Meaty, Cheesy Homemade Lasagna

Hey everyone! Today's post is one that is time consuming but totally worth it. Our friends, Jorge and Tricia, have been coming over this summer to try my new recipes. It has been so much fun and I am so thankful for their friendship. Good times....Anyway onto the recipe...this was the first of many meals I have made and will be making this summer. I had a blast making it and will make it again. I got it from my Pioneer Woman cookbook and when I saw it I knew it was a must have. Another thing that is so great about it is that you can assemble it and freeze until ready to bake. So if you are in the mood for amore you will fall in love with this...all it takes is one bite of this cheesy goodness and you will be sold.

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Salt
10 Oz. lasagna noodles
1 Lb. mozzarella Cheese
1 1/2 Lbs. hamburger
1 Lb. hot breakfast sausage
4 Finely chopped garlic cloves
2 14.5-Ounce cans whole tomatoes
2 6-Oz. cans tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper
10-12 Basil Leaves
1/4 Cup flat-leaf parsley
3 Cups low fat cottage cheese (I used ricotta cheese)
2 Beaten eggs
1 Cup grated parmesan cheese

Begin by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees
Now you can kind of do this recipe in a few different orders. In my cookbook it said to make the noodles and then make your sausage mixture; however, I decided to make the sausage mixture first so here it goes....

Grab a large skillet and combine your hamburger, hot sausage, and garlic cook until brown. You should be able to get this done over medium heat. When done drain off fat.


Wipe skillet clean and place meat back into it. Add tomatoes(with juice), tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Stir together and let simmer, uncovered, for about 45 min. I would recommend stirring occasionally just to make sure everything is getting cooked properly.


While this simmers, cut up some flat-leaf parsley and fresh basil. Add about half to the meat mixture.


Stir it all together and it should begin to look very yummy. Once done just set aside.


At this point it would be a good time to grate all your cheeses and have them ready.


In a medium sized bowl combing the cottage or ricotta cheese. Personally, I cannot handle cottage cheese which is why I substituted it for ricotta which is a great alternative but if you love it go for it! So before I went on my cottage cheese rant, I was saying that you add that, eggs, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, and the other half of the herbs.


Stir together well and all that is left is for you to make your noodles.


Simply get a large pot of water and add olive oil and a dash of salt. Allow to come to a boil and cook noodles until al dente (which basically means still a tad soft) I learned that from Italian cook Giada from the Food Network. Funny what you can learn from t.v...


When done drain the noodles and lay them on a plate covered with foil. Now all you have to do is assemble and cook! Take a deep rectangular pan. I used a 13 X 9 and it was perfect but whatever you think will work. Be sure and spray with PAM so that your lasagna does not stick. Place 4 noodles on the bottom of the pan. It is ok if they overlap. Then spread half of your cottage(ricotta) cheese mixture on top.


Sprinkle half of the mozzarella on top...It is beginning to look wonderful!!!


The last step is to add half of the meat mixture and then repeat beginning with the noodles...When everything is assembled the last thing to do is to add the other half of the parmesan on top... it should look like this...


Stick into the oven for about 35-45 min. The lasagna should be bubbly and a wonderful aroma should be coming from your oven. Allow to cool about 10 min. before serving.

When it is all said and done the finished product should make your mouth water.


OH MY GOODNESS.... this is so incredibly sensational. I also made some garlic bread which I was going to post the link for if you wanted to make it but the reason I am not posting it is because it was not very good. If you are really curious I believe it was called "Gotta Have it Garlic Bread" from Aaron McCargo Jr. However, I could not find the recipe online to post and it simply was not good enough to type out.


Oh man...


Enjoy and I know you will have love at first bite! Lots of amore from the Splendid Kitchen! See yall later!

Printable Directions:
Note that these printable directions are slightly different but all in all essentially the same especially since they are made by the Pioneer Woman too.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Grilled Fish Packets

Hey everyone! Happy early 4th of July! So I know that with this holiday weekend typically comes lots of food that tastes really good but is not so good for your body. Today I have a very tasty recipe that is EXTREMELY easy to make and very low in calories. I found it in my mom's new grilling cookbook called "Grilling Basics" by Linda Johnson Larsen and let me just say it is spicy and good!!! The fish becomes a bit flaky and best of all your vegetables are being grilled in the "pocket" also. Take a look below to see how easy it will be to make something health conscious this weekend and then you might want to look back on some old posts for some decedent desserts ;) From the Splendid Kitchen enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds cod filets
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 sliced red onion
1 sliced summer squash
2 sliced green bell peppers
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons lime juice
*Keep in mind any of these vegetables are interchangeable it could just possibly alter the taste of your fish. Also I omitted the green bell peppers because no one in my family really wanted them and everything was still delicious! Also there were just 3 of us eating this so I put 2 fish per packet and it was plenty of food. Otherwise, I would just suggest one per packet.*

Have your grocer cut you 6 strips of cod. Bring home and pat dry. Next mix salt, white pepper, cumin, paprika, and cayenne in a bowl.


