The Cookbook Experiment: Aunt Lauretta's Lasagna

Sunday's cookbook experiment is courtesy of a lovely lady named Martha Lee Cash! I have known her and her husband and family for almost forever. Don and Martha Lee are two more heroes of faith that I greatly admire.  I grew up with a few of their children and love them all very much.

This recipe is from her Aunt Lauretta.  I had to try it because....oh my, here comes the confession! My last name (married) is Maurizi. That is Italian! My husband was raised Italian around all these amazing women who could cook. Conquering good Italian cooking is a passion of mine. What I would give to spend time in the kitchen with Nick Stellino! But, anyway, here is the confession: the first time I ever made lasagna was almost six years ago. It was a total flop! So bad a flop I never attempted it again. This cookbook experiment and a recipe coming from Martha Lee, I decided to try it again. I am glad that I did! It was wonderful and everyone loved it.

Aunt Lauretta's Lasagna

(2 1/2) cans Italian tomatoes
(4) 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
(2) teaspoons salt
(3) teaspoons dried oregano
(1/4) teaspoon onion salt
(2) cups minced onions
(1) cup Parmesan cheese
(2) cloves garlic, minced
(1/2) cup olive oil
(2) pounds ground chuck or round steak , ground
(1) pound lasagna noodles
(1 1/2) pounds Ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
(3) packages Mozzarella cheese

In large saucepan, combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, and oregano.  Simmer uncovered. In skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned. Add ground meat. When meat loses color, add to tomato sauce.  Simmer 2 1/2 hours. Cook lasagna as directed on box. Drain. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In bottom of two baking dishes, place few spoonfuls of sauce. Top with crisscross layers of noodles, then half of ricotta; top with 1/3 of mozzarella and 1/2 the Parmesan. Repeat again ending with sauce. Top with mozzarella and bake until bubbly.

My take-a-ways for this recipe:

• I knew I would not use the 1/2 can of leftover Italian tomatoes so I used all of the 3 cans.  
• I did not know what size the cans of Italian tomatoes were to be so I used the regular 14.5 ounce ones.
• I really like a hint of basil in my tomato sauce so I added this with the oregano.
• Please do not buy cheap Parmesan. There was an article recently about all the "wood pulp" some manufacturer's use to keep the grated cheese from sticking together. I used Murray's Parmesan Reggiano and grated it myself while the sauce was bubbling away.
• I should have realized that the lasagna noodles were going to be VERY HOT and VERY STICKY! I used a cookie sheet sprayed with a little cooking spray to spread out my lasagna noodles so they would not be stuck together. I used a set of tongs but still burned the mess out of my fingers! I'm sorry Aunt Lauretta but next time I am going to use no-boil noodles! Does that make me "wimpy Italian"? I hope not.
• I was not very good at splitting up the ricotta cheese on the fly. I should have separated it before I needed it. And truthfully, I think I would have liked a lot more on it than I put on it.
• There was no size for the Mozzarella cheese packages. I thought I would be okay with one large bag that they have at Kroger but sadly I was wrong. I needed at least two of them.
• This recipe was AMAZING! Thanks to Aunt Lauretta and Martha Lee I am no longer afraid to make lasagna. I can only improved from here!

The Cookbook Experiment: Cheese Broccoli Stuffed Pasta

Tonight's dinner is courtesy of a recipe by Doris Baynes. I don't recognize the name (this book was published during a period that I lived out of state and unable to attend church here) but she is one smart cookie!

Let me say outright, this recipe is quite a bit of work. Preparing it for someone you love makes it easier but I have to admit I have never, ever made stuffed shells before but this recipe was worth waiting for.

Cheese Broccoli Stuffed Pasta by Doris Baynes
(1) 6 ounce giant shell pasta (I honestly never looked at the size in the store and bought a 12 ounce!)
(2) quarts boiling water
(2) Tablespoons of salt
(1) 10 ounce package frozen cut broccoli
(1) Tablespoon of butter or margarine (I used butter, because...duh, butter!)
(2) green onions, chopped
(2) cups chopped fresh mushrooms (okay....I did not use this. The majority of my family does not eat mushrooms, in fact I may be the only one who does so I omitted this. I'm sorry Doris!)
(1) teaspoon dried basil
(1) teaspoon dried oregano
(1/2) teaspoon salt
(1) Tablespoon All purpose flour
(3/4) cup milk (I only have whole milk in the house so that is what I used)
(1) cup shredded Swiss or Mozzarella cheese (I used the Mozzarella)
(1/2) cup grated Parmesan cheese (don't scrimp, get the real stuff)
(1/2) cup whipping cream

Cook pasta in boiling salted water for the length of time the package says for "al dente". (Doris says 15 minutes but that was too long for the shells I had) Rinse with cold water and drain. Cook broccoli as directed on package. Chop fine and set aside. (Doris, I feel dumb here. As I type your recipe it seems I missed that sentence and was mushing my broccoli while it cooked in the pan with a potato masher!)

Heat butter in skillet. Add onion, mushrooms (or not), basil, oregano, salt and broccoli.  Stir to blend. Sprinkle with flour and stir well.  Add milk. Stir and heat to boiling. Cook until mixture thickens (and it does so pretty quick so pay attention). Stir in shredded cheese and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan.

