Tag: mozzarella

Recipes and Cooking

Ravioli Lasagna with Leftover Tomato Bisque

Brandi C

Ravioli Lasagna with Leftover Tomato Bisque

Ravioli Lasagna with Leftover Tomato Bisque

Ravioli Lasagna with Leftover Tomato Bisque is something that I made this past week that was super easy and utilized leftovers. I am not one to waste food. Typically, my family doesn’t mind eating leftovers, so I’m pretty lucky in that department. We are doing some shelf-cooking and so I used (mainly) what I had on hand. I did have to go out and buy some fresh cheese filled ravioli. This is what I made but I am going to add in here what I will do the next time because it sounds good.

What I Actually Cooked

First, I utilized the bacon and fire roasted tomato bisque that I had leftover from a couple of nights ago. I could have just eaten it up, as soup again, but I wanted something a bit different. In my 13×9 greased dish, I put a layer of the fresh cheese filled ravioli, then the sauce, mozzarella, and repeated those layers. I cooked that, covered, at 350 for about 30 minutes. Then, I took the cover off and baked for another 10 minutes. I let it set for about 5 minutes before serving. It was delicious.

What I Will Do Next Time

This is where I get excited! Taking something I threw together to see if it would work and then expounding on it to make it even better. That way, I have 3 recipes in my arsenal of goodness. I have the tomato bisque, the easy ravioli bake, and then the adult version of that ravioli bake. Makes my heart happy.

I would like brown up some ground beef with garlic, onion, Italian seasoning, and my seasoning. Drain that off. In that same skillet, I would cook up some fresh portobello mushrooms, chopped up spinach, and some peppers (red, orange, and yellow). Add the meat back to that skillet and incorporate all of that together and then add your leftover soup to heat it all through.

In that greased 13×9 dish (oven set to 350 to preheat), layer a bit of the sauce on the bottom, then your ravioli (get 2 bags), then more of the sauce. Next add some mozzarella, fresh parmesan to the top and repeat the layers ending with the cheese. Cover and bake for the same time frame as before.

Does that not sound sublime??!!

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Recipes and Cooking

Pizza Spaghetti Bake

Brandi C

Pizza Spaghetti Bake

Pizza Spaghetti Bake

I will write down what I did in this Pizza Spaghetti Bake because it was good! Yet, I will also write what I will add/do differently. I feel like all recipes need to be tweaked in some form or fashion, so this is pretty typical.

Ingredients

Beef

Onion

Minced Garlic

Pepperoni, chopped (and some whole for the top)

Next time, do a pound of beef and a pound of sausage.

Seasoning

Italian Seasoning

Rosemary

2 packets of spaghetti mix

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

Next time, I will add a jar of pizza sauce.

2 cans of mushrooms, drained

Chopped spinach

Panko

Parmesan

Cottage Cheese

1 egg

Mozzarella

Penne Noodles

Directions

Boil noodles and drain according to directions.

Cook beef, chopped pepperoni, onion, garlic, and seasoning (sausage if used) and drain. Put back in the pot. Next, add mushrooms and chopped spinach. Then, add the Italian seasoning, Rosemary, and spaghetti packets. Mix well.

Next up, add the spaghetti sauce (and about a quarter of that same jar, put some water to add). If you are also using pizza sauce, add it. Mix well. Add in some panko, parmesan, a couple of handfuls of mozzarella, cottage cheese, and the egg. Stir and keep warm until your noodles are done.

Finally, mix the meat mixture with the noodles and spread it in a greased 13×9 dish. Top with mozzarella and whole pepperoni—Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

 

 

Recipes and Cooking

Chicken Alfredo Soup

Brandi C

Chicken Alfredo Soup

Chicken Alfredo Soup

Just go ahead and slap your mama. Dang, it. This Chicken Alfredo Soup is now tied for first place for Big Daddy. The other two are Easy White Chicken Chili with Cream Cheese and Pizza Soup Recipe. Frankly, I am impressed with myself.

Ingredients

3 cans of chicken, drained (feel free to use chicken breasts because you can use the broth)

Seasoning

Onion

Garlic

3/4 c. butter

3/4 c. flour

1 c. heavy cream

Sour Cream

Chicken bouillon

Water

Parmesan

Mozzarella

Pasta

Directions

Saute up the cut-up onion and garlic in butter. Once sauteed, add in your flour and cook that down a bit. Get your whisk out and add 2 c. water. Whisk that all in really well. Now, I wish I could tell you how much chicken bouillon I used, but I used that paste. I think I did about 2 Tbsps. Sprinkle with your seasoning.

Once that is incorporated, add more water and keep stirring. I did this in my Instant Pot on saute mode, by the way. You will notice your “roux” is getting thicker. I think I did about 5 c. water. You can adjust accordingly. Add your chicken and parmesan.

Moving On

Let’s talk pasta real quick. I used bowtie pasta. I brought my water to a boil in my pot (not the instant pot). Once it came to a boil, I seasoned it and added my pasta. Drain and then add to your roux.

Next time, I might use a couple of boxes of Ditalini pasta or maybe cut up fettucini. The bowties were fine and good, but I think I want a smaller type, like a small rigatoni. Ugh, I need to go and look at all the types or make my own. Do you know what would be good? Putting in cheese tortellini. Cause, yum!

Anyway

Once I got all that in the pot, I added the heavy and sour cream. If you cook this in an instant pot, you must keep stirring because it will start to burn on the bottom. Baby it! In the end, I added about 2 cups (I know, I know) of mozzarella. Keep tasting to adjust the seasoning. Remember, you can always add seasoning, but you can’t take it out if you put too much in there. Start small and add as you like!

