Tag: Sandwiches
Sausage and Peppers Sandwiches with Ricotta Cheese
Ricotta Cheese
½ cup full fat ricotta cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and keep aside.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pack chicken sausages (I used roasted garlic ones from Trader Joes), sliced
1 large or 2 medium red pepper, cut into 1 inch squares
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1 inch squares
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups tomato sauce (jar, bottle or fresh)
Salt
½ cup fresh basil, chopped
Heat a medium saucepan with the olive oil. Add the sausage pieces and sauté on medium high heat and brown both sides, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and sauté on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cover with lid and cook for 15 minutes. Take the lid off, add the peppers and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or till the peppers are soft, but not too soft and falling apart. Check for seasonings and garnish with basil.
4 ciabatta rolls, toasted with a drizzle of olive oil
Add some sausage and peppers into a toasted roll. Top with a dollop of ricotta cheese. Serve with oven fries.
Mexican Style Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
This is a great recipe to make in this weather… and the pressure cooker makes it super fast. Really, really yummy! Will post some salad recipes in the two days…
- 3 to 4 pounds pork shoulder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
Mix the spices and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle all over the pork, marinate overnight or at least for 2 to 3 hours.
If refrigerated, take out half an hour before cooking.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup Mexican style barbecue sauce (homemade or store bought)
- 2 cups water
Heat a pressure cooker with the olive oil. Brown the pork shoulder on all sides on high heat, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Add the sauce and water. Cover with lid and cook under pressure on low heat for an hour and a half. Take out of the pressure cooker and place in a bowl to cool off. In the meantime, bring the liquid in the pressure cooker to a boil and simmer till the liquid is cooked down to 1 cup. Take the liquid out into a bowl, skim the fat off the top.
Once the pork is cooked off, using two forks, shred the pork, taking off any excess fat. Pour the spare liquid and mix well. Keep aside.
Chili Barbecue Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 dried ancho chilies, stems and seeds discarded and cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 14 ounces can diced tomatoes with chilies
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- Juice and zest of 3 clementines
- 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
Heat a medium saucepan with the olive oil. Add the shallot and garlic. Saute on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ancho chilies, tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, zest, juice and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer on a low flame for about 20 minutes. Take off heat and transfer to a blender and blend till a smooth sauce is formed. Check for seasonings and take out into a small bowl.
Serve the pulled pork on bun of choice topped with a bit of the barbecue sauce and coleslaw!
Bolognese Garlic Bread Sandwiches
I watched Rachel Ray make these on her show and loved the idea. I changed up the recipe a bit and added mushrooms to make the dish healthier. I also jazzed up the ricotta cheese. These sandwiches were absolutely delicious. My daughter gave them two thumbs up!
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped pancetta
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 5 ounces Cremini mushrooms, grated
- 2 medium shallots, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 small bunch, thyme
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup tomato sauce, preferably home made
- 2 cups milk
- Salt
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the pancetta and sauté for a minute or two. Add the ground turkey and separate the meat with the back of a wooden spoon. Saute on high heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, shallots, garlic and thyme. Saute on high heat for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and sauté for a minute. Add the tomato sauce, milk and salt. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer with the lid on. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or till the meat is cooked through. Take the lid off and check for seasonings. Keep aside.
Ricotta Topping
- 1 cup full fat ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
Place the olive oil, garlic and parsley in a small frying pan. Heat over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes- just enough time to cook the garlic without browning. Add salt and let cool. Add to the ricotta, mix well and keep aside.
- 4 ciabatta rolls
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Add the garlic, oil and salt to a small frying pan. Cook on a very low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t get brown. Take off the heat and drizzle the garlic mixture all over the four rolls. Toast in the oven until fragrant and golden brown. Take out and assemble the sandwiches. Place about half a cup of the ground meat. Top with ricotta mixture and serve.
Chicken Parm Sandwiches
This meal is a favorite one in our house- well one of the favorites amongst many! My husband loves chicken parm in all forms. He loves it with spaghetti and as a sandwich. My daughter loves the chicken cutlets I make for the chicken parm. I love making it as well as eating it. I love cooking marinara sauce at home. It makes the house smell warm and cozy, especially on a cold evening. The mixture of tomatoes, onions and garlic makes me really happy! Good thing about making a big batch of marinara sauce is that I can re-use it for other meals that week or freeze it for later. I usually make pasta primavera with the leftover marinara. The chicken cutlets are very versatile as well. I usually make extra since my daughter loves them so much- she says the cutlets taste just like the chicken nuggets she used to have when she was younger. The chicken tastes extra delicious because of the marinade I use before breading it.