Rub mixture onto cod on both sides. Also cut up vegetables.


Grab your heavy duty foil and tear off 6 18x12 inch sheets. If you do not have heavy duty be sure and either double or triple up your foil. Take one and place onion in center then add cod and top with remaining vegetables.


Combine melted butter and lime juice and pour over fish. Wrap up foil folding long side over once and then folding the short sides up so that nothing will leak out.



Then place on the grill, over medium heat, for about 15-20 min. moving around with a large spatula so they cook evenly. Be sure not to flip over otherwise the juices will spill out.



When done, take off grill and you will see a whole meal put together. I can not tell y'all how good these are!!!


Let me know if you give these a try and tell me what you think of them. Keep in mind they are spicy so feel free to cut back on the spices a bit if needed. God Bless America from the Splendid Kitchen!

Printable Directions:
-Combine salt, white pepper, cumin, paprika, and cayenne together.
-Pat onto both sides of fish.
-Tear off 6 18x12 inch sheets of heavy duty foil and place onion in center followed by the fish and then the remaining vegetables.
-Combine butter and lime and drizzle over fish.
-Fold up foil and place on grill, moving around and grilling for about 15-20 min.
-Unwrap and either serve as is or place on plate.

Pioneer Woman's Beef and Cheese Enchiladas

Hey everyone! I do not know about y'all but I can never seem to get enough of mexican food. It doesn't matter what it is if it involves having chips and salsa before I am there! A few weeks ago I decided to make these enchiladas not exactly knowing what to expect. I will say that the bar was very high because my mom makes killer cheese enchiladas. The great part about this is that I really cannot compare them to my moms because these were beef enchiladas and good ones might I add. Keep in mind I am a Texas girl so my standards for mexican food are up there. :) Give these a try though...you will not be disappointed. Now go turn on some salsa music and get ready for a mexican fiesta!

Ingredients:
FOR THE SAUCE:
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
2 cups Chicken Broth
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro

FOR THE MEAT:
1-½ pound Ground Beef
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
½ teaspoons Salt

FOR THE TORTILLAS:
10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
½ cups Canola Oil

TO ASSEMBLE:
3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
½ cups Chopped Black Olives (optional)
1 cup Chopped Green Onions
½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Before I begin I would like to mention a few things I would change. First off, I would not use as much red sauce as is recommended in the directions. Simply because my enchiladas came out soupy...they still tasted good but a bit soupy. Secondly, I would dip your tortillas in the sauce one at a time, filling them as you go. Thirdly, I did not include the green onions because we had normal onion. Lastly, I don't like black olives so I did not include those! Now I will get off my soap box and get on with this delicious dish!

The first thing you are going to do is make the sauce. So in a saucepan over med.-low heat add canola oil and flour. Mix and allow to come to a "bubble" for about a minute. Now I am sure you can see in my picture below that that did not happen for me. I would recommend adding a bit more canola oil or simply moving on like I did. I don't know if that was the right decision but it worked for me.

Now pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, salt, and pepper and bring up to a boil. In this case I would recommend maybe using 20 oz. of red sauce but it is up to you. After it comes to a boil dial down the heat a bit to a simmer and let sit while preparing other ingredients.


So as your sauce simmers begin to work on the meat. You will need to chop up your onion and add it to a skillet with the ground beef. You will cook this, moving it around, until brown.


Then drain the mixture and place back in skillet.


Now add the green chilies and salt. Stir until combined and then set aside.


Tortilla time! In a small skillet lightly fry tortillas in canola oil, taking them out when the soften and and allowing them to drain on a towel lined plate.


Gather you tortillas, sauce, meat, and cheese and form an assembly line. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Now take 1/2 cup of your sauce and spread in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan.


Next, dip each tortilla into the sauce one at a time. Here is one other thing I would do differently. She did them all at once and then stuffed them; however, my tortillas ended up sticking together so next time I will dip it in the sauce and immediately stuff. Unfortunately, my pictures are not done that way so bear with me.


After, you have dipped the tortillas, stuff them with ground beef mixture and cheese. (If you choose now would also be the time to add the black olives and green onions.) Roll them all up and put them in the pan...hmmm sounds like a nursery rhyme I used to sing :)


Add the cilantro to the sauce and pour over enchiladas. Now sprinkle as much cheese as your heart desires!




Bake for about 20 min. or until bubbly (mine had to cook for a while longer) . Take out and sprinkle a little cilantro on top if you so please. I would say to let cool a bit but we just could not wait.


Serve with some rice and maybe some chips and homemade salsa. Yum!
What is great about these is that if you have left overs they are even better the next day. I think because the sauce gets to absorb a bit more. Anyway, de la cocina espléndida disfrutar! (from the Splendid Kitchen Enjoy!)

Printable Recipe:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/simple-perfect-enchiladas/