Spaghetti

Cook 1/2 package of extra thin noodles. 

Saute 1 chopped green pepper in lard, when mostly done add 1 lb. ground beef to brown.  Then add:

4 cloves garlic, minced

grind pepper over all

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried basil

1-2 TBSP ground oregano

Salt

1 4oz. can mushroom pieces
2 15oz. cans tomato sauce

Simmer, add to drained noodles, let sit for a bit for flavors to absorb.

Amazing Pesto

POWER BASIL PESTO -Osage's infamous recipe

3-OZ OSAGE BASIL
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts, toasted
4 TBS virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp salt
1 to 2 cloves garlic
1-TBS Hot pasta water*

After lightly desteming the basil, blanch the basil for ~1 minute in boiling water. Remove the basil from the water with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander for a short time. This blanching gives the pesto a rich wonderful creamy texture.
In a blender or cuisinart blend the olive oil, garlic, salt and blanched basil. Blend for a minute and clean down the sides of the bowl. Add toasted nuts and blend. Last add the parmesan cheese.
Blend until creamy. * Hot Pasta water as needed. Best served fresh or room temperature.

This recipe is from Osage Gardens and it really is super tasty. They have many other herb recipes as well as other types of pesto recipes. I'll definitely be trying more of their recipes!

The blanching is what sets this pesto apart from other recipes I've seen or made. I don't mind the garlic but if you want the flavor of the basil to be prominent, use a smaller amount of garlic or possibly none at all.

White Pizza

Yum! Something a little different, and incredibly fast.

1 prepared pizza crust
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 c. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, divided
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
pepperoni slices if desired
seasonsed salt to taste

Place pizza crust on a lightly greased pizza pan or baking stone; bake at 425 degrees until dough rises, about 3-5 minutes. Spread garlic over crust; sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheeses. Arrange tomato and pepperoni slices on top; sprinkle with remaining cheese and seasoned salt. Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes.

No-Knead Parmesan-Garlic Bread

This recipe makes a beautiful, tasty loaf of bread (or two!). Great presentation and guaranteed to be enjoyed by all. Although it does take some time to make because of the rise time, it's really not very difficult to make. Try it for dinner with a great Italian meal.

Place oven rack below center of oven. Warm oven briefly.

Scald 1 cup of milk.

1 package active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 cup lukewarm milk from above (scalded then cooled)

¼ cup softened margarine or butter

¼ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoon salt

4-4 ½ cups all purpose flour

Parmesan-garlic filling:

          ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

          ½ cup margarine/butter softened

          3 tablespoons parsley flakes (I usually use just under 3 Tbsp)

          ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, margarine, sugar, eggs and salt. Stir in a cup of flour. Stir in remaining flour. Continue stirring scraping dough from side of the bowl, until soft sticky dough forms. Cover, let rise in a warm place until double, about one hour. (Dough is ready if indention remains when touched.) Stir down dough by beating about 25 strokes. Turn dough onto well floured surface; roll or pat in rectangle 18x12 inches. Spread Parmesan-garlic filling evenly over dough. Cut dough into 3 strips 18x4 inches. (I often make 2 smaller loaves because it makes one really HUGE loaf if not made into two and I have a hard time putting it on one cookie sheet.) Roll each strip into rope, pinch edges and ends to seal. Place ropes diagonally and close on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Braid ropes gently and loosely. Do not stretch. Pinch ends to fasten. Tuck under securely. Cover, let rise until 1 ½ times original size about 30 minutes. Mix one egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water, brush over braid. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional). Place oven rack below the center of the oven if it is not already there. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 25-30 minutes until braid is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. If braid is browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil.

Quick and Easy Pizza

I wouldn’t say we have a great crust recipe but it’s a super fast and easy recipe to make. We throw this together all the time. For awhile, we made this pizza every Sunday right after church. Our favorite way to make our pizza is with Sweet Baby Ray’s Original BBQ sauce, chopped cooked chicken, mozzarella and gouda cheese. Everyone loves this pizza but it’s more in the ingredients than the crust. I’ll also include our red sauce recipe as it’s easy and quick as well. The dough makes 2 large pizzas or 3-4 medium/small pizzas. Make sure you make the crust thin as this dough does not work with a thick crust! If we only want one pizza, we put the other half rolled in flour into a zip lock bag. It can be refrigerated for about a week or frozen and later thawed.


7 Minute Pizza Dough
4 ½ cups flour
1 ¾ tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
¼ cup olive oil (optional)-we always use it
1 ¾ cup ice cold water

Mix in bread machine for 7 minutes. Makes 2-4 pizzas depending upon size.


