A Fast Pasta Primavera

This 'a fasta pasta' dish can be done with alfredo sauce, rose sauce or a red sauce. This pasta primavera recipe calls for a red or blushed sauce. If you like to add meat, go for it!

Loads of chopped vegetables. Feel free to blanch ones that take a bit longer to cook. Here's what I used the last time I made this dish (today).

-Zucchini
-Carrots
-Red Pepper
-Orange Pepper
-Yellow Pepper
-Cremini Mushrooms
-Broccoli Flowerets

Sautee all vegetables in olive oil with lots of seasoning. I used Mrs. Dash, Italian Seasoning, Garlic, Seasalt, Fresh Black Pepper, Parsley.
When they vegetables are almost done, add a jar of your favourite sauce. You can use homemade or something prepared. My favourite is a light sauce with a bit of a tangy bite called Aurora Spicy Arrabbiata. I made a big batch so I also added a can of Aurora Plum Tomatoes and then a big handful of fresh (or jarred) Parmesan cheese.

Toss the sauce with freshly made pasta of your choice. Bow tie, Fusili or Rotini works great. Before I toss together I add a bit of cheese and butter to the pasta while it's still hot.

Dana's Carmella Soprano Lasagna

I don't profess this to be Carmella's specific lasagna but it's my version of it. While watching the Sopranos one night someone talked about Carmella's lasagna with the layer of sausage and sweet peppers so I came up with my own version that used sausage instead of ground beef. It's been known as my Carmella Soprano Lasagne ever since.

Here's how it goes:

Use any kind of lasagna noodles you like. If you like fresh, they're fabulous. If you boil yours, no worries! If you like the ready-to-bake lasagna by all means (just add extra sauce with that kind as it is essential!).

I like two layers of stuff which means you need 9-12 noodle strips depending on the length and width of your pan. My large rectangle pan fits three strips across and usually a half a noodle at the end. Sometimes I'l make two as this freezes really well as well.

Make it as high as you like, though. You can have multiple layers of these ingredients.

Brown some sweet Italian sausage in Olive oil and get it crumbly or into very small pieces, some rainbow coloured diced peppers (I like to use orange, red and yellow) and lots of fresh mushrooms. This mixture is going to be your bottom layer between your first two noodles. I add a bit of mozzarella in this layer and some sauce to help it glue together.

The next layer consists of ricotta and spinach. I use thawed frozen spinach that's chopped and dry it really well before mixing in with my ricotta (one tub usually makes due with a half a square package of spinach).

The top requires lots of italian tomato sauce and cheese. Use as many cheeses as you like. I like to use Kraft Italian blend with parmesan and / or romano cheese on top.

Bake according to your lasagna noodle directions under tin foil until the last fifteen minutes when you take it off to get the cheese bubbly and golden.

Serve with bruschetta and cesar salad if you like. As I said, I don't know what Carmella would've put in her lasagna but mention of her recipe inspired this one and it's the only way I make it nowadays.

How To Make Great Cheesy Bruschetta

Bruschetta is a lovely tomato topping on top of crusty calabrese bread in our house. I love adding cheese to the mix as well. Here's how I do mine:

Dice 2-3 tomatoes really small and toss with a bit of good quality olive oil, a pinch of garlic powder and a pinch of Italian seasoning (something with oregano and basil)

Butter crusty bread wedges with a bit of garlic butter and then put some mozzarella shreds on top. On top of that, put a spoonful of your tomato topping and then put under the broiler for a minute or two until everything is bubbly and yummy. I often sprinkle some fresh parmigiana or romano cheese on top while they're still hot. This might not be a traditional bruschetta but it goes quickly when I have company over!s Enjoy!

Goes great with spaghetti or lasagna.

Chicken Parmigiana - Cooking With Amore

I love Chicken Parmesan. I put more mozzarella cheese in it than parmigiana so I'm not sure why I still call it Chicken Parmesan but that's what it's known as and here's my version:

Make your favourite tomato sauce.
*Feel free to dig through my archives for my ten minute homemade tomato sauce*

Dip boneless / skinless chicken breasts in egg and milk batter and then drench in bread crumbs. I put italian seasoning, parmigiano, romano and as well as seasalt and cracked black pepper in my breadcrumbs to give extra flavour (even when using Italian breadcrumbs).

Then lightly fry the breaded chicken in olive oil just to brown the outside (a few minutes each side). Before putting the chicken in a baking dish, put the semi-cooked chicken back into a large bowl of bread crumbs and redredge. Italian breadcrumbs work great and I always make sure I add some spice and grated parmasean and romano cheese.

In a baking dish, line with tomato sauce and then place your semi-cooked chicken breasts on top. Layer more sauce and plenty of shredded mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for an hour covered with tin foil. Make sure chicken is cooked all the way through. An hour generally does it for me if the breasts are thick. If I filet or pound them flat, the time is reduced.

For a double duty meal, make extra because on the next day you can make a great meal with warmed up leftover chicken parm and serve on hot garlic bread or submarine sandwich rolls with extra sauce for dipping. Sometimes I even put it in a wrap with some lettuce and tomato.

All the above meals go well with pasta of your choice, lasagna, risotto or salad.
Bon Apetito...This dish is Cooking With Amore!

Ten Minute Homemade Tomato Sauce With A Dash of Love

Tomato sauce can be made from scratch in a flash. Don't waste your money on prepared sauces...make your own. Here are a few tips to help you take some tins of tomatoes and make them into something lovely! This can be used for pizza, pasta, meatloaf or any other Italiano dish you like!

If you want it extra thick quick, either use one can of tomato paste for every two cans of tomatoes or buy the jars of strained tomatoes. Whip it with your blender as well and when I'm in a hurry, I blend it with the spices in the blender so that I can improve the blending of the flavours faster. The love adding part is tasting it throughout the process to get the right amount of love in there!

Tip: Use fresh spices wherever you can!

Sauce can be easily made with: a dash of
olive oil
salt & pepper
garlic
Italian seasoning
parsley

And...this is important: about 2 tablespoons of sugar for every two cans of tomatoes. I also like to often add a can of stewed diced tomatoes for chunky texture along with my already smooth, silky tomato sauce.


I also like to add Mrs. Dash to mine. The sugar helps you take the tartness out of the sauce quickly which is a secret many people don't know about. I also like to blush the sauce with a quick glug of milk or light cream. If you want to make a rosee, you can half & half it with milk (yum!)


Bring it to a boil and then turn it off and let it sit and cool while you prep the rest of your meal. I love starting it by sauteeing fresh mushrooms and peppers and adding my other ingredients to the same pot. You can really taste the freshness this way in both the sauce and the vegetables. I also will do meat sauce this way or fry in Italian sausage or meatballs with my mushrooms and peppers before adding the tomatoes and fresh spices. The oil from the meat (if minimal) makes it taste even more like it has come from a gourmet ristorante.

Tip: If you have fresh tomatoes in the fridge or sundried tomatoes, toss them in too!

Bon Appetito!