Swedish Meatballs

These were one of my all time favorites as a kid, although my mother used to make them with hamburger patties instead of meatballs (and serve it with mashed potatoes instead of egg noodles, but still). With it being September and getting ready for fall, I notice my taste buds change and I start craving different foods - this being one of them. However, this is not one of those fancy recipes that takes a large amount of time which means its perfect for a quick dinner.

INGREDIENTS

30-40 meatballs, pre-cooked (I used frozen store bought and just heated them up)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can milk (fill soup can)
1 tsp liquid smoke
Egg noodles (or mashed potatoes)
Parsley (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine soup, milk, and liquid smoke in slow cooker. You can add additional milk if you want a thinner gravy. Mix well. Add meatballs and cook until thoroughly heated. I heat on high for about an hour then place on warm until we are ready to eat.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Strain.

Serve with meatballs and gravy on top of noodles, garnish with parsley if desired.

Cilantro-Serrano Pesto with Grilled Chicken and Penne

We've become big fans of pesto so I'm always on the look out for more recipes to try, and this one is a hit. I was a little leery of the ingredients at first, but after that first bite I was hooked. The hardest part of this recipe is grilling the chicken which is pretty easy, so you can only imagine how difficult it is - all in all its perfect for a weeknight or anytime you need a quick meal. We served it up with a nice mixed green salad and glass of wine.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 C Fresh Cilantro

1/2 C Fresh mint

1/2 C Cotija Cheese

3 Tbl pecans

1 tsp kosher salt

3 garlic cloves

1 serrano chile, seeded and sliced

2 Tbl EVOO

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/8 tsp black pepper

3/4 Lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

Cooking spray

6 C cooked penne

2 C sliced cherry tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

Place cilantro and next 6 ingredients (through chiles) into a food processor and process until smooth. Slowly add EVOO until well blended. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in vinegar and black pepper.

Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat chicken with cooking spray and add to pan. Cook completely, about 5 minutes on each side. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Add chicken and penne to pesto, mix to coat. Top with tomato slices.

***NOTE: I was a little hesitant about the tomatoes, but they add great flavor and work well with the rest of the flavors. Sooo yummy!

Penne and Vodka Sauce

On days when you want to splurge, when heavy cream is not against the diet, and bacon is for more than just breakfast, this is an AMAZING dish. Unfortunately, since these wonderful ingredients are involved, I don't make this very often for fear of needing to buy bigger clothes. Yes, this should be post at sometime OTHER than the beginning of the year when so many of us are focusing on eating healthy and avoiding foods high in fat and calories, but the cold weather just doesn't warrant a salad so, here it is.

INGREDIENTS

3 Tbls Olive oil, divided
9 oz Bacon, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
1 C Vodka
1 1/2 C Heavy cream
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 Tbl Italian Seasoning (or basil and oregano)
1/3 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 Tbls chopped parsley
1 Lb Penne

DIRECTIONS

Heat 2 Tbls olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy; spooning out excess fat.

Add remaining Tbls olive oil and heat. Add green onions and cook until soft (about 3-5 minutes).

Add vodka, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by about half (important to reduce/remove alcohol taste in sauce).

Add cream and again cook until reduced by about half.

Add the tomato sauce and italian seasoning, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and keep sauce warm until pasta is cooked.

Serve sauce over penne and sprinkle with parsley and parmigiano-reggiano. Enjoy!

***CAUTION: Sauce may splatter, if this happens, reduce heat.

This sauce is great over cheese stuffed tortellini also.

Lasagna on a cold, winter night

After a weekend of miserable winter storms in Texas, including freezing rain and icy bridges, I woke up this morning to the smell of burning heat. Turns out the motor in our heater needed to be replaced due, luckily my husband and his father will be fixing it tonight. Meanwhile, the heater is OFF and the weather is still in the freezing range, which of course means my house is getting colder and colder. So, since my in-laws are coming over to a cold house, its only fair that I make dinner, and prevent frostbite, I'll BAKE something to help add heat - so the consensus is lasagna. What a perfect cold weather food!!!

So here it is, one of the first recipes I ever discovered AND one of the reasons I enjoy cooking so much now. The one comment for the recipe is that I'm a big fan of sauce, and I think this one is a little shy on the sauce so I always add more, but never record how much - go figure. Hopefully I can remember to take some pictures to add here before we dive into the lasagna head first!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
12 dry lasagna noodles
2 eggs, beaten
1 pint part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef, onion and garlic; drain fat. Mix in basil, oregano, brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles, and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until al dente; drain. Lay noodles flat on towels, and blot dry.

In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, parsley and 1 teaspoon salt.
Layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover noodles with 1/2 ricotta mixture, 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese and 1/3 of the sauce. Repeat. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

***I always divide the left-overs into serving size pieces and put them in the freezer; they are PERFECT to take for work lunch. I do notice the sauce seems to reduce this way and they always seem slightly drier later on. I'll continue to play with the recipe to get the perfect amount of sauce and update it on here when I do.

Easy-peasy Pesto and Penne

This is one of our all-time favorite dishes, and it is so simple which makes it even better. Anytime you are looking for a great pasta recipe that you can whip up in a flash and impress anyone - this is your dish. Just follow these few key rules and you can't go wrong:

1. You need a food processor - the small one seems to work best for this, but only because I think the large one is too big so I haven't used it for this.
2. You must use fresh basil (or the fresh in a tube basil) - dried will NOT work.
3. You must use fresh parmesan, the canned spaghetti cheese is not a good substitute.

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces penne pasta
1 (8.5-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Meanwhile, blend the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, and basil in a food processor and blend until the tomatoes are finely chopped. Transfer the tomato mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the Parmesan.

Add the pasta to the pesto and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper and serve. (I never add the extra liquid)