This takes less than 15 minutes to put together (maybe slightly more if you use sausage because you have to cook it first) and tastes amazing.
Shopping List
1 box lasagna noodles (any kind you want. I like the regular ones with the squiggles on the sides of each noodle)
2 jars or large cans of tomato sauce (so much of the flavor comes from this ingredient that you might want to splurge and get good tomato sauce. My favorites for this dish are Bertolli's marinara or tomato and basil or Newman's Own marinara or tomato and basil, none of which are horribly expensive. If you want to go with canned, my favorite is Hunt's)
2 bags Italian blend shredded cheese (or mozzarella if you prefer. The blend just adds more flavor)
1 lb ground Italian sausage (optional. I usually get mild Italian sausage for this recipe, but either sweet or hot will work as well. Don't get sausage-shaped sausages as it makes more work for you in this recipe. If you happen to have sausage-shapes sausages and want to use them, cut open the outside of each one and squish out the middle, then throw the outside away. If you don't like sausage, you could also just use hamburger. Or sliced zucchini for a vegetarian option)
Parmesan cheese (you'll need about a cup)
1 stick butter
Pam (non-stick spray)
Aluminum foil
Garlic Bread or Italian bread (for serving with it)
You will also need a 9x13 casserole dish or pan, so get one if you don't have one.
Start about an hour and a half before you want to eat
If you are using sausage (or hamburger), brown it first. You brown sausage by putting it in a frying pan over medium heat. As it cooks, break it up and move it around the pan, making sure to scrape the meat off the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn. I find a fork to be the easiest thing to do this with. You don't have to stir it constantly, but you do need to do so about every 2-3 minutes. Once you can't see any more pink, the sausage is cooked. I find the easiest way to drain it is to put two paper towels on a plate, then just empty the sausage (and grease) onto the paper towels. Then when I'm ready to use the sausage, I scoop it off, leaving the grease in the paper towels, which I can just throw away.
Spray your casserole dish with pam. Put about 1/3 of a jar of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your casserole dish and spread it around so the whole surface is sort of covered. Lay enough lasagna noodles (uncooked) out to cover the bottom of the pan. Usually I find that I need to lay out about 4 in straight lines (like this llll), then I need to break part of one off so it will fit and lay it across the top going the other way. It's ok if they overlap a little. Pour most of the rest of the jar of tomato sauce across the top and spread it around so the noodles are covered (try not to move the noodles, or if you do, move them back). Sprinkle about 2/3 bag of shredded cheese over the sauce.
Put another layer of noodles over the cheese. If I've put one across the top of the last layer, I try to alternate so the extra noodle is across the bottom of this layer, but it will taste fine either way :) Put the rest of the first jar of sauce and about 1/2 of the second jar of sauce over this layer of noodles. Spread it around pretty evenly. Put your sausage (or hamburger, zucchini, whatever) on top of the sauce (just skip this if you don't want to add anything). Top with the rest of the first bag of cheese and 1/3 of the second bag.
Put another layer of noodles on top. Cover with the remaining sauce. Top with the rest of the shredded cheese. Try and make sure it's pretty even and covers the whole top. Gently pour 1 cup water over the lasagna (I find it easiest to pour it along the sides so it doesn't wash off the sauce). This extra water will help compensate for not having cooked the noodles first. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the whole top.
Take your stick of butter and slice it into about 12 slices. Arrange them pretty evenly over the top of the lasagna (the reason we do this is to help prevent the cheese from burning. It also makes the cheese brown more evenly. Plus, I'm with Paula Deen; everything's better with butter!). Cover with tin foil.
Turn your oven on to 350*. Put the lasagna in the oven in about the middle. Set your timer for 45 mins.
When the timer goes off, take the tin foil off the lasagna (leaving the lasagna in the oven and the oven at 350*) and set the timer for 15 mins.
