Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I'll have to post a photo of what I know will be my beautiful Thanksgiving turkey later.  Just on the off-chance you have never brined a turkey and choose to do so next time you roast a turkey, I can promise you you will never turn back.  So, so, so moist!!!

But, to last night's wonderful pasta bake.  Oh, my!  This stuff is good.  I wanted to start making a few dishes I could freeze for nights I just don't feel like putting a dinner together.  This dish is delicious.  The flavors come together so beautifully with a bit of a smoky taste.  While you could definitely use frozen spinach in its place, the fresh is just so perfect, I would encourage to go with fresh.  You can either prepare a large pan (9x13) or two (8x8) baking dishes, putting one of them in the freezer.  If you have this dish in the freezer, you can simply toss a Caesar's salad and dinner is easy, peasy!

BAKED PASTA WITH CHICKEN SAUSAGE

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 medium red onino, chopped
4 cloves minced garlic (about 4 tsp)
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes with juice, lightly crushed with hands
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound rigatoni
12 oz baby spinach (more if you have it) or 2 (10 oz) frozen bricks, thawed and squeezed dry
12 oz smoked chicken sausage (I used Jennie-O turkey sausage) halved lengthwise, and sliced 1/4" thick
6 oz Italian-blend shredded cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Stir in garlic.  Cook for another minute.  Stir in tomatoes and oregano; cook until tomatoes are falling apart, 10-15 minutes.  Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes.  Season sauce with S&P.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400.  Cook pasta in the boiling water until ad dente, according to package directions.  Add spinach, and cook just until wilted.  Drain, and return contents to pot.

Add tomato sauce, sausage, and 4 oz cheese; toss to coat.  Season with S&P.  Divide evenly between the two 8x8 pans or directly into the 9x13 baking dish.  Top with grated cheese and Parmesan.  Bake until browned and edges are crispy, 20-30 minutes.

If you freeze half, you can put it straight into a 400 degree oven from the freezer for about 45 minutes, or until browned and hot throughout.

Double Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cookies

OK, here you go Round One for Christmas Cookies!!!!  A definite winner.  This is a chocolate cookie dough wrapped around a York Peppermint Pattie.  And if you're lucky enough, you'll miss a complete seal so some of the peppermint will leak out of the side and you'll get an extra ooey, gooey, minty, chocolate mess that is (in the words of Mr. Food) "oh so good!!!!"  Sprinkle on a bit of colored sugar bits to dress it up a bit, like it needs that at all.  And for me, who really doesn't have a sweet tooth, well, let me just say I could make myself sick on these.  One after another after another.  Not only oh so good but a wonderful chewier texture.  This is one good cookie!!!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT PATTIE COOKIES (Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen)

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips (semi-sweet if you can't find the Dark Chocolate)
About 30 small York Peppermint Patties (buy them in the bag in the candy aisle...it's the personal size)
Decorator's sugar

Beat butter and sugar in large mixing bowl; add egg, milk, and vanilla, blending thoroughly.  Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Add to butter mixture, blending well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Refrigerate dough about 1 hour (overnight is best) or until firm enough to handle (dough will be a bit soft).

Heat oven to 350.  Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper or Silpat.  Remove wrappers from peppermint patties.

Roll dough into 1 1/4" balls (22-24 grams on a scale).  For each cookie flatten ball slightly; press peppermint pattie into dough.  Mold dough around pattie so that it is completely covered.  Place on prepared cookie sheet.  Using knife edge press star design into surface of each cookie (I omitted this step); sprinkle with decorator's sugar.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until cookie is set; sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired.  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Cool completely. 

Manhattan Clam Chowder

OK, here's a great basic soup for you.  Manhattan Clam Chowder in the crock pot.  Just a few minutes of prep and dinner is ready by the of the day.  I had some ready-made crab cakes in the freezer which I picked up on sale to have on hand for an easy dinner.    I made some zucchini ribbons and voila!!!  A wonderful dinner ready in just minutes.

This is a classic Manhattan Clam Chowder recipe.  There are many variations, but this is the standard from which all the others spring.  Even better the next day, so make sure there are leftovers!

MANHATTAN CLAM CHOWDER  (Serves 4)

2 (6.5 oz) cans clams (and juice)
1 (14.5 oz) can Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes (and juice)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped carrot
2 cups finely diced peeled potato
1/4 (less for us) tsp cayenne
1 cup chicken broth

Use a 4-quart slow cooker.  Put the clams and tomatoes in the cooker.  Add the chopped vegetables and red pepper.  Pour in the chicken broth.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the potatoes are quite tender.

