Sausage and Lentil Soup

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• Hearty soups are an absolute favorite for me in the wintertime. Throw in some crusty French bread and a warm fireplace to sit near and I am a very happy gal. This robust one-pot dinner packs in lentils, sausage and plenty of vegetables, including mushrooms, spinach, onions and garlic. I love beef broth and red wine in soup; they give the dish an amazing richness that compliments the meat wonderfully and allow the food to be oh-so-comforting. Adapted from a recipe from Whole Foods, this recipe is nutritious, filling, and delicious.  A loaf of crusty bread is the only accompaniment you need for a complete meal.
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• Yield: about 6 servings
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• Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 3/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 pound sweet and/or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1/2 pound mushrooms (such as white, cremini, shiitake, portobello and oyster), chopped
• 1 cup (about 7 ounces) dried French or brown lentils, picked through and rinsed
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, with their juice
• 1 cup dry red wine
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/4 pound baby spinach, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent. Add sausage and cook, breaking into small chunks, until it begins to brown. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms have released most of their liquid. Add lentils, beef broth, mushroom or chicken broth, tomatoes and their juice, wine and pepper flakes; cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30-45 minutes.

Add spinach and salt and pepper, stir well and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more; stir in thyme.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into bowls and top with Parmesan. 

Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage and Tortellini Soup

This is the recipe that got my mom into liking chicken sausage.  I had tried it once at Trader Joes and loved it, but my mom said she only like sausage with pork or turkey.  "Chicken is definitely not sausage," she would say.  However, she caved and said yes when I asked if I could make this recipe, and she definitely did not regret it once she tasted this wonderful soup.  It's very hearty, filled with lots of veggies, cheesy tortellini, and flavorful chicken sausage (which is also healthier than pork).  The broth is very flavorful as well, with tomato juice, white wine, and chicken broth.  I recommend (just like any other one of my soup recipes, really) enjoying this soup with some [garlic bread] on the side for dipping. Yum(: If you like spicy things, feel free to add as much red pepper flakes as you want.  This is is such a great recipe for a chilly night, not to mention its easy and economical.

Ingredients:

1 8-ounce package sweet Italian chicken sausage links (mine had roasted peppers in them)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sliced carrots 

1 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 cup white wine

4 ounces canned, petite diced tomatoes (with juice)

2 14-oz cans low sodium chicken broth

9 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini (I used half an 18-ounce bag)

3/4 cup fresh, chopped red tomatoes

8 ounces spinach leaves

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Garnish: Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Heat Dutch oven with 1/2 tsp of oil to coat and saute chicken sausage until browned and just cooked through. Remove from pan, let cool slightly, slice into small slices (about 1/2 inch thick) and set aside.
2. Heat remaining oil in pan, add carrots and saute for about 4 minutes.  Add onions and mushrooms, and saute about 8 minutes more, or until the carrots are tender.  Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, stir in wine, broth, and canned tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cook for about 2 minutes, then add tortellini. Cook for another 5 minutes and then stir in spinach and tomato. Cook until the spinach wilts, 2 minutes.
3. Return sauteed sausage pieces to the soup, cook for an additional 5 minutes, add the butter, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste and serve when butter is melted. Garnish with Parmesan if desired.

Italian Sausage Soup

 

 

I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge success.  It's very hearty and comforting; [perfect] on those chilly, winter nights.  I recommend using low sodium chicken broth and no salt added spinach, unless you like your soup really salty.  It's super quick to make; you don't need to cook it all day in a crock pot, like most flavorful soups.  It only took me about an hour to make.  If you're a fan of spicy foods, feel free to use all spicy sausage instead of the sweet.  You can substitute any flavors of sausage you'd like, but I prefer sweet and spicy.  This is fantastic served over small pasta (such as macaroni, rice, or orzo), and served with garlic bread (dunk it!).  I served it with garlic toasts (found here).  This was such a delicious and satisfying meal that I will make many more times.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Italian sausage (I used 3 links of sweet, 2 links spicy)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 2 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can great Northern beans, undrained
• 2 small zucchini, cubed
• 1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• Garnish: Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Directions

1. In a stockpot or Dutch oven, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes, carrots, and onion powder, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
2. Stir in beans with liquid and zucchini. Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.
3. Remove from heat, and add spinach. Replace lid allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach leaves. Soup is ready to serve after about 10 minutes, or when spinach is not frozen and distributed evenly throughout the soup. Garnish with cheese if desired.

