipe that I follow- 10 minute prep and no boiling pasta, and I don't think it's lacking in any way:

2 containers (15 oz. each) ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (about 8 oz.)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 jars (26 oz. each) pasta sauce (I usually use Prego, which is funny because the recipe that I have in my kitchen is a copy of a Ragu sauce ad I found in a magazine when I was about 12)
12 uncooked lasagna noodles (I usually get the oven-ready kind)
**optional: basil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme, etc. (I actually have a seasoning blend called Mrs. Dash- Italian Medley- which I love!)

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup Parmesan and eggs
2. In a 13x9" baking dish or pan, spread 1 cup of sauce. Layer 4 uncooked noodles, 1 cup of sauce, and 1/2 of the ricotta mixture.
3. Repeat step 2.
4. Top with 4 uncooked noodles and 2 cups of sauce. Reserve remaining sauce; heat and serve with lasagna.
5. Cover with foil; bake 1 hour. Remove foil; sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake uncovered 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

We served our recent lasagna with garlic bread (which I'd love to say I made myself, but I actually bought it at Giant- already spread with garlic butter- and it was just perfect). If we'd waited a little longer to serve it, it might not have fallen apart like the piece in the picture, but the good thing about lasagna is it doesn't have to look perfect- it just has to taste good...and somehow, it always does.

Happy layering!

Really really really easy homemade pizza

This pizza dough is easy to make, very versatile, and delicious. Don't be scared if you don't know too much about yeast and dough rising, I promise it's not that tough.

1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast
3/4 cup WARM water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour

Dissolve the yeast into the warm water (not boiling water, you want to wake the yeast up from it's dried state not kill it!) Add oil and salt to the mixture, next add the flours, and mix together/knead till combined (maybe 5 minutes). Put dough into a safe place so it can rise for 30-40 minutes, I've let mine rise for much longer and that's fine. I usually put it in the microwave to rise just so it's off the counter.

After the dough has risen roll it out with a rolling pin or just use your hands till it's the size/crust thickness that you want. Put the crust on a baking sheet/pizza pan/baking stone/whatever you have on hand that is oven safe and add your toppings. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is crisp. I usually make thin crust so it's done in about 15 minutes. Call me if you have any problems (like eating the leftovers, hehe).

Pizza Topping Combo Ideas:
- red sauce, mozz. cheese, sun dried tomatoes, sauteed onions and peppers, pepperoni, parm. cheese
- red sauce, mozz/Cheddar cheese, ham, onions, pineapple
- barbecue sauce, Cheddar cheese, bacon, red onion, garlic
- ranch dressing, mozz cheese, shredded baked chicken, red onions, diced tomatoes, peppers

Baked Ziti with Meatballs

Source:

We made this ziti recipe last weekend (plus 1/4 meatball pieces throughout half of it- yum!) and it's been absolutely delicious. If you like a lot of cheese, the recipe is PERFECT. If you like a little less, I'd use 15 oz. of ricotta instead of 24 and a little less mozzarella. I think next time I may tone down the cheesiness. Here goes..

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz.) package Ziti pasta
24 oz. Ricotta Cheese
1 lb. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Egg, beaten
1 (32 oz.) jar Spaghetti Sauce
1/4 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
* We also made 5-10 Mama Lucia frozen meatballs on the stove in some sauce, cut them in smaller pieces and added them to 1/2 of the ziti before placing in oven. (Note: If you're making meatballs this way, you may want to have some extra sauce on hand.)

Kitchen Needs:
- large pot (big enough to cook a whole box of pasta)
- large spoon/slotted spoon
- colander
- bowl (we suggest a large one- you have to mix all of the ziti and almost all of the other ingredients in it.)
- 13x9 dish or pan
- oven & stove

Recipe:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse.
2. In a medium bowl, mix ziti, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, egg and 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce. (Note: A medium bowl was not big enough for all of these ingredients- use a big one!)
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and spoon in ziti mixture. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce, followed by Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes; let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

We served our ziti with cucumber and ranch dressing- yum! If we were really thinking ahead, garlic bread would have been a nice addition. Do you do something unique with your ziti/lasagna/italian dishes?