Tag: sage
Lasagna with Meat Sauce
Delicious lasagna… for the weeknights or a holiday meal!
- 3 ½ cups fresh or store bought tomato sauce, divided
- ½ pound ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
- Salt
- 6 no-boil lasagna sheets
- ½ cup shredded fontina
- ½ cup shredded pecorino romano
Heat oven at 350 degrees F.
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil. Add the ground turkey and break the meat with the back of a wooden spatula while sautéing for 4-5 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes on medium high heat. Add the thyme, rosemary and sage. Add 2 cups tomato sauce and salt. Cook on medium low heat for 20 minutes and check for seasonings. Mix the 2 cheeses together and keep aside.
In an 8X8 pan, add ½ cup tomato sauce at the bottom. Add 2 sheets on top and add 1 cup meat sauce. Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese. Add 2 sheets on top and add 1 cup meat sauce once more. Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese. Add the last 2 sheets and top with 1 cup tomato sauce and sprinkle with ½ cup cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 50 to 60 minutes till bubbly on top.
The Best Roast Chicken with Milk and Sage Gravy!
So, I love, love Jamie Oliver and everything he does. I make a lot of his recipes. I was looking for a roast chicken recipe as I was getting tired of making it the same way… and I came across this recipe. The chicken is browned in fat and cooked in milk- what, I thought??? After reading the reviews, I was convinced- everyone said, it was the best chicken ever… but the it didn’t look so pretty- well, the gravy didn’t. Since the the chicken is roasted in milk and lemon zest- the separates in the cooking process- so the sauce is broken….so, I came up with a way to fix it. After the chicken was done cooking, I blended the broken sauce to emulsify it and voila.. I had an amazingly yummy, creamy gravy!! Definitely try this recipe- so, so good!!! Oh, and save the fat after browning the chicken and cook your potatoes in it- so yummy!
- One 3 lb whole roasting chicken, cleaned and dry
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- Zest of one large lemon, cut the remaining lemon in quarters and set aside
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 to 6 garlic cloves, skin on
- Fresh sage leaves, 6 to 7
- 2 cups whole milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, including the cavity.
Melt the oil and butter in a medium Dutch oven pan (big enough for the chicken to fit snug) over medium high heat. Brown the chicken well on all sides, for about 10 minutes. Take the chicken out, drain the fat to a small bowl. In the meantime, add the milk, lemon zest, cinnamon stick, garlic and sage leaves to the same pan. Add the lemon quarters to the chicken cavity and transfer the chicken back into the pan with breast side down. Roast with lid in the oven for 1 hour. Take the lid off after an hour and baste the chicken with the milk gravy. Roast for another 15 minutes and take out. Take the chicken out and cover with aluminum foil. Take the sage leaves and cinnamon stick out of the gravy and transfer to a blender. Blend well and return to the pan, bring to a boil, taste for seasonings. In the meantime, pull the meat from the bones of the chicken and serve warm with the milk gravy.
Roast some potatoes using the spare fat from the chicken.
Serve green beans and roast potatoes with the delicious chicken.
Tuscan Style Cannellini Beans and Tomato Ragu
This ragu is delicious and very easy to make. I decided to make it dried beans and soaked them overnight, but you can definitely make them with the canned variety. The dried beans give the dish a bit more depth of flavor but the canned ones are very comparable.
I started with pancetta, onion, celery, carrots and garlic. I got fresh herbs from my backyard including rosemary, thyme and sage. I always buy San Marzano tomatoes which are special ones grown in Italy and have an amazing flavor. Some white wine and chicken broth later, I had a start to a very delicious stew. I let it cook for a couple of hours. The good thing about this dish is you can make it in advance. In fact it will taste better the next day as all the flavors will have a chance to marry.
Make this ragu with the lamb roast and have a wonderful holiday.
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Roasted and Mashed Butternut Squash and Potatoes with Cheddar Cheese
This is one of the sides I came up for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. I was in Trader Joes, as usual, and came across already peeled and cut up butternut squash. I am quite lazy and usually never pick up a whole one- so when I saw a package of organic cut up squash- I was thrilled.
I usually always make some kind of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. There is also some kind of sweet potato or butternut squash dish. I wanted to combine the potato and butternut squash and come up with one dish.
Usually for a mashed dish, potatoes are boiled and then mashed. I decided to roast pieces of butternut squash, potatoes and garlic with some olive oil, salt and pepper instead.
Once the vegetables were soft, I ran them through a food mill and added grated cheese, half and half and fresh sage. I baked the dish once more with some grated cheese on top. It was simply delicious! Roasting the vegetables instead of boiling them gave the dish a more intense flavor. It was creamy and the sharp cheddar cheese and sage made it taste like a fabulous holiday side.