Pizza Sauce
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
A little less than one tablespoon oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp garlic (crushed/powdered) We usually use crushed

We cook our large pizzas in the oven at 425 degrees F for between 15-18 minutes

Spicy Italian Beef (Sandwiches)

1 boneless beef roast (3-4 lbs)
1 jar (12 oz) peperoncini
1 can (14 1/2 oz) beef broth
1 can (12 oz) beer
1 pkg. (1 oz) Italian salad dressing mix
1 loaf French bread, sliced thick
10 slices provolone cheese (optional)

Trim fat from roast. Cut if necessary to fit in slow cooker, leaving meat in as many large pieces as possible. Place in slow cooker.

Drain peppers, remove stem ends and discard. Add peppers, broth, beer and dressing mix to slow cooker; do not stir. Cover; cook on low 8-10 hours.

Remove meat from slow cooker; shred with 2 forks. Return shredded meat to slow cooker; mix well. Serve on French bread, topped with cheese, if desired. Add add'l sauce and peppers if desired.

Spaghetti Pie

1 cup ricotta cheese
6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

Crust
6 oz vermicelli, cooked and drained
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp dried basil

Filling
1/2 lb ground beef
3/4 lb Italian sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup white wine

To make crust, combine vermicelli with other "crust ingredients. Chop mixture with a knife and press mixture into a 10-inch pie plate.

To make filling, cook ground beef, Italian sausage and onion together. Drain fat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat thoroughly.

To assemble pie, spread ricotta cheese on "crust". Top with filling and cover with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. I put a piece of foil under the pie while it's cooking since it sometimes drips.

You can make one really big pie or two smaller ones for a 3 person dinner each. They freeze really well.

Chicken Tetrazzini

This is a recipe from my Aunt Jennifer. Bekah just loves it and eats all that we will put on her plate. By the way, I tried just using 2 % milk instead of half & half and it totally didn't work. The sauce was way too thin.

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half (I often use whole milk)
4 cups cut-up cooked chicken
1 pkg (8 oz) spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 Tbsp sherry
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sliced olives
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Put cooked spaghetti into a baking dish and set aside.

Heat butter in 3-quart casserole at medium-low for 2 minutes, or until melted: stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually add broth and half & half (or milk): stir until smooth. Cook at medium 7-8 minutes, or until sauce is thickened: stir three tiems. Add Parmesan cheese and sir until melted. Add sherry and stir into sauce.

Add sauce to the spaghetti. Stir in chicken and olives. Top with grated cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Crepes & Manicotti

My husband's favorite food is manicotti. I used to buy the shells at the store and cook them and try to stuff them with the cheese filling. It takes forever, makes a mess and is a LOT of work. Once, when we ordered manicotti at Buca de' Bepos it seemed like their shells were very similar to crepes. I went home and tried my crepe recipe and they turned out delicious. My husband requested that I always make the crepe version from then on.

This recipe is a regular crepe recipe so if you like crepes, try making them and filling with fruit or more savory fillings. Look ideas up for fillings online. If you want to make the manicotti, just go to allrecipes.com and look for a good manicotti filling recipe and use these as the shells.

This recipe originates from my Vita-Mix cookbook so I always make it in my blender.

1 cup skim evaporated milk

4 eggs or egg substitute

1 tablespoon sugar or other sweetener, to taste

1 cup all-purpose flour

Pour approx. 3 tablespoons of batter onto hot, lightly buttered crepe pan or 8 inch fry pan. Tilt to spread batter. Crepe is done when set on top and lightly browned on bottom.

I always use a regular frying pan. One with rounded edges works best. Try to make these as thinly as possible and they'll work better. I usually flip my crepe just briefly. Don't overcook or they'll be brown and crispy.

Manicotti Filling Recipe

2 eggs

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 container ricotta cheese

½ cup parmesan cheese

½ cup Monterey Jack cheese

1 tablespoon minced garlic

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 tablespoons sour cream

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Make sure to use less parsley/basil if using dried.

Bon Appetit

Italian Chicken Noodle Skillet

Fast and easy, this recipe is wonderful for a quick dinner - especially if you happen to already have all the ingredients on hand!

Italian Chicken Noodle Skillet

1-3/4 cups egg noodles (or other pasta)
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes in sauce
1 10.75oz can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet stir in tomatoes and soup until blended. Stir in the chicken, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 5-8 minutes or until heated through. Drain noodles; stir into skillet. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese; cover until cheese is melted.

Makes: 4 servings
Time: 20 minutes

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Spaghetti & Meatballs

1 12oz pkg spaghetti or angel hair
1 28oz jar spaghetti sauce
1 batch of 30 meatballs (frozen or thawed)
Grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. (I usually only make enough pasta for one meal - since the sauce & meatballs lasts my husband and I two meals, I cook up fresh pasta each night and just re-heat the sauce)

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine spaghetti sauce and meatballs; cover and simmer for 10-20 minutes or until the meatballs are heated through, depending on if they're frozen or thawed.

Serve over spaghetti; top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Yield: 4 servings.
Time: 20 min.