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Thursday Night Recipe Exchange: Spinach Recipes
Recipe Exchange cross-posted at Balloon-Juice.
I thought last week went really well. Thanks for playing along. This week we delve into spinach recipes. I used to hate spinach. This is probably because I am a child of the 70′s and the only spinach I ever saw was canned or frozen, with the consistency of slime. As an adult I discovered fresh, baby spinach and I never looked back. One of my favorite spinach recipes is Spinach Lasagna.
JeffreyW's stuffed manicotti with spinach
To get us started:
Spinach Lasagna
This is one of my most requested recipes. Every time I make it, someone wants the recipe. Since the prep time is long, I usually only break it out for special occasions. It freezes well, so you can make a double batch and freeze two 8×8 pans of uncooked lasagna for two more meals. Thaw the night before (in the refrigerator) and cook until heated through, about 45 minutes to an hour. This recipe is great vegetarian, or you can add ground beef and sausage if desired.
This recipe takes about an hour to prepare and another hour to cook. It easily serves 6 – 8
Sauce:
- 3-15 oz cans tomato sauce
- 2-6 oz cans tomato paste
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp oregano, crushed
- 3 tsp basil, crushed
- 3 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 medium carrot, peeled & finely grated
- pinch of sugar (reduces acidity of the tomatoes)
- Optional: ½ lb ground beef and ½ spicy Italian sausage, browned
Saucepan
Add all ingredients to saucepan on medium-high, stirring constantly until it begins to boil lightly. Turn to low and let simmer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Lasagna:
- 1 pkg lasagna noodles (16 oz), cooked and placed in cool water until layering*
- 16 oz ricotta cheese
- 8 oz fresh baby spinach, washed and dried and chopped
- 1 egg
- 12 oz sliced mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
13×9 baking dish (I prefer glass), lightly oiled
To prepare: Mix ricotta, spinach and egg until well blended. Ladle a layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Cover in a single layer of noodles. Ladle sauce over noodles. Spoon ½ of the ricotta mixture evenly (if you place large dollops evenly like putting cookie dough on a baking sheet, fairly close together, it will spread as it cooks, no need to smooth it). Layer 1/3 of the mozzarella over the ricotta. Repeat: noodles, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles. On top of the last layer of noodles, add remaining sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, uncovered – I like to place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any spills as it bubbles. Place knife through the center, if it comes out heated through, remove and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. If it needs more cooking time, you can cover with foil to keep the cheese from burning and cook 10 more minutes. Let stand uncovered before serving.
*if you’d like to make your own noodles, here is the recipe I use:
Lasagna Noodles
When I do make the pasta, I make three, pan-sized noodles, rolled very, very thin. I place them uncooked in the dish, so they absorbed much of the sauce. I usually make a bit extra sauce to serve on the side with the lasagna.
- 3 cups unbleached flour
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup water
In a large bowl, add flour. Make a well in the center and add egg yolks, eggs and salt. Mix well with a fork. Mix in water, 1 tbsp at a time until dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a well floured board or pastry sheet. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Roll one ball out as thin as possible (I use a marble rolling pin, you can also use a pasta machine). Make sure to cover remaining balls with a damp towel until ready to use. Cut to fit pan. Repeat with remaining dough until you have 3 pan sized noodles. DO NOT COOK homemade noodles before putting lasagna together. Follow directions above for putting lasagna together.
Next Week: Favorite Super Bowl Food
Christmas Eve: Turkey Dinner with Traditional Side Dishes
Bald Eagle from my hike the other day. Wish I had my camera, not just my cell phone
Would we still have turkey if it had become our national bird instead of the Bald Eagle?
The menu is set for Saturday. I’m doing an Orange Glazed Turkey. The sides will be Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Oven Baked Stuffing, Green Beans with Bacon and Onions, Spinach-Raspberry-Walnut Salad and Homemade Cranberry Sauce. Appetizers will be Tomato-Basil Crostini, Chips w/Dip and a Raw Vegetable tray. Dessert will be a Dark Chocolate Torte with a Dark Chocolate Ganache (this recipe with a chocolate ganache* instead of confectioner’s sugar) and Fruit Pie Cookies.
I’m still trying to decide if I’m going to mull cider or not.
I’ll add more recipes as I go along.
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*Chocolate Ganache
- 6 oz dark chocolate
- 6 oz heavy cream
Double boiler (I use a metal bowl over a saucepan with about an 1 inch of water)
Place chocolate and cream in top of boiler, bring water in bottom half to a boil, reduce heat to med-high and let chocolate melt, stirring occasionally. When completely melted, remove from heat and stir until cream and chocolate are completely mixed. Let cool and pour over cooled cake.
