Vegetable Chicken Bake

394.  This recipe is a Keto friendly version of lasagna, though, without the noodles.

 It is layered with vegetables and meat of your choice.
 I have used chicken, ground beef and Italian sausage crumbled and adapted them to the recipe.

And if pasta is welcome, it pairs perfectly with any type of pasta noodle.

"Italian food is all about ingredients and it's not fussy and it's not fancy."

~  Wolfgang Puck

Manicotti

368.  A homespun Italian dish that always brings satisfaction and delight is Manicotti.  Traditional Italian cooks will make homemade crepes from egg and flour but with our modern means, you can pick up a box of pre-made manicotti shells in your grocery store.  I find that using a better brand of pasta you will have less breakage and the shells will stay round.
I made this recipe for my family  and it is always a great meal.  My mother-in-law would make Manicotti and called it "Man-ĭ-got".  It was always a favorite meal!

I used the Barilla brand of pasta and they were beautiful!  My filling was mixed together and I placed it in a large zip-lock bag.  I snipped the end and it worked well filling the pasta tubes.

I over-filled them so the cheese would not pour out during baking, lined them up and then poured sauce over.

Now, the beauty of the lined up shells bursting with cheese is a beautiful sight.  Once the sauce is poured over you loose that beautiful display.  Often, this is where some cooks will cover the shells only with a white sauce to bake.  It helps to maintain the moisture but maintains the beauty of the dish.  Then they serve red sauce on the side.  Stanley Tucci in his great cookbook The Tucci Cookbook makes this recipe but uses the homemade crêpes and white sauce.  Now this is a cookbook worth having in your collection.

Here is my recipe:

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I don't use too much cheese on top due to the over abundance of cheese in the dish itself.

Now...this is a scrumptious dish...or as stated in the movie "Big Night"...PARADISE! 

"You have to be serious about what you do but you mustn't take yourself seriously.  That way you'll be happier and ultimately you'll be more successful.  You'll be better at what you do."  ~ Stanley Tucci

"If you find that thing you love, it doesn't necessarily matter whether you do it well or not - you just need to do it."  ~ Stanley Tucci

Bolognese

359.  Italian Meat Sauce is a favorite for me often called Bolognese.  It is a one dish wonder and always is satisfying.  Here is my Bolognese recipe

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There are many different Bolognese recipes out there.  Some call for bay leaf, carrots and celery, fennel, wine, prosciutto, cream, leeks, and the list trails on.  Truly, it is a recipe that varies from person to person.  You can place in your Bolognese whatever you want...to your liking.  So go ahead and experiment, try different recipes and see which one you like the best.

"Mangia Tutti Mangia!"

"If kids can learn how to make a simple Bolognese Sauce, they will never go hungry.  It's pretty easy to cook pasta, but a good sauce is way more useful.  ~ Emeril Lagasse

Rolattini

333.  Here is a simply easy and great meal for any night, Rollatini.

My process is simple and easy to follow, and you can make a meatless variation with spinach, kale, broccoli rabe or any other veggie you choose.  I made a similar meal a while back with spinach and prosciutto.  You can find that post here

Rollatini

1 16 oz container of Ricotta Cheese

2 cups hand shredded Mozzarella Cheese or 1 16 oz bag shredded

3 cups Marinara tomato sauce homemade or 1 16 oz bottle of prepared Marinara tomato sauce

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

Salt and Pepper

1 box Lasagna Noodles

1 lb ground pork or beef sautéd and drained, set aside to cool

options:   Spinach leaves, onion sautéed, Shredded cooked chicken, Kale leaves, Broccoli steamed

Boil a large pot of water and partially boil the Lasagna Noodles till flexible.  Drain and place in a cold water bath.

In a bowl place ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, egg and salt and pepper.  Mix till incorporated.  Set aside

Assemble:  

In a large greased baking dish spoon about 1/2 cup sauce onto the bottom and spread around.  

Take one lasagna noodle, spread 2 Tablespoons of ricotta cheese mixture across the noodle, then place 2 Tablespoons of meat.  Take one end and roll the noodle up to form a rollatini.  Place flat side down in baking dish.  Repeat till all the noodles and filling has been used.