Tapenade Turkey Meatballs

When I was at the state fair last year, I picked up some recipe cards from The Pampered Chef, and this was one of them (you can view the video here). These are the best meatballs I've ever had!! They're packed with so much flavor, yet much easier to whip up than you think.  My mom and I made this together last night and served it over pasta.  It was absolutely incredible. And get this: they're made in the microwave.  Yeah.  Because they're cooked in the microwave, they only cook for 7 minutes!!  Usually meatballs are cooked in the oven for like 30-45 minutes; these are way less time consuming.  I can't believe how tender and juicy the meat was, and it was lean turkey, too.  I now like turkey meatballs better than beef ones.  Way better.  I don't think I'm gonna even like beef meat balls the next time I have them.  And the Spinach & Olive Tapenade in this recipe - SO flavorful!  I don't like olives, and I'm not a big fan of capers, so I didn't think I'd care for this recipe too much.  But the olive and caper flavors blended really well with all the other ingredients, so it tasted amazing.  I served the remaining tapenade on sliced french bread and melted some cheese on top.  I also had it as a dip with red pepper slices - so delicious.  Another thing my family did with some of the meatballs was make a meatball sandwich.  Ohmygoodness everything was just so good!!  My dad said we're never going out to eat again because everything I make is ten times better than anything he's ever had in a restaurant.

Yield: About 20 meatballs

Ingredients:

Spinach & Olive Tapenade:

1 package (6 oz/175 g) fresh spinach leaves (about 8 cups/2 L)

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tablespoons drained capers

1/4 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-in pieces

3/4 cup (175 mL) pitted green olives

1/4 cup (50 mL) loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Meatballs:

1 slice soft sandwich bread (whole wheat or white)

1 cup prepared Spinach & Olive Tapenade (see above), divided

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 lb (450 g) 93% lean ground turkey

Instructions:

1.  For tapenade, place spinach into a large bowl.  Microwave on high 2-3 minutes or until spinach is wilted.  Carefully remove lid; press spinach to side of bowl (I just drained it in a colander).  Blot excess moisture with paper towels.  Place garlic, capers, bell pepper, and olives in food processor; cover and pump handle until coarsely chopped.  Add spinach, basil, cheese, oil, lemon juice and salt; process to desired consistency, removing lid and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.  Use 1 cup for meatballs.  Set aside remaining tapenade for another use.

2.  For meatballs, tear bread; place in food processor.  Cover and pump handle until finely chopped.  Combine bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of the remaining tapenade, egg, and salt in a medium bowl; mix well.  Add turkey, mix well.

3.  Using slightly mounded medium scoop (I used an ice cream scooper), scoop 20 meatballs directly into a pan in rows.  Cover with parchment paper and microwave on high 7-9 minutes or until internal temperature of meatballs reaches 160 degrees F (71 degrees C)

4. Place remaining 1/2 cup tapenade in large bowl.  Transfer meatballs to bowl using tongs and toss gently to coat.  Serve with pasta if desired.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