I was thrilled with this concoction- please try it for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
- 1 pound cut up butternut squash (Trader Joes has it already cut and peeled)
- 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut up same size as the squash- about 2 inch pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, whole with skin
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a lined cookie sheet, add the squash, potatoes and garlic cloves. Drizzle the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or till the pieces are tender. Take out and let cool. Run the roasted mixture through a food mill or a potato ricer.
At this point the mixture can be refrigerated up to 2 days.
- 1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated and divided
- ½ cup half and half
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4 generous servings. Recipe can be doubles.
In a serving bowl, add the butternut squash and potato mixture. Add ½ cup cheese, half and half, salt and sage. Mix well and check for seasonings. Sprinkle remaining of the half cup cheese on top and bake for 30 minutes.
Roasted Butternut Squash and Sausage with Herbed Polenta
I saw this dish on Rachel Ray’s show. I can’t remember exactly what she did but it definitely inspired this recipe. I love buying the already cut up butternut squash from Trader Joes– I can’t help myself- I just pick it up. The problem is, my daughter is not a big fan- she doesn’t care for the texture. I get it- everyone has something they don’t like.. so I don’t push it.
I love the healthy, orange vegetable. I especially like it with sausage. I roasted the squash and an apple chicken sausage I got from Trader Joes as well. In case you didn’t guess, I am at TJs almost everyday.
I made herbed polenta which is the easiest starch to make. Try this dish- very easy to make…
- 1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 pound cooked chicken sausages (apple and chardonnay), sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sage, chopped
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Transfer the squash, sausage, garlic, rosemary, sage, salt and olive oil to a lined cookie sheet. Roast till the squash is tender and sausage is warmed through- about 40 minutes, while tossing one time in between. Drizzle the balsamic glaze, mix well. Keep aside.
Herbed Polenta
- 1 cup fine polenta
- 1½ cups milk
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons sage, chopped
- 2 teaspoons rosemary, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- Salt
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Add the milk, broth (you may need to adjust quantity according to your polenta package instructions), sage, rosemary, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil and cook according to instructions. Once the polenta is done, add salt and cheese. Serve with the roasted squash and sausage.
Roast Lamb with Potatoes
Cool weather makes me want to eat stews, roasts and meatballs. I also feel like drinking some delicious red wine. It is my favorite time of year. There is still a lot of fresh produce available at the farmer’s market so the possibilities are endless.
I bought a lovely leg of lamb from Whole Foods and decided to roast it with lots of herbs, garlic and pancetta. I made a lovely paste with all the aromatics- most of them from my backyard. I slathered the paste all over the lamb as well as the potatoes.
Last year in Spello, Italy- Paola made a fabulous lamb dinner for us. She used similar ingredients to roast the meat and the potatoes. I tried to replicate the flavors and was quite successful. The lamb was super aromatic cooked with the delicious paste. It was cooked just right with a delicious crust.
The potatoes were yummy as well- I added the paste and a bit more salt. Since the paste had pancetta and olive oil, I didn’t need an extra fat for the vegetables. They roasted to perfection with tons of flavor.
Now for something green- I made creamed spinach. The dinner was delicious. We drank a delicious bottle of red and enjoyed the evening.
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Homemade Ravioli with Fresh Herbed Ricotta Cheese
I discovered wonton skins a couple of months ago. I of course have been watching chefs on food television using them to make home made raviolis for a while now. I have always thought, “what a great idea- and so easy”, but for whatever reason, I have never done it myself. I made dumplings at home for the first time- a huge hit with Sia- she loved them. Actually, I was packing lunch for camp last week and she saw the store bought dumplings being cooked and asked me if I could make the homemade ones- what better compliment can I get!!
After the dumpling success I was very excited to make homemade raviolis. A few days ago I took the leftover wonton skins out of the freezer and went to the store to buy fresh ricotta cheese. I love being able to buy the fresh variety- the already packaged ones are absolutely fine- but you can’t beat the fresh kind.
Around the same time, I was watching ‘Live with Regis and Kelly‘ and Regis was talking about eating a ravioli dish with sage. Well, I thought- “I have sage in my herb garden”. That is how this recipe came about. I mixed a few different fresh herbs in the ricotta mixture including the sage. I added an egg to bind the mixture and lots of parmigiano reggiano cheese- you really can’t go wrong with any of these ingredients. I served the raviolis in a light tomato sauce- will be talking about it this Wednesday in ‘The Local‘.
The raviolis were absolutely delicious!- I am not exaggerating- the filling was soft and creamy; the wonton skins were perfect used as pasta. For the first time, we ran out of the main entree- everyone gobbled it up and wanted more. Sia gave it a thumbs up!! The adults washed the raviolis down with a yummy merlot- it was a great dinner…