I love using really fresh crusty rolls for the sandwich part of this dish. In this case, I found rosemary focaccia rolls. I thought they would go really well with the chicken and the sauce and they did! I also like to toast the rolls with a little drizzle of olive oil. The other flavor enhancer I use is a whole clove of garlic. Rubbing the garlic on the toasted roll gives it a mild and subtle garlic flavor! The sandwich was bursting with flavor! I served it with mixed greens and beer!
Chicken
- 4-5 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast
Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
Marinade
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper
Mix the ingredients in a small bowl and marinate the pounded chicken breast for 4-5 hours.
Breading
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 extra-large eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- Pinch of salt
- 1 1/4 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups homemade marinara sauce
- 1 cup shredded low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese
- 4 Rolls- sliced in half
- 1 garlic clove- whole
- Olive oil to drizzle on the rolls
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt. On a third plate, combine the breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.
Lay the cooked chicken pieces in an ovenproof casserole. Ladle spoons of marinara sauce over all the chicken pieces. Add the shredded mozzarella on top and bake for 5-10 minutes in a 350 degrees oven until cheese is melted. In the same oven, place the open rolls drizzled with olive oil. Toast for 3-4 minutes and rub a clove of garlic on all the rolls. Once the cheese is melted, place the chicken pieces on the toasted rolls and serve!
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution- A Few More Comments…
So the show came to an end last Friday and my daughter was quite upset knowing this was the last of Jamie Oliver for a while. I am not sure if the show is coming back at all- I didn’t tell her that.
What was the show about, you ask? Well, much of the same but also that Jamie returned to the elementary school where it all began. Turns out, since the school started serving fresh food, they had a surplus of frozen, processed food sitting in the warehouse. In order to use it up, they decided to introduce ‘junk food’ Fridays. Seriously? They couldn’t come up with any other solutions other than feeding the kids that crap food again??
Another problem was surfacing at the same time. A lot of kids not wanting to eat the healthy food at school, were now bringing their own lunch. Ordinarily home cooked lunches would be ideal- well, only if the parents are knowledgeable about healthy eating.
As Jamie walked in the cafeteria while the elementary kids ate, he looked through their brown bag lunches and you wouldn’t believe what he found. Jello, juice, candy and potato chips for lunch. I was horrified! Some kids had lunchables– which is a packaged lunch available at the super markets filled with salt, fat and God knows what. What happened to regular sandwiches for lunch??? There are so many ways to pack a healthy lunch for your child- a delicious sandwich made with whole-wheat bread, some fresh fruit and maybe a small cookie for dessert.
I don’t even know what to say about the potato chips and candy for lunch- I can’t believe someone would pack that for their kids. People are so busy these days and are always looking for fast and easy solutions for everything- including what we feed our kids- not realizing what it is doing to their bodies. As parents, it is up to us, to instill healthy eating habits in our kids so they can grow up to be healthy adults.
In a way I am happy the show has come to an end for now- I am not sure if I can handle the stress I feel after watching an hour of it…
Turkey and Pesto Panini
This is a quick lunch on the weekend or even a quick dinner through the week. My husband loves turkey sandwiches but I usually don’t end up making too many sandwiches at home and so he end up eating them for lunch at work. I am not sure why- but sandwiches don’t come to mind when I think of lunch- and then I wonder why my daughter doesn’t like them. I never gave her a sandwich while she was a baby- so she never got used to one.
I bought sliced turkey since I had a large loaf of bake at home baguette in the fridge. I planned on making turkey pesto sandwiches for my hubby. My initial thought was to bake the bread first and then assemble the sandwich- but then I thought of assembling it first and then cooking it on a grill pan. I used another heavy pan to press down on the sandwich while all the ingredients melted together. Speaking of melting- I also had mozzarella cheese in the fridge which went perfectly with the pesto and the turkey.
I served a few potato chips and a green salad with the delicious sandwich. It was really good- I had a few bites…
Next time you are in a bind and don’t know what to make for lunch- try a turkey and pesto panini.
- 2 teaspoons extra light olive oil
- One (6 inch) piece of bake at home baguette
- 3 thin sliced herb turkey
- 3 thick slices of mozzarella cheese
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon basil pesto
- 4 to 5 fresh basil leaves
- Fresh black pepper
Heat a grill pan with the olive oil. Slice the baguette in half. Spread the mayonnaise and pesto evenly on both sides. Spread the cheese and turkey slices. Add the basil leaves and black pepper on top. Place the second slice on top and place it on the grill pan. Press the panini down with another heavy pan or anything heavy. Brown the sandwich on both sides pressing well for 5 minutes each. Cut in half and serve.