Spoon remaining sauce over the rollatini then sprinkle with parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese.  Cover with tin foil.

Bake in a 350∘ oven for approximately 1 hour or till bubbly and cheese is melted.  You may remove the tin foil in the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the top of the cheese.

 

Now...how hard was that?

"When your Italian mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is mere formality.

It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no.

You're going to get advice anyway."

- Anonymous

Garden Canning

316.  Canning tomatoes is a must each autumn.  My tomato plants were great producers with constant tomatoes on the vine from May through November.  I purchased the plants in March at a plant distributor in Brooklyn, NY.  It was very early but I brought them home and kept them warm and watered till May.  These plants were significantly hardy and healthy as opposed to plants that I would buy locally in town.   Along with tomato plants I purchased flowers and herbs, which were also good quality and productive.

Each week would produce a basket full of tomatoes and cucumbers.  There are only so many tomatoes you can eat fresh.  The rest were destined to be sauce, salsa and marinara.  Towards the end of the growing season, when the temperature stayed below 70degrees, the tomatoes that were green were very useful for green salsa.  And can I say, the green salsa turned out "magnificent"!

 I still use some of the old canning jars my mom gave to me and others purchased at flee markets and yard sales.  My funnel was purchased in my first year of marriage when we lived in Seattle, Washington.  We loved to go to Remlinger Farms, pick apples and enjoy the beautiful scenery in Carnation, Washington.  Here is the link:  https://remlingerfarms.com/wholesale.htm

I was able to put up 3 batches of tomato sauce and marinara as well as 2 batches of salsa in pint jars.  This was the best tomato growth I can remember in many, many years.  Not to mention the great fresh basil, parsley and oregano growth as well.  Ahhhh, homemade sauce, nothing like it!

"There ain't nothin' better in life than true love and a home grown tomato."

-Old Saying 

Marinara Sauce

 306.  This summer my tomatoes grew exceptionally well.  So well that the neighborhood squirrels had a steady diet of my little red beauties!

 When I make my homemade fresh tomato sauce I use my blender.  I remember my mom processing tomatoes for hours.  Boiling the water.  Dropping the tomatoes in the water then plunging them into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.  Then laboriously peeling each tomatoes and then squeezing every last bit of liquid and seeds from the centers.  There was just as much waste from the tomatoes as there were tomatoes to cook.

 My logic has been…the seeds and skin carry just as much nutrition as the pulp of the tomato.  So, I just wash each tomato, whole and cherry, and cut them in chunks, then fill up my blender.

 The blender does a wonderful job of mincing every bit of skin and seed that you would not know the difference.  And the texture is very smooth and consistent.

 Once it has processed till all the little bits disappear, it will seem foamy and the color turns pink.

 I prepare a large 6-8quart pot by sautéing in olive oil 1 large onion chopped and 4 cloves of garlic minced.  Once you pour the liquid tomato puree into the pot, bring it to a rolling boil and continue with the remaining tomatoes.

 The color red returns quickly with the heat.  I then chop fresh parsley, oregano and basil.  One to two cans of tomato paste.  Add teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper and sometimes a pinch of red pepper flakes.

 Bring all to a boil, then turn down to simmer for about 60 minutes stirring every so often.  Taste to adjust the seasoning and if you would like to add more of the ingredients have fun!  I have even added chopped up veggies from my garden such as squash, green bean, peppers or eggplant.  Once it has cooked and the seasoning is perfect you can serve it with pasta or pour the hot sauce into sterilized jars and place sterilized lids on top.  Within minutes you will hear the seals pop and your sauce is ready to store away in a cool place until you need it.  For canning I use both canning jars and mayonnaise jars, which are a perfect size and the special canning lids fit just right!

"The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it.  We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as 'progress', doesn't spread."

~Andy Rooney

"I don't care what anybody says:  Nothing is better than a tomato you grow.  There's something about it that's different than a tomato you can buy.  It's a great thing."

~T. Vilsack