Sundried Tomato and Pesto Risotto with Spicy Turkey Sausage

I haven't made risotto since before my son was born. And for good reason. It's tough to stand there for 30-45 minutes with a hungry baby hanging at your leg. Thankfully my husband was able to pry him off me and I was able to make this completely delicious meal. I also had made butternut squash soup earlier in the day so we had a rich, comforting dinner. Too bad it was also 80 degrees out in the middle of October. That's ok, we still enjoyed it!

2 cups of arborio rice
1 small onion, chopped
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (I prefer the dry-packed ones)
1/4 cup homemade pesto
3 hot italian turkey sausages, sliced, casings on
Salt & pepper

Cook the turkey sausage, browning on each side. Set aside.

Bring the water and chicken stock to a simmer in a separate pan.

Heat the olive oil in a large deep pan. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Stir in the rice until it becomes opaque but not browned. Mix in the garlic and saute 30 seconds, then pour in the wine and cook until the wine is absorbed. Add in the sundried tomatoes

One ladle at a time, stir in the broth until it is absorbed by the rice, being sure to almost constantly stir the rice until it is thick and soft. The rice and broth should continue to simmer throughout the process which takes between 35 and 40 minutes. When it is ready, stir in the pesto, sausage and salt & pepper to taste.

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Calzones

I love buffalo chicken anything but I also need to be healthy so I usually forgo wings or anything like that when I'm out because I know they'll be fried and oh so bad for me. I do like to make buffalo-flavored dishes at home though because I'm in control of how they are made. So instead of pizza the other night, I decided to do a calzone. These were made easy by using a rotisserie chicken and shredded it--something I actually do quite a bit to save time. These were great and of course, we had leftovers the next day for lunch!

1 small can tomato sauce
3 TBSP Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/4 cup light ranch
1 TBSP butter
Whole wheat pizza dough
4 oz. Shredded mozzarella cheese
12 oz. shredded chicken
1 egg, beaten

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Add the other 3 ingredients and bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Mix the chicken in the sauce well to thoroughly coat. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal portions and roll out into a circle. Equally divide the chicken mixture among the 4 circles. Top with mozzarella cheese. Fold the dough over and pinch closed. Brush with the egg to brown the dough. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Bolognese Sauce - my version

I love a slow cooked, homemade, thick sauce. It kicks jarred sauce ass any time! But life with 2 kids and 2 full time working parents it doesn't always happen this way. However my baby boy was home sick recently and during nap time I was able to get the sauce going. And after melding for a few days in my fridge it was delicious! The prep time really isn't that bad. It just has to cook 2-3 hours (at least) so you can't really plan to go anywhere but on days when you are home with a sick baby, this is a good day to do it.

2 TBSP olive oil
2 shallots, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 large can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
1 TBSP dried oregano
1 TBSP dried basil
Salt & pepper
1 lb. ground beef (90/10)

Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron pot. Add in the carrot, celery and shallots and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and shallots, cook another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile in a separate pan, brown the ground beef and drain. Set aside.

In the pot, mix in the tomato paste and water in with the vegetables and cook 7-10 minutes on a low heat.

Once the tomato and vegetable mixture has thickened a bit, add in the two large cans of tomatoes and dried herbs, and salt & pepper to taste. Stir everything together and cook for one hour on a low heat, barely simmering. Stir every 15 minutes or so.

After an hour, add in the ground beef and cook another 1-2 hours until desired thickness.

It's best if you let the sauce sit at least overnight before serving to really get everything mixed together.

Cheese Stuffed Chicken Patties

This is a version of Turkey Polpettone sandwiches that I made this past weekend. I started out thinking I'd make chicken parmesan but after thinking about it, I wanted to be more creative than that. It's not often I get more than 15 minutes to make dinner so I wanted this to be a little bit different than our norm. So I ground up the chicken and just went with it. I did make the patties way too big so we all had a half... way more portion-sized friendly. The great thing about these is everyone liked them, even my 11 month old ate one!

1 lb. ground chicken
2 cups fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
1 egg
1 TBSP worcestor sauce
2 TBSP dried oregano
1 TBSP dried basil
4 oz. mozzarella cheese
10 oz. Pasta sauce, homemade or jarred
1/4 cup of olive oil

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and form into 12 patties. Place about a TBSP of mozzarella cheese on half the patties and then top with the remaining patties. Pinch then ends closed to keep the cheese from melting out.

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Place the patties in the pan and brown each side, approximately 6-7 minutes per side. In a separate pan, warm the sauce. Transfer the browned patties to the sauce, top with a little more cheese and cook til melted. Serve on a bun or eat on it's own.

Rigatoni di Gregorio

I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats in my google reader and it was right up our alley. And it was a score. We love pasta but this was different and delicious. I will say I have only been to Maggiano's once in my life so I have no idea what this dish tastes like in the restaurant but I do know we all loved it at Chez Jenn.

I made a little more so we could have leftovers and I substituted the heavy cream with light cream. I didn't have fresh herbs so we made due with the dried version. Annie's picture is WAY better than mine but in my defense, my camera is giving me trouble today. Still, this was a great meal, so thanks Annie!

