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Posole
Just a photo tonight. Here’s a recipe, this is seriously easy to do. I used some pork left over from a secret project. 
Stay tuned!
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
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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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.
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.
Awesome Sauce [repost]
I’ve made some tomato sauces this summer that qualify for the label. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this one before, and teased the recipe. It is pretty straightforward to make. Juice a bunch of tomatoes and start them boiling on the stove top. Now start adding stuff: The one I’m making today has a head of garlic in it, roughly minced. I brought in some fresh herbs from the patio garden, a good wad of basil, several sprigs of rosemary, and the same for thyme. We started some oregano but it died out early and we make do with store bought dried. There are two grated carrots in there, and a minced onion. A few ribs of celery diced finely. Salt and fresh ground back pepper, a few tablespoons of olive oil. I bet I’m forgetting something, but this will get you very close.
All that’s left to do is simmer the sauce down until it is thick enough to suit you. Today I started with about six quarts of juice. I’m not there yet, but I expect to jar one quart, or less. This stuff makes great pizza sauce. On pasta it is, well, awesome.
[Edit:] Made three pints.
TaMara
jeffreyww
LFern7
indylib
