This only takes about an hour to make, so put it together then pour a glass of the grape and get ready to enjoy a wonderful dish on a Friday night.
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 chorizo sausages, casings removed
- 3 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3-4 drops of hot sauce
- 1 -796 ml can of plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 lb. container smooth ricotta
- 1 1/2 cups Asiago cheese, grated
- 6 fresh lasagna noodles
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Heat oil in a deep 10 inch fry pan that is oven safe. Add the onion and cook until transparent (3 minutes). Add the sausages and cook until browned. Now the mushrooms, garlic and hot sauce and cook until the mushrooms are soft.
Stir in tomatoes and reduce the heat to medium. Gently simmer until the sauce thickens (12-16 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl.
Stir the beaten egg, ricotta and 1/2 half of the Asiago cheese in a bowl.
Spread 1 heaping cup of the meat mixture on the bottom of the fry pan (one you have been using). Cover with 2 lasagna noodles, making sure to cut to fit. Layer with 1 heaping cup of the meat mixture and half the ricotta mixture. Repeat layers, ending with the meat mixture.
Bring this to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.
Broil in centre of oven until cheeses are melted and browned. 2-3 minutes. Serve with garlic toast, wine/beer and you are set.
Pizza-Spanakopita Style
If you love Greek food you will love this pizza. It can be served as an Appetizer for your party or just nibblies during hockey night viewing.
- 1 bag of fresh baby spinach, stems removed
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup, extra smooth ricotta
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
- 1 cup crumbled Feta
- 1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 450g pkg of all butter, puff pastry (2 rolls), thawed
- 1 egg
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove middle rack, making sure one rack is in the top third of the oven and one in the bottom third. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Boil a large pot of water and add the spinach, cooking until wilted (60 seconds). Drain and rinse under cold water. Place in a tea towel and wring out excess liquid. Chop the spinach.
Heat a frypan and add the onion and garlic, cooking until the onion is lightly brown. Add the spinach and ricotta and reduce the heat. Cook until all liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat, add the dill, 1/2 cup Feta and nutmeg. Set aside.
Unroll the pastry onto the cookie sheets. Use a sharp knife to score a 1/2 inch border around each pastry sheet. Then dock the pastry all over with a fork. Beat the egg in a small bowl and brush evenly over the pastry.
Bake in the oven, switching the pans around halfway through baking time (about 14-15 minutes) until lightly golden in colour and puffy.
Remove from the oven, divide the spinach mixture between the two pans and spread out to the scored edges. Sprinkle the remaining feta over the tops and continue baking until the pastry and feta are golden in colour, again switching the pans around halfway through the 12-13 minute baking time. Slice and serve.
OMG! Yummy….
Delightful Focaccia Bread
This is a wonderful focaccia bread to have with a freshly made salad on the patio, chilled glass of…you know….sun shining, what more is there? You will love this and it is easy to make.
- 1 store-bought pizza dough (fresh)1 lb. wt.
- 2 tbsp. cornmeal
- 3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
- 1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 400g container ricotta cheese
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and diced small
- 2 tbsp. Turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
- 2 tsp. fleur de sel
Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic and set sit for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Invert baking sheet and sprinkle the cornmeal generously over it. Place the dough on the sheet. Dip your fingers into the melted butter and gently, but firmly, spread the dough out to cover the entire sheet. Brush the top with more melted butter.
Arrange the grapes, rosemary and ricotta cheese and cold butter evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle the surface with sugar and salt.
Bake for about 15 minutes until the crust is a golden brown and puffed around the edges. Serve warm.
Was I right? Hmmmm? Yummy.
Baked Cheese Blintz
When we operated our Bed and Breakfast we had soooooooo many recipes to use. After all, we spent a year trying, adjusting, tasting and tweeking some more the recipes we wanted to prepare and serve. (sometimes just saying that makes me laugh and sound like a mad scientist).
Filling
- 1 pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla
Blintz
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup mango juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the ricotta cheese, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla and thoroughly combined. Set aside.
To make the blitz, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat well.
You need two small bowls…one to mix together the flour and baking powder and the other to mix together the yogurt and mango juice. Add these two bowls alternately into the egg mixture and blend thoroughly.
Pour half the batter into a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish. Cover the batter with the filling (carefully) making sure to spread to the edges.
Bake for about 50 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove and serve with fresh fruit. This will make 8 people very happy.
Another Stuffed French Toast
I love French Toast and this is just another way to make it up. It looks good and tastes great.
- 1 loaf brioche bread
- 8 oz. ricotta cheese (beaten until smooth)
- 1 tp. vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon flavouring
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- pinch of ground cinamon
- Icing sugar
Slice the loaf into 10 slices. Mix together the ricotto cheese and vanilla and spread over five slices and cover with the remaining five.
Beat together the remaining ingredients and dip the sandwiches into the mixture. Grill slowly in frypan until golden. Remove from pan and plate each sandwich. Dust with icing sugar and add a couple pieces of fruit on the side.
Serve with warm pure maple syrup. Yummy!