12 oz. rigatoni
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 3 oz. each
½ cup chopped yellow onion
4 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup Marsala wine
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup light cream
1 TBSP dried basil
1 TBSP dried oregano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. butter

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. If necessary, turn down the heat to medium-low so the outside doesn’t brown too quickly. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside. When cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size pieces.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan with the heat on medium-high. Add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and continue to cook until most of the liquid has been released and the onions are softened, about 5 minutes more. Mix in the garlic and sauté just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the wines, scraping with a spoon to deglaze the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the chicken broth. Return Bring to a simmer, lower the heat to medium and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half. Stir in the cream, herbs and chicken and cook until heated through. Add in the Parmesan cheese and butter; mix until well blended and the butter is completely melted.

Add the cooked rigatoni to the pan and toss with the sauce. Serve immediately with additional grated Parmesan as desired.

Farfalle with Vodka Sauce and Grilled Chicken

I love un-jarred sauce but life isn't always cooperative so sometimes you gotta just use it. However on Saturday I took the time to make us a nice sauce at home. Dave said it was my best one yet. Go me! I didn't have a lot of cream so it's a dark sauce but still so delicious. Add more cream for well, a creamier, sauce.

1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 TBSP unsalted butter
1/2 cup vodka
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 pint light cream
1 TBSP dried oregano
salt & pepper

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Pour in the vodka and cook another 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has cooked out. Add in the 2 cans of tomatoes and salt and pepper (to your taste). Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Pour in the light cream and simmer another 30 minutes. Add in more salt & pepper and dried oregano during the final simmer.

Slipping the Veggies in - Turkey and Spinach Meatballs

I love slipping spinach into meatballs. What a great tasting way to get veggies. I make these often enough and everyone enjoys them. It's not really hiding the veggie as much as it is making it a part of the meal but I think it makes it better and of course better for you. And of course I bake, not fry which is even better!

1 lb. ground turkey (I used Nature's Promise brand)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
5 oz or 1/2 package of frozen spinach, defrosted
1 egg
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

With your hands mix all the ingredients until well-combined. Shape into small to medium sized balls (about 18) and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Homemade Meatball Subs

Yesterday I made a batch of my homemade sauce and turkey meatballs specifically to make these delicious sandwiches for Dave and I tonight. After simmering the meatballs in the sauce for a couple hours yesterday and then letting them sit there overnight before reheating today really gave everything that robust flavor. Dave was happy so that makes me happy. Another successful meal!

Spinach Meatballs and Vodka Sauce

The neverending pasta parade. Maybe I should rename my blog. But whatever, I don't care, it's all delicious! I was in the mood for spaghetti and meatballs today but because I can't just throw a jar of sauce on frozen meatballs and pasta, I had to make my own. And it was worth it.

Vodka Sauce

1/4 cup butter
2 shallots, diced
1 cup vodka
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
1 pint of light cream

Melt the butter and saute the shallots until soft. Add in the vodka and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add in both cans of crushed tomatoes and simmer for another 30 minutes. Finally, stir in the cream and simmer for 30 minutes. You can add in garlic, crushed red pepper... whatever your heart desires, to give this sauce an extra kick but it's perfectly good on it's own.

See the previous post for the turkey and spinach meatballs that went with this.

Chicken Parmesan

I saw a recipe for eggplant parm the other day and I immediately knew I had to make it. Problem is I didn't have eggplant. So I went with the next best thing: chicken parmesan. It was awesome. Double dipping the egg and bread crumbs really gives it a good coating. And cooking it in so little olive oil makes you feel less guilty too!

3 TBSP olive oil
2 eggs and 2 egg whites, whisked
4 chicken breasts, 3-4 oz. each
1 cup of italian style bread crumbs
1/2 cup of 2% mozzarella cheese
Tomato sauce, whatever kind that floats your boat

Heat the oil in a large pan. Dip each chicken breast in the egg mixture letting the excess drip off. Then press into the bread crumbs. Repeat this process once and place in the hot pan. Cook the chicken on each side for 7 minutes. Top with the cheese at the end. Serve with your favorite pasta and sauce.

Fancy Beefaroni

Have I ever said I love pasta? Or can you just tell? Well I do. So again the other night, pasta was on the menu. I jazzed it up this time with some of my defrosted vodka sauce. I cooked up some ground beef (about 8 oz.) and combined it with some whole wheat elbows and the vodka sauce and voila. Delicious! I can't say enough about making a big batch of homemade sauce and freezing it. You'll thank yourself.

I'm at it again... pesto

I love pesto. Have I said this already? I also have basil plants that are growing fast with all this rain so today I made 2 batches of sundried tomato pesto. One for dinner this week and one for the freezer. Make this, you won't be sorry.

Pepperoni and Cheese Calzones

I am now into making my own whole wheat pizza dough so I used some that I had thawed for our calzones tonight. I split a ball into thirds and stuffed them with a blend of ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. I layered pepperoni in them and baked them at 400 for 15 minutes. Perfect!