When the timer goes off, take the lasagna out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 mins before serving. Salad and garlic bread are perfect sides for this dish :)
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Zuppa Toscana
Shopping List
1 lb ground sausage (don't get sausages shaped like sausages, they just make more work for you in this recipe. Also, I would buy mild, sweet, or spicy italian sausage - spicy if you like spicy foods, either mild or sweet if you don't)
3 large red potatoes (or 6 smaller potatoes - red potatoes have red skin and are sometimes called russet potatoes, their skin is smoother than most brown potatoes and they usually aren't peeled when used in recipes)
1 large onion (either yellow or white)
3 cloves garlic (You only need to buy one bulb of garlic as each bulb has many cloves. And yes, you can use 1 T. garlic powder instead if you prefer, but fresh garlic tastes better)
8 cups chicken broth (about two big boxes or 6 cans)
2 cups heavy whipping cream (about a pint)
1 bunch kale (green, leafy vegetable, usually located near fresh parsley and cilantro in the produce section)
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 stick butter (1/2 cup, and yes, use real butter; margarine doesn't cut it)
1 loaf crusty bread for serving with the finished soup
Start about 60 minutes before you want to eat
Wash potatoes and cut into medium-sized squares. Make them all about the same size so they will all take about the same amount of time to cook.
Cut onion into squares. The easiest way to do this is to cut off the top and the bottom of the onion, then cut it in half longways (from top to bottom). Peel off the top two layers of the onion (or whatever layers are dry and darker in color), put each cut side down, the cut into slices like an apple. Then you can cut those slices into chunks.
Mince garlic. Break off three cloves of garlic from the bulb. Cut off the bottom of each clove (don't peel off the papery part yet). Put each clove on it's side on a cutting board and get a wide knife. Put the knife flat on top of one of the cloves, then bang it with your palm. This should partially crush the clove, making it easy to pull off the papery part. Once you've removed the papery part, cut the cloves into small pieces.
Leave your potatoes, onion, and garlic on the counter. Get out a large dinner plate and line it with 2 paper towels, then set it aside. Place your sausage in a large soup pot (that has a lid - you'll need the lid later) over medium heat (if you use high heat, you'll burn the sausage; if you use low, it will take forever to cook). As it's cooking, break it up and move it around the bottom of the pan with a fork. Once it's all brown and you can't see anymore pink, empty your sausage onto the paper towels (if you prefer you can drain the grease another way, I just find this way easiest). Leave the sausage on the paper towelled plate.
Put the pot you cooked the sausage in back on the stove on the hot burner (which should still be turned on). Dump your chicken broth into the pot, followed by the potatoes, onion, and garlic. Add the red pepper flakes as well (if you don't like anything even remotely spicy, you can leave this out). Put the lid on the pot and let it cook over medium-high heat. Set your timer for 20 minutes.
While your soup is cooking, rinse your kale, then shake the water off. Cut off the tough stems of each leaf, then cut the leaves roughly into squares. It doesn't have to look pretty, your goal here is to have each piece be small enough that you don't look like you have a bucket of seaweed hanging from your mouth when you eat.
When your timer goes off, check and make sure your potatoes are cooked. The best way to do this is to scoop one or two of the larger pieces up with a large spoon, put them on the inside of your lid, and see if you can easily cut them in half with the spoon. If you can, they are cooked. If you can't, cook them for another five minutes and check again (cooking time will vary depending on how big your potato chunks are).
Once your potatoes are cooked, turn off the burner, but leave the pot on it. Add your cooked sausage. Dump in your kale, stir it into the soup, and let it sit for a few minutes. It should turn a darker green, but not get slimy (kale cooks super quickly, which is why we waited to put it in). Dump in your stick of butter and stir until melted (don't stir really hard - you will crush the potato chunks). Dump in the cream, parmesan cheese, and stir (gently) until combined. Taste it and see if you think it needs salt and/or pepper. If needed, add a little bit of either at a time (MUCH easier to put more in than to take some out, so add it slowly. A good trick to use for this part is to dump it in your palm first so you see how much you're using instead of just dumping it in the pot).