Rosemary Shrimp Skewers with Lemon Garlic Pesto

Another wonderful, easy, quick dish.  Quite a blessing after an awful dinner I prepared last night (another story for another time!)  After mixing the pesto, this entire dinner came together (cooking time included) in less than 15 minutes.  Now, I did have some leftover plain white rice which speeded the process.  I mixed in some of the pesto with the rice, along with some leftover thyme and rosemary then just zapped it all in the microwave.  I also tossed the asparagus in the pesto and since the asparagus was so thin, it roasted in the oven for just a few minutes after I took the shrimp out and while I was threaded them onto the rosemary skewers.  Everything came together beautifully, each bite complementing the other.  Recipe courtesy of The Fresh Market.

ROSEMARY SHRIMP SKEWERS with LEMON GARLIC PESTO (serves 4)

Lemon Garlic Pesto:
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 lemon (juice and zest)
1/4 cup olive oil

Shrimp Skewers:
1/2 lb (16-20 {I used 21-25} count shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
rosemary sprigs, bottom leaves removed

Pulse all pesto ingredients in a food processor until they form a paste.  Remove and set aside.

Place shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, red pepper flakes, and thyme; pour over shrimp.  Set aside for 30 minutes.

When ready to cook, broil shrimp in a single layer for 8-12 minutes (what?!!!  Mine took about 3-4 minutes), turning once, until shrimp are pink.  Remove from oven and skewer shrimp with rosemary sprigs.  Arrange on a serving platter and serve with Lemon Garlic Pesto for a dipping sauce.

Roasted Beet Salad/Red Wine Shallot Vinaigrette

This is a salad we made at the restaurant in Minnesota.  It was  particularly favored by the women.  This would be a great entree salad to serve at a ladies' luncheon, maybe with a cup of Potato Tarragon soup or a special homemade soup.  The beets in the market right now are just beautiful and after roasting, simply delicious.  The dressing recipe makes about 2 cups, so cut it in half if you'd like or just save the rest as a versatile vinaigrette on a basic garden salad.

ROASTED BEET SALAD with RED WINE SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE

Vinaigrette:
1 cup olive oil
1/3 cup minced shallots
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/4 tsp sugr
2 1/2 tsp salt

Salad:
Fresh roasted beets, sliced thinly
Mixed salad green
Ricotta cheese
Italian seasoning
Kalamata olives, pitted (I prefer oil-cured olives)
Capers
Roasted red peppers

Cut off tops of beets and wrap in foil.  Roast beets in a 400 degree oven until tender, about an hour.  Cool and slide off the skins.

Blend together all vinaigrette ingredients.

Mix Italian seasoning to taste into some ricotta cheese (I used about 1/4 cup Ricotta per salad, add enough seasoning to the Ricotta to get a good taste, maybe about 1/2 tsp).

Toss salad greens with some vinaigrette, add about a quarter cup of Ricotta mixture and mix in.

Put a thin layer of greens mixture down in the center of the plate.  Top with 3-4 (depending on how large the beets are) beets, more green mixture, another layer of beets, etc. building as high as you would like, ending with sliced beets.  Surround with 5 kalamata olives, put 5 red pepper strips up the sides and sprinkle with a Tbsp of capers over the top.

Granola

I have been wanting to try making granola for some time but could never find a recipe that sounded good to me.  I wanted the crumbly kind, not the bars.  I ran across this on Sandy Gluck's blog (she hosts a show on Martha Stewart radio) and it included exactly the stuff I wanted in my granola.  And let me tell you, this stuff is addictive.  I could have easily sat down and eaten the entire batch in one sitting.  I did learn from Sandy that if you want a crunchier granola, use the quick oats.   They are more processed and tend to crisp up better than the old-fashioned oats.  This is a wonderful, easy, very tasty snack to keep on hand.

GRANOLA

3 cups oats

1 1/2 cups nuts (I used pecans and hulled pumpkin seeds.....use what you like)

1/2 cup Craisins
1/4 cup chia seeds, optional

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 300.  On a rimmed nonstick baking sheet, stir together the oats and nuts.  Bake until fragrant, stirring once or twice, about 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and raise the temp to 350.

Meanwhile, in a measuring cup, stir together the maple syrup, oil, vanilla, and salt.  Add the Craisins and chia seeds (if using) to the oat mixture.  Pour the syrup mixture over the oat mixture and stir to coat.  Return to oven and bake, stirring once until the oats are crisp, about 15 minutes.  Remove, cool to room temp, then transfer to an airtight container.  The granola will keep for several weeks at cool room temp.

Cole Slaw Vinaigrette

I love cole slaw.  Any kind of cole slaw.  Mayo, mustard, vinaigrette.  Even that yucky grocery store deli cole slaw works for me in a pinch.  This is my favorite vinaigrette recipe.  Make up a batch, keep it in one of those 16 oz containers with a pour-spout and it will keep in your frig until you're ready for a new batch.  And for a two-second cole slaw, pick up a bag of ready-to-go cole slaw mix and you're set.

COLE SLAW VINAIGRETTE

1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp celery seed
1 small onion, finely diced


Blend oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, and celery seed well.  Stir in diced onion.