Fill cooked pasta shells with a rounded tablespoonful of broccoli mixture and place into a buttered shallow baking dish in a single layer. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese and drizzle with cream. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Good served with crusty bread.

OKAY, a few tips here from me:

• make sure you use butter to grease the dish. Cooking spray will not cut it here, you need real butter (or if you must, margarine)
• when your shells are done cooking, spread them out on some parchment paper so they don't stick to each other while they are waiting to be filled (I thought they looked like albino turtles, but maybe I am just crazy!)
• Don't forget to chop up your broccoli small like I did. It makes a difference.
• I prefer my milk and cream to be room temperature when I use them so I measure and set aside while I am doing everything else. I have never like putting cold anything to make a sauce thicken.

This was a delightful recipe that my whole family (except my vegetarian because she does not like broccoli!!!) enjoyed. I had never stuffed pasta before and this was a good starter recipe. Imagine, a last name of Maurizi and I had never stuffed shells before! 

I hope you try it! And Ms. Doris I cant wait to try your other recipes in this book! You are a keeper!

Chicken Caprese Pasta

One of my favorite Italian dishes is a caprese salad. I decided it was time to take that salad concept and turn it into a healthy and yummy dinner dish. Here is how I did it.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a glass baking dish put some boneless chicken (I used sliced chicken tenders). I used approximately one pound of chicken tenders.  To this I added 7 cloves of smashed and chopped garlic. Next I squeezed some fresh basil paste onto the chicken.  It is your preference how much as to how much basil you like. I used almost a tablespoon.  I sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top as well and put it into the oven to bake.

 This is the basil I used. It was in the fresh produce department and is a wonderful tool.

While the chicken is baking, use a small saucepan and melt two tablespoons of butter (not margarine) and add one medium yellow onion, sliced and chopped.  To the onion and butter add two medium zucchinis chopped small.  Sprinkle with a little bit of salt to sweat out the zucchini.  Saute until soft.

Prepare one pound bag of macaroni, boiled al-dente in salted water. Assemble the pasta like this:

Place your finished chicken tenders that have been chopped in the bottom of your bowl.
Next add the sauteed zucchini and onions.

To the top of this, add your drained hot pasta.

On top of the hot pasta, squeeze approximately three tablespoons of the basil. More or less to your taste preference for basil.  After you add the basil, add the following:

(1) pound of FRESH mozzarella cheese, chunked
Murray's Cheese

(6) medium size Roma tomatoes, chunked

Give this all a really good stir so that the basil gets blended in well, the chicken and tomatoes and cheese are distributed evenly as possible.

This dish was so fresh and flavor-able I almost slapped MYSELF! I hope you try it. My whole family enjoyed it!

Wild and Crazy Dinner!

It started out normal.....but it did not end that way.  I decided to make Giada's Lasagna Rolls for dinner.  I just needed to go to the grocery store for the lasagna noodles and the ricotta cheese.  I started at our brand new G-Mart that opened around the corner from my house.  This is an amazing International foods store.  They have every kind of vegetable and fruit you can think of and even more you have never heard of or seen.
As I strolled through the fresh fruit and veggies I came across some real Mandarin oranges.  I have NEVER seen these except in a can! Of course I had to pick up a few.  I also got some some pomegranates, lemons and limes.  I kept walking and finally found the pasta.  The selection of Italian type pastas was very, very small.  The only pasta they had was the kind that did not require boiling.  This would not be the type of lasagna noodles I need.  I decided to go ahead and check out and head to one more store.

I left the G-Mart and went to my local Target.  It has quite a nice addition of grocery items.  Looking around here, I expected to find the type of lasagna noodles I required.  There was a larger selection, even Giada's own brand of pasta. Alas, the only noodles they had were the kind that you do not boil.  Have we gotten so lazy we don't have regular lasagna noodles? <sigh> This required a change of plans. I bought two boxes of bow-tie pasta.  They were on sale for $1.00 and I decided it would make the dish more interesting in lieu of elbows or spaghetti.

Here is what went into my dinner dish:

(1) pound Ground chuck (poor chuck)
(1) large chopped yellow onion
(1) large Green pepper, chopped
Garlic powder (Okay...stop right there! I usually ALWAYS have fresh garlic but the last bulb I had went bad and I did not realize it!! The HORROR!!)

I cooked the ground chuck (poor chuck), onion, pepper and garlic powder until the hamburger was done.
I drained the hamburger and added one can of Hunt's Roasted Onion and Garlic tomato sauce.

The two boxes of bow-ties were set to boiling with a dash of salt.

I steamed one bag of Edamame, then peeled them out of their shells. I added the edamame to the sauce.

Next I added one large container of fresh chopped white button mushrooms.
Next I added chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese (about 8 ounces just torn by hand)
I prefer fresh mozzarella in lieu of aged.
I decided I needed more sauce so I added one more can of the Hunt's Roasted Onion and garlic tomato sauce.

I drained the bow-ties and added them to my sauce (obviously I had already switched the hamburger and sauce to a larger pan!).

After the bow-ties were stirred in I added three large handfuls of fresh baby spinach.  I stirred it up well and served my family.  It went over pretty well.  The mushrooms were hidden pretty well but the soy beans stuck out!  It was really good and with all the extra mushrooms, soy beans and spinach, it did not need very much meat. It was not a favorite with my girls, but my hubby and son and I really enjoyed it!