Serve it, you're done :) And seriously, this is even better than the zuppa toscano at the Olive Garden :)
1 lb ground sausage (don't get sausages shaped like sausages, they just make more work for you in this recipe. Also, I would buy mild, sweet, or spicy italian sausage - spicy if you like spicy foods, either mild or sweet if you don't)
3 large red potatoes (or 6 smaller potatoes - red potatoes have red skin and are sometimes called russet potatoes, their skin is smoother than most brown potatoes and they usually aren't peeled when used in recipes)
1 large onion (either yellow or white)
3 cloves garlic (You only need to buy one bulb of garlic as each bulb has many cloves. And yes, you can use 1 T. garlic powder instead if you prefer, but fresh garlic tastes better)
8 cups chicken broth (about two big boxes or 6 cans)
2 cups heavy whipping cream (about a pint)
1 bunch kale (green, leafy vegetable, usually located near fresh parsley and cilantro in the produce section)
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 stick butter (1/2 cup, and yes, use real butter; margarine doesn't cut it)
1 loaf crusty bread for serving with the finished soup
Start about 60 minutes before you want to eat
Wash potatoes and cut into medium-sized squares. Make them all about the same size so they will all take about the same amount of time to cook.
Cut onion into squares. The easiest way to do this is to cut off the top and the bottom of the onion, then cut it in half longways (from top to bottom). Peel off the top two layers of the onion (or whatever layers are dry and darker in color), put each cut side down, the cut into slices like an apple. Then you can cut those slices into chunks.
Mince garlic. Break off three cloves of garlic from the bulb. Cut off the bottom of each clove (don't peel off the papery part yet). Put each clove on it's side on a cutting board and get a wide knife. Put the knife flat on top of one of the cloves, then bang it with your palm. This should partially crush the clove, making it easy to pull off the papery part. Once you've removed the papery part, cut the cloves into small pieces.
Leave your potatoes, onion, and garlic on the counter. Get out a large dinner plate and line it with 2 paper towels, then set it aside. Place your sausage in a large soup pot (that has a lid - you'll need the lid later) over medium heat (if you use high heat, you'll burn the sausage; if you use low, it will take forever to cook). As it's cooking, break it up and move it around the bottom of the pan with a fork. Once it's all brown and you can't see anymore pink, empty your sausage onto the paper towels (if you prefer you can drain the grease another way, I just find this way easiest). Leave the sausage on the paper towelled plate.
Put the pot you cooked the sausage in back on the stove on the hot burner (which should still be turned on). Dump your chicken broth into the pot, followed by the potatoes, onion, and garlic. Add the red pepper flakes as well (if you don't like anything even remotely spicy, you can leave this out). Put the lid on the pot and let it cook over medium-high heat. Set your timer for 20 minutes.
While your soup is cooking, rinse your kale, then shake the water off. Cut off the tough stems of each leaf, then cut the leaves roughly into squares. It doesn't have to look pretty, your goal here is to have each piece be small enough that you don't look like you have a bucket of seaweed hanging from your mouth when you eat.
When your timer goes off, check and make sure your potatoes are cooked. The best way to do this is to scoop one or two of the larger pieces up with a large spoon, put them on the inside of your lid, and see if you can easily cut them in half with the spoon. If you can, they are cooked. If you can't, cook them for another five minutes and check again (cooking time will vary depending on how big your potato chunks are).
Once your potatoes are cooked, turn off the burner, but leave the pot on it. Add your cooked sausage. Dump in your kale, stir it into the soup, and let it sit for a few minutes. It should turn a darker green, but not get slimy (kale cooks super quickly, which is why we waited to put it in). Dump in your stick of butter and stir until melted (don't stir really hard - you will crush the potato chunks). Dump in the cream, parmesan cheese, and stir (gently) until combined. Taste it and see if you think it needs salt and/or pepper. If needed, add a little bit of either at a time (MUCH easier to put more in than to take some out, so add it slowly. A good trick to use for this part is to dump it in your palm first so you see how much you're using instead of just dumping it in the pot).
Serve it, you're done :) And seriously, this is even better than the zuppa toscano at the Olive Garden :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)