Thursday, January 21, 2016

Italian Sausage, Sweet Peppers and Onion Baked Rigatoni!!

OMGOSH YUM!!!

You'll need:
Sweet red, yellow & orange peppers
Quarter of a large onion (I chose red)
1 lb of Italian sausage
Rigatoni noodles (I used the whole box so I could make 2 meals and freeze one for later)
Large can of crushed tomatoes
Large can of whole peeled tomatoes
garlic, oregano & salt to taste
Ricotta (small container will work)
Parmesan
Mozzerella
Provolone
Wine

Begin by pouring yourself a glass of wine. It's necessary when making Italian food! Then prep your veggies while you brown the sausage.

Once you add your veggies to the sausage, mix together the ricotta, parmesan and some S&P.                      

Next, add your tomatoes to the pot(both cans) and simmer on low for at least an hour.  You can go ahead and boil your noodles during the last ten minutes. I know the box says to boil for 12 minutes but this is going to bake for a while so 10 minutes is fine unless you want super mushy noodles.                                                                                                           
Once you've drained your noodles, mix in 2 ladles of your sauce then get ready to layer into 2 glass dishes that have been wiped with olive oil. First goes in your saucy noodles, some extra sauce, then your ricotta mixture. I find a bunch of tiny spoonfuls scattered is easier than spreading a larger clump. Like this...

Next step..more noodles, more sauce, add some sliced provolone and ALL of your mozzerella. This is one of my favorites, because cheese! Duh!!! 

Then finally, bake at 350 degrees for a half hour. Once you pull it out of your oven, or who ever's oven you happen to be using, PLEASE LET I SIT for 5-10minutes before cutting/spooning and serving. It needs a few minutes to set back up. TRUST ME, you'll appreciate this step. Plus it gives you more time to drink some more wine, then Bon Apetit! 

Complete, with a simple green salad!




                                                                           

Hot Stuff!! ;)

Honey, Sriracha & Lime Glazed Salmon

So, for the glaze, I mixed equal parts of honey and lime juice and brushed it on the salmon. I then sprinkled it with Sriracha powder. Broiled it for about 7mins. Perfection!!!

Sauteed the asparagus in olive oil. Easy! Just added some S&P.

The rice, I used I part Jasmine rice and instead of 1 and a half parts water, I used some low sodium soy sauce in place of the rice and cooked it untouched(duh!) for 20 minutes while I prepped and cooked everything else. Enjoy!! This was amazing!!!

Perfect Roasted Chicken & Veggies

You definitely need a good cast iron skillet for this dish!

You'll need:
Chicken leg quarters
Herbs de Provence
Sea Salt (I prefer coarse)
Butter
White Whine
Juice of 1 lemon

Asparagus
Shredded Parmesan
Fingerling Potatoes
Red Onion
Olive Oil

Season all veggies, spread on baking sheet and drizzle with good olive oil. Sprinkle asparagus with cheese and place in a 450 degree oven.

Get skillet really hot, season chicken all over with herbs and salt, add melted butter and place chicken in, skin side down. after about five minutes, flip browned chicken over and add the juice of one lemon and white wine to pan, very carefully. Turn heat off,  and place in oven, turn oven down to 400 degrees for a half hour.

Enjoy, I certainly did!!