What’s For Lunch?
I hear this question almost every day. Usually after I’ve heated my soup or leftovers. Especially the soups. Nothing warms an office like the smell of a hot, spicy soup on a cold fall day.
So what is for lunch today? How about a tomato vegetable soup? The key to keeping it fresh is how the pasta is cooked. I boil it separately, draining it when it is on the firm side of al dente. If I’m serving the soup right away, I add it the last 5 minutes and let it soak up the flavors without becoming mushy. If it’s for lunch, I bring the pasta and soup separately and combine before I reheat. You can use any pasta you like, but I think the mini-pastas work well – ditalini, tiny shells or tiny elbows – they hold their firmness the best.
Ditalini Pasta
Spicy Vegetable Soup
- 12 oz pasta, cooked al dente and drained*
- 1 lb lean ground beef or half ground beef, half ground Italian Sausage
- 2-14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 2 cups of water
- 2 cups diced carrots (I use frozen)
- 1 cup green beans (frozen again)
- 6 green onions, chopped (including greens)
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 tbsp crushed garlic
- 3 tsp dried basil, crushed
- 2 tsp to 1 tbsp fennel
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper to taste
large saucepan
In saucepan, brown ground beef (and sausage). Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and bring to a low boil. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add pasta during the last 5 minutes. Serves 4-6 easily. Serve with garlic bread and salad.
*rinse quickly in cold water to stop the cooking process, but don’t over rinse and lose all that nice starch for the soup.
Mmm…sauteed tomato pizza sauce
Absolutely the last of the patio cherry tomatoes. Mrs J hauled the last container away today after harvesting what tomatoes that remained. We wanted to do something nice with the last batch. We had enjoyed the sauteed tomato and pasta dishes so much we decided to try the same process for a pizza sauce. We believe it worked.
Enjoy!
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Now this was a surprise
Big ol’ spider built a web in my basil overnight. It’s a fairly common garden spider.
Argiope aurantia
A Quick Dinner
Busy doing chores and packing for my trip. What to do for dinner? Especially when I’m trying to deplete my refrigerator of fresh foods that will certainly go bad while I’m gone. How about a quick pasta dinner (sorry no pictures, did I mention I was busy packing)?
I put the pasta on to cook. Meanwhile I placed some cleaned baby spinach in a plastic colander, diced up a couple of tomatoes and pulled out some spices. I tossed the tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. When the pasta was ready, I drained it in a colander that I held over the spinach colander, wilting the spinach with the hot pasta water. I set the spinach aside and quickly rinsed the pasta with cool water. I drained the spinach well and then tossed the pasta, spinach and tomato mixture together. Toss with some Parmesan and dinner is served.
Marinated Green Beans
Spent Saturday morning at my favorite farm stand. It’s a bit further away, but compared to ones closer to my home, the prices there can’t be beat. My bag full of veggies cost me what just a handful cost nearby. Worth the trip, especially when you can combine it with lunch with a good friend.
I’ve been enjoying the fresh produce. Breakfast today was a smoothie that included fresh pear, peach and carrots. Lunch is Gazpacho and fresh watermelon. There has been a lot of corn on the cob, too. Trying a new recipe tonight for dinner, look for that post later in the week. Here’s a little hint: it will include apple butter, chilies and chicken thighs.
The green beans looked really good and I picked up a bag full. I thought it might be fun to marinate them. They were yummy.
I didn’t really measure everything, but I’ll do my best to give a recipe here.
Marinated Green Beans
- 1 lb green beans, cleaned and trimmed
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1/2 tsp crushed dried basil
- 4 chopped green onions
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil (opt)
Steamer basket, saucepan, bowl, serving bowl
Steam beans until tender-crisp 3-5 minutes. Immediately submerge in ice water. Drain and dry completely. In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients, EXCEPT oil. Toss with green beans and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight. You can toss with oil just before serving. You don’t want to include the oil in the original mixture because it will inhibit the beans absorbing the vinegar mixture.
Mmm…pretty dinner
Meatballs, sauteed tomatoes with fresh oregano, garlic, basil, and thyme all tossed with rigatoni and sprinkled with Parmesan. Meatballs were garlic pork sausage, fennel seeds, fresh basil, Parmesan, bread crumbs, and an egg. Saute the tomatoes and herbs in the same pan you cooked the meatballs in, add some pasta water and a tablespoon of tomato paste.
TaMara
jeffreyww
LFern7
indylib