Baked Rotini Ziti with Turkey Sausage

Can you tell I love pasta? As much as I tell myself I shouldn't eat it this much, I can't help it. At least I eat the whole wheat kind and always pair it with a salad so I don't over eat. Anyway, I made this on Sunday for dinner while we were waiting for our new refrigerator to arrive. I had to cook up the sausages and I'd been wanted baked ziti for a while anyway. It was delicious, cheesy and made 6 meals!

10 oz. whole wheat rotini (I used Heartland brand)
3 links of turkey sausage
1 egg
1 cup part skim ricotta
6 oz. 2% mozzarella cheese divided
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3-4 cups of homemade pasta sauce or your favorite jarred sauce

Cook the pasta to al dente. Cut the sausages into bite-sized pieces and brown until thoroughly cooked. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, ricotta, 4 oz. of mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. Mix the sauce and pasta in with the sausage in the pan. Then mix in the cheeses until well blended. Pour into a 9x12 pyrex pan or other large baking pan and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Cook at 350 for 25 minutes.

Sundried Tomato Pesto

I love pesto. I grow my own basil so I can have it whenever I want. I made some today to have during the week. Easy, requires just a small chopper, no cooking, minimal clean up. What else could you ask for?

1 cup basil leaves
2 TBSP toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
5 sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 clove of garlic
1/4-1/3 cup of olive oil

Wash and clean the basil. Place it in a chopper or food processor and top with the remaining ingredients. Pulse to your desired consistency. Freezes easily too!

Simply Delicious Tomato Sauce

I've been working on perfecting tomato sauce for a couple years now. Originally my friend had passed along a recipe from her friend so I've been using that as my basis. I've made some changes and I think today's batch may just have been the best so far. Maybe it was the fresh basil I picked from the yard about 5 minutes before adding it in, maybe it's the organic tomatoes, or maybe I just got the measurements down. In any case, this one was good!

2 TBSP olive oil
1 small can tomato paste
1-1/2 cups of water
2 large (28 oz) cans of organic crushed tomatoes
2 shallots, diced
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 TBSP dried oregano
Salt & pepper, about 1 tsp of each

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven. Saute the shallots and carrot for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add in the garlic and saute another 3-5 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add in 1 cup of the water and the can of tomato paste. Mix thoroughly and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add in the crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt & pepper and the remaining water. Mix together well and put the heat on low. Slowly simmer for 1-2 hours or until the sauce has thickened. This makes quite a bit of sauce, almost a half gallon, so go ahead and freeze some in containers for later use. It will still be just as good!

Classic Pesto

I'm constantly trying to find a delicious pesto. I saw this recipe on Vintage Victuals the other day and decided to give it a try. I plan to eat it as a spread on my turkey burger later but I did take a taste and it's pretty darn good. Next time I think I'll add sundried tomatoes to it too.

Lasagna...mmmm

This was Sunday nights dinner.... and there are so many leftovers it will last for another 4 dinners and lunches! But it was well worth it. A healthy way to have lasagna and as long as you stay within the portion, it won't break your diet. I served it with a green salad so that I didn't overeat, since it's sooo good.

1 package of whole wheat lasagna noodles (13.25 oz)
10 oz. lean ground beef
1/4 vidalia onion, chopped
6 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 large bunch of spinach, about 1 cup cooked
15 0z. fat free ricotta cheese
8 oz. part skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 egg
4 cups vodka sauce

Cook the lasagna noodles according to the instructions.
Saute the onions for 3-5 minutes. Add in the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain and remove from the pan. Saute the spinach and mushrooms in the same pan until the spinach has wilted. Combine with the meat.
Mix together the cheeses and egg.
Spread a thin layer (about a half cup of the sauce) on the bottom of the pan, then alternate layers of noodles, meat, cheese and 3/4 to 1 cup of sauce, depending on how you like it.

Makes 12 servings, 7 WW points each.

Vodka Sauce

I made a new version of sauce this weekend based on one that has been going around on my local board for a while from AmyRob. I did make some changes to suit what I had and my dietary needs but it still came out delicious.

1/2 c vodka
1 tbs red pepper flakes
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 med onion, chopped
2 large cans crushed tomatoes (28 oz. each)
1 c Romano cheese
2 c fat free half and half
3 TBSP I can't Believe it's Not Butter

Soak vodka and pepper flakes for 10 minutes - the longer the pepper flakes soak, the hotter the sauce will be. Remove flakes; vodka will turn red.

Saute olive oil and onion in a pot until the onions have softened.

Add in the tomates and vodka and cook on low for 1/2 hour, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Then add Romano cheese, half and half, and butter. Cook another 20 minutes.

Turkey and Spinach Meatballs

I was really in the mood for spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight. I saw in an old Cooking Light issue when I was cleaning today a recipe for Turkey Ricotta meatballs which I think I made a while ago but I didn't have ricotta so I changed it around a bit to suit my tastes and what I had on hand. I didn't really measure but here are approximates.

1.25 lean ground turkey
1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped finely
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped finely
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl until well-mixed. Form into balls (I made 16 which were on the large side). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. These freeze well too if you don't think you'll be eating them any time soon.