      Quiches have always been a favorite of mine.  Why? Because you can add anything to them!!  I've done so many variations with quiches.  Once, I even made muffin quiches and each one was different (one had ham, one had chicken, one had different vegetables or spices, etc).  This quiche is probably my favorite of all my experiments.  I really enjoy it with sharp white cheddar cheese and mushrooms as well.  I absolutely love spinach and white cheese (as opposed to orange cheeses I mean), and I do NOT like pie crust!  I've never liked any flaky pie crust...even on fruit pies and pumpkin pie.  I think it tastes so plain and weird.  So I created this crustless spinach quiche.  It's so easy and delicious... a perfect Sunday brunch.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 10 ounces fresh spinach, wilted and drained
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1.5 cups shredded mozzerella cheese
• 1.5 cups shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or garlic salt, if you prefer)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Fried Mac and Cheese Balls

The Cheesecake Factory's Fried Mac and Cheese Balls:

         

    

And mine:

  

   Have you ever been to the Cheesecake Factory?  If you do go, you have GOT to get their fried mac and cheese balls.  Now I know what you're thinking:  Why in the world would I go to the Cheesecake Factory and waste my money on some fried cheese?  You have got to believe me when I say that these are not just any fried mac and cheese balls...they're fried mac and cheese balls from heaven.  Although it's just an appetizer at the Cheesecake Factory, they're so rich and incredibly tasty that I would totally order it as my meal (it's served as four really big balls, but they're meant to be shared).  

          So this year, I decided to enter a dish for one of the cooking contests at the State Fair.  I know that in order to win, I'd have to make something really, really, really good.  I looked online at the contests, and I ended up entering in - not one -, but four.  Of all the recipes I entered, these fried mac n cheese balls are definitely my favorite. I entered them in the House Autry Mills Recipe Contest, which required a recipe to have at least one meat or vegetable, and use House Autry Mills Breader.  So I decided to make fried mac and cheese,  inspired by the Cheesecake Factory. I experimented with some mac and cheese recipes, and my absolute favorite is Martha Stewart's (found here).  It's a white mac and cheese, which I prefer over the usual orange cheeses, and it's incredibly delicious.  After I mastered that recipe and added chopped spinach (for the vegetable requirement of the contest - and it tastes better with it), I transformed it into these marvelous balls, and deep fried them with House Autry Mills Chicken Breader (as opposed to bread crumbs like the Cheesecake Factory...but we were required to use breader for the contest).  

          I'm not gonna lie to you: I did not win.  But I truly have absolutely NO IDEA why.  This is one of the best dishes I have ever had (if not the best)...it's even better than the Cheesecake Factory's!  I swear.  Cross my heart and hope to die, poke a needle in my eye - whatever.  They're so good, that my parents are making me make them every year on Christmas Eve as a tradition for the rest of their lives.

. . . I guess you could say that in our minds:  I totally won first place.  And I don't need a ribbon to prove that.

Yield: Serves 4-6 (about 2 large balls each)

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 ¾ cups milk, plus 2 tablespoons for the egg wash

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 ½ cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese

1 ¼ cups grated gruyere cheese

2 cups fresh (dry) spinach, wilted and chopped (it will be much less than 2 cups when wilted)

½ pound elbow macaroni

2 eggs

3 cups House-Autry Mills Chicken Breader

Directions:

1.      In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat milk. Melt butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat.  When butter bubbles, add flour.  Cook, whisking constantly, for one minute.

2.      While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

3.      Remove pan from heat.  Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cheeses, and spinach.  Set the cheese sauce aside.

4.      Fill a large saucepan with water, bring to a boil.  Add macaroni and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Transfer macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well.  Stir macaroni into reserved cheese sauce.  Pour the mac and cheese into a shallow pan and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

5.      Shape the cold mac and cheese into large meatball sized balls and place them onto a waxed paper lined tray. Freeze the balls overnight.

6.      Beat the eggs and 2 tablespoons milk together to form an egg wash and pour it into a shallow bowl.  Put the breader in another shallow bowl.  Remove the mac n cheese balls from the freezer.  Dip the frozen balls into the egg wash and then into the breader.  Make sure they are completely covered.  Put the balls back in the freezer until you are ready to fry.

7.      Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 350 degrees F.  Fry the mac n cheese balls until medium brown and center is hot, about 6 minutes.  Serve hot.