Dang, this was good. Had my Oak been here, I would’ve slapped her face 🙂 Then, she would have slapped me back, LOL.

 

Recipes and Cooking

Pizza Soup Recipe

Brandi C

Pizza Soup Recipe

Pizza Soup Recipe

Is it a secret that I love soup? I don’t believe it is. So, without further ado, here is my Pizza Soup Recipe. It’s a keeper! Bart says it is tied for first for his favorite soups. The other is White Chicken Chili. I did this all in the Instant Pot, but you can do it on the stovetop!

Ingredients

2# sausage

2# ground beef

Pepperoni

You Can add any meat you want here or combine your favorite meat toppings in this soup. Also, if you like a lot of veggies on your pizza, chop them up and add them here because you want to cook them down a bit. I want to use peppers, but my husband doesn’t care. Mushrooms would be good!

1 onion

Minced Garlic

Seasoning

Italian Seasoning

Rosemary

1 jar of pizza sauce

Water (I believe I filled up the pizza sauce jar 3x and put it in there. Eyeball it.)

2 cans of Tomato Soup

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

Mozzarella

Directions

On the saute mode (Instant Pot), combine the meats, onion, minced garlic, and seasoning. Cook until done, and drain if you need to. Once done, put it back in the pot and add your Italian Seasoning and Rosemary.

Next, add the sauce, water, and soups. Stir well and then place the lid on, seal, manual, for about 8-10 minutes. Everything is cooked, so you want to meld the flavors. Once done, use the quick release. Stir in your mozzarella. Again, put as much in there as you wish. I may have used 2 cups cause we like cheese!

Enjoy!

Oh, my original plan was to add a box of Ditalini noodles to it. I would have boiled them in saltwater on the stovetop. Then drained it and then added it to the instant pot. I have found that if I cook noodles that small in the IP, they get mushy.

 

Recipes and Cooking

Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

Brandi C

Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

I started making just a cheesy type of lasagna, and then my brain started thinking. This quarantine has forced me to do more shelf cooking, which I do. It has also got me thinking outside of the box. So, I came up with a Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna. It was good!

Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

2 packages of no-boil lasagna noodles (you can use the kind you boil, I don’t enjoy that)

2 packets of Ranch Mix

3 cans of evaporated milk

2 cans of canned chicken, drained and broken up with a fork. (I might use a 3rd can the next time)

1 jar of Alfredo sauce (you can make this homemade though)

Seasoning

Nutritional yeast (optional)

Fresh Spinach, cut up

Cheddar

Mozzarella

Parmesan

Directions

Combine your evaporated milk, ranch, seasoning, and nutritional yeast in a saucepan. I stirred that well and brought it up to a boil. Then, I added the alfredo sauce. I stirred until that was good and combined. It allowed it to thicken a bit. Once combined, I added the canned chicken.

In a greased 13×9 dish, place a bit of sauce on the bottom. Then, I layered the no-boil noodles—next, more of the sauce, mozzarella, and cheddar. Then sprinkle with parmesan and add a layer of fresh Spinach. Continue layering until you end with the sauce and cheeses.

Baking

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for about 30 minutes. Then take out and take a knife around the edge of the pan to make sure the noodles are soaked. I put mine back in for another 10 minutes. You could cover it at this time if you want to keep it from burning. This is done to ensure that the noodles are cooked through.

Pull out and sit for about 10 minutes before cutting to help the lasagna set up correctly.

 

Recipes and Cooking

Chicken Asparagus Pasta Bake

Brandi C

Chicken Asparagus Pasta Bake

Chicken Asparagus Pasta Bake

I’m just going to write this how I cooked it, so it will not be like a list and the instructions.

K?

K.

Without further ado, here is my Chicken Asparagus Pasta Bake.

In my instant pot, I placed 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts. I put them on the trivet with a cup of water. The chicken was frozen. Once I put the lid on, I just put it in the “poultry” setting.

When cooking, I took 2 bunches of asparagus and cut off the woody parts. I cut the rest of it into bite-sized pieces. You could also substitute broccoli, but Big Daddy does not like the broccoli and chicken combo :/

When the chicken was done, I put it in my kitchen aid, and I used that to shred the chicken (aka brilliant idea, so thanks to youtube for showing me that). I added my seasoning mix and the asparagus in that same pot where I shredded the chicken. I thought it looked a bit dry, so I put in 2 cans of cream of mushroom and about a half cup of sour cream.

Instant Pot

In the instant pot, I put in a box of elbow macaroni with a 1/2 stick of butter. I add enough water to cover the pasta. I set the pot on the manual for 6 minutes. While that was cooking, I made a white sauce. It was 2 T. butter to 2 T. flour. I whisked that together in a pan until it was mixed well. Once I mixed it, I added a cup of milk. I stirred that (it will stick) until it was thick, and then I took it off the heat and added about 2 c. mozzarella. With as much pasta and chicken as I had, I should’ve doubled it, and it would’ve been good with some cream cheese!

Oven Time

I greased a 13×9 pan but realized I needed something big to stir it all together. Also, I realized that I made a lot, so I greased another 11×9 pan to freeze for a later meal. I mixed the pasta, the chicken/asparagus mixture, more seasoning, Italian breadcrumbs, and a little leftover mozzarella.

I put it all in the dish, covered it, and cooked it at 350 for 45 minutes. Then I took the aluminum off and cooked it for another 5 minutes.

It. Was. Good.