Caprese Lasagna

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend and are getting ready for some holiday fun! Also hope all those in Central Ohio survived the storms. I know a lot of people are still out of power, and luckily I only lost mine for a few days. Still caused me to lose some food in my fridge, but sometimes you just need to clean out your fridge and start over right!!! That's what I keep telling myself anyway...ha!

As you can see with a few of my last recipe posts, I have a theme going with yet another caprese meal. Summertime to me means using lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially a lot of tomatoes and basil, so you are going to see a lot of recipes using these ingredients here in the next couple of months.

This recipe is great because it feels very summery with the tomatoes and basil, and the sauce actually seems a little lighter than your traditional marinara sauce, but you still get that comfort food that comes with lasagna. You could probably include any variety of vegetables in this recipe and it would still come out great. I bet it would be awesome with some summer squash and zucchini.

We are off tonight to enjoy some Red, White and Boom, and hopefully some fun food trucks! I'll be sure to share any fun food finds in the next couple of days!

Caprese Lasagna

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:
-- 1 box of lasagna noodles (I believed I used 9, but I cooked a few extras in case they broke)
-- Extra virgin olive oil
-- 3/4lb sweet turkey italian sausage
-- 2 tablespoons butter
-- 2 garlic cloves, minced
-- 3 tablespoons flour
-- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
-- 1 1/2 cups skim milk (I was trying to cut fat, but I think a higher fat content like 2% would make a more creamy sauce)
-- Salt & pepper to taste
-- 4 tomatoes, thinly sliced
-- 8 basil leaves
--1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook lasagna noodles in a very large pot of salted, boiling water until just under al dente. Drain and return to the pot. Add a splash of extra virgin olive oil and gently stir to coat the noodles.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Squeeze sausage out of its casing and cook while breaking up until no longer pink. Remove to a plate and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, melt butter, then add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle in flour, then whisk to combine and cook for 30 more seconds.
4. Slowly pour in chicken broth a few tablespoons at a time, whisking to break up any lumps. Continue pouring and whisking until mixture is smooth. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Season with salt & pepper.
5. Switch to a spatula and stir sauce until thick and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Pour into a bowl with a spout, and set aside.
6. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9×13″ baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour 1/4 cup sauce into the bottom, then spread evenly with a spatula. Place 3 lasagna noodles in the bottom, then top with 1/3 of the tomatoes, 1/3 of the basil, 1/3 of the cooked turkey sausage, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat 2 more times, for a total of three layers.
7. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes, or until cheese is golden brown and sauce is bubbly. Let sit 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Spicy Chicken Penne

This is a recipe I featured in last week's Friday Favorites, and was originally called Spicy Chicken Rigatoni. It's a Buca Di Beppo knock-off recipe and it was so very easy to make. It was a little spicy, but you can always adjust the seasonings to your own taste. I would just halve the red pepper flakes, or add just a small sprinkling, and don't add any at the end.

I made a few adjustments to my recipe, so if you would like to see the original recipe you can find it here. This turned out really well and was even better the next day as left overs. Definitly going to be added as one of my go-to recipes!

Spicy Chicken Penne

ingredients

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 Tbs crushed red pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs minced garlic
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 jar of marinara sauce with cream included (mine also included some pancetta and was a Meijer's Gold brand)
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1 lb penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
• additional 1/2 t crushed red pepper (for garnish)
• parmesan cheese
• fresh basil and oregano

directions

1. In a saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper and garlic. Saute just long enough for garlic to caramelize and red pepper to release flavor into the oil. Add the chicken and coat with the sauces. Saute until brown.

2. Add the marinara/cream sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly and the chicken is completly cooked. Add the frozen peas and simmer until the peas are heated up.

3. Stir in your cooked pasta. I then garnished with some parmesan cheese and fresh basil and oregano.

Enjoy!

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

This is the first recipe that I tried that started my love of cooking. I saw this recipe on Giada at Home and thought, "this looks pretty easy." It was about this time last year, and there was an abundance of zucchini and squash at the store, so it was a great meal to make. I have modified it slightly, so if you want to see the original recipe, you can find it here.

Ingredients:

-- 2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips

-- 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes

-- 2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes

-- 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips

-- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

-- 1 teaspoon salt, divided

-- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

-- 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence

-- 1 pound penne pasta

-- 3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)

-- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

-- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping

-- 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

By the way, this makes a lot, so I typically halve this recipe and it makes about 4 or 5 small servings which is what I typically eat. If you are making for a large family, I would suggest making the recipe as it is above.