Lasagna Rolls Two Ways

This is our take on a classic Italian comfort dish.  Rolling the lasagna noodles helps to create distinct portions and enables you to create different flavor profiles within one meal. We have used a spinach ricotta filling along with a Sausage and ricotta filling. Pick one, try, both, or feel free to get creative!

Serves 4

For  Sautéed Spinach

8 oz baby spinach

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 Tbls olive oil

sprinkle of salt

For the Tomato Sauce 

1 Tbls olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

For the Filling 

1 egg, slightly beaten

16 oz ricotta cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

1/4 cup Parmesan, grated

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 lb Italian sausage

8 lasagna noodles

1 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

1. In a medium sauté pan, on low heat sauté oil and garlic for a minute and then add spinach and stir. Cover with a lid and cook until spinach wilts, about 4 or 5 minutes. Place in strainer and let drain. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible from spinach and then place in medium bowl.

2. Wipe out pan and place over medium heat. Drizzle in garlic oil and add minced garlic and sauté for one minute. Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and mix. Once sauce comes to a simmer, cover, reduce heat and continue cooking for 20 minutes stirring every five minutes or so.

3. In a medium bowl, lightly beat an egg. Add the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling add lasagna noodles and cook until al dente, two minutes short of package directions. Once ready, drain and lay flat on an oiled sheet pan to cool so you can add handle them.

5. In a small skillet, brown Italian sausage, drain off fat and place in a medium bowl.

6. Divide ricotta mixture in half. Add half to the bowl of spinach and the other half to the bowl of Italian sausage.

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a 11 x 7 pan, cover the bottom with the marinara sauce. To build the lasagna rolls, while the noodles are laid out on the sheet pan, spoon the sausage ricotta mixture on half of the noodles and the spinach ricotta mixture on the other half. Roll up and place in pan on top of the tomato sauce seam side down. Then spoon the rest of the tomato sauce on top of the rolls. Sprinkle with mozzarella and the Parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and gooey.

We chose to make the sautéed spinach and marinara sauce from scratch, but of course you can choose to use frozen spinach and/ or a jarred marinara and it will taste delicious that way as well!

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Creamy Pesto Pasta with Grilled Chicken

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This short fat pasta grabs the rich creamy sauce and the pesto adds a lot of flavor and freshness. The perfect pasta to pair with a classic grilled chicken breast. This has been a family favorite of ours for many many years!

Basil Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups basil, packed

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup olive oil, plus more to drizzle over finished pesto

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Toast pine nuts in small frying pan over medium low heat for 5 to 8 minutes or until nuts have been slightly browned. 

2. Place garlic in small food processor and give it a whirl until minced. Add basil, pine nuts, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Add olive oil and process until thoroughly mixed. Add Parmesan cheese and process just until blended.

3. Place into container and drizzle with olive oil until completely covered. This will prevent the pesto from browning. Can be refrigerated for a few days.

Ingredients

For the Chicken

4 chicken cutlets

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

drizzle of olive oil

For the Broccolini

8 oz broccolini

1/2 tbsp olive oil

pinch red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

1 lemon, cut in two

For the Pasta

8 oz. mezzi rigatoni or regular rigatoni

1/2 cup pesto (recipe follows)

3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Heat grill to medium high and put on a large pot of water to come to a boil for pasta.

2. Once water comes to a boil, add salt to make the water salty like the sea. This will add flavor to the pasta. Cook pasta to al dente usually about two minutes short of the required time. 

3. While pasta cooks, add cream to a large pan and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. The cream will thicken a bit. Turn off heat and add pesto and stir. When pasta is al dente, drain and add pasta to sauce and gently stir and set aside.

4. Sprinkle oregano, salt and pepper over cutlets. Drizzle with olive oil. Grill over medium high heat for 3 or 4 minutes a side, depending on thickness of cutlets.

5. Toss broccolini with olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a bowl. Add to grill along with cut lemon. Grill for two minutes a side until crisp tender. Grill lemon alongside of broccolini. This will make it very juicy.

6. After chicken and broccolini come off grill, squeeze the lemon over both and serve alongside creamy pesto pasta.

Veal Marsala

Neither one of us usually make Veal on the regular so we thought we would try out our take on this classic Italian dish.  My husband, Geoff, is usually opposed to eating veal so I thought that I would double the recipe and make the second half of it with chicken cutlets.      The process and cooking time ended up being the same, just simple swap out the protein that you prefer.  In the end, I have to say that I personally enjoyed the veal version best. It was richer and a bit more tender than the chicken.  Although the chicken was also delicious I did not think the chicken’s flavor came through the sauce as much as the veal’s.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

– 4 – 3 oz. Veal Cutlets, pounded thin

– 1/2 cup all purpose flour

– 1/2 tsp Seasoned salt

– 1/2 tsp Pepper

– 1 1/2 Tbls Olive oil

– 1 1/2 Tbls Butter

For the Sauce

–  8 oz. Cremini Mushrooms, sliced

– 1 Shallot, minced

– 2 Cloves garlic, minced

-1/3 cup Marsala

 -1/2 cup Chicken Broth

– 1/2 tsp Salt

-1/4 tsp Pepper

-1 Tbls Parsley, chopped

Place large skillet over medium high heat, add 1/2 Tbls olive oil and 1/2 Tbls butter.  Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a plate and coat the veal cutlets on both sides with the mixture. Add veal to the skillet without crowding, I could do two or three at a time depending on the size. You may need to do multiple batches. Brown on both sides for 2 to 3 minutes a side. Add more olive oil and butter if needed. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Add 1/2 Tbls olive oil and 1/2 Tbls butter into the same skillet an then add mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add minced shallots and garlic and continue to cook for another 10 minutes until mushrooms and shallots are browned. Add Marsala wine and deglaze the pan getting all the brown bits up, then add the chicken broth, pepper, and salt if needed. Mix well and nestle the veal back into the sauce.  Heat for another 5 minutes to warm the veal through and let the flavor marry.

Serve veal topped with mushrooms and Marsala wine sauce.

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