Basic Italian Sausage Soup: A Template

So here's a new idea: a recipe template. I'm going to list ingredients as categories and give acceptable ranges of volume. Then you can freely adapt the template to work with whatever you have on hand, and vary it to make it interesting.

Ingredients:

1 package hot or sweet Italian chicken sausage

1 or 2 onions, white or yellow (red doesn't always work unless you add olives)

Garlic. Use ONE of the following:

- If fresh, 4 or more cloves. 

- If powdered, 2 or more teaspoons. 

- If paste, 1 or more teaspoons.

(OPTIONAL) 1/4 cup cooking wine or sherry

Dried Herbs. Use any or all of the following:

- 1/2 tsp oregano

- 1 tsp parsley

- 1/4 tsp powdered rosemary OR 1/2 tsp whole rosemary

- 1/2 tsp thyme leaves

Tomatoes. Use ONE of the following:

- 1 can diced

- 4 fresh plum tomatoes, chopped and seeded

- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste

(OPTIONAL) Additional Vegetables. Use any or all of the following:

- 1 cup chopped zucchini

- 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

- 1/4 cup black olives, or to taste

- 1 summer squash, chopped

- 3 carrots, sliced

- 2 celery stalks, sliced 

8 ounces greens: spinach, chard, kale, etc. Frozen works well. Avoid delicate greens like arugula.

1 or 2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained. Use any of the following, or a combination:

- kidney beans

- cannellini beans

- navy beans

- lima beans (frozen, not canned, the canned ones are gross)

- butterbeans

(OPTIONAL) Squeeze of lemon, recommended only if you omitted the wine

(OPTIONAL) Cooked pasta

Preparation:

Slice the sausage and sautee in a large soup pot with a little olive oil until browned. Remove to a plate.

Sautee the onion and, if you're using fresh garlic, the garlic too until beginning to soften. Add the wine, if you're using it, and scrape the pot to get any browned bits. 

Add any other chopped vegetables you're using EXCEPT greens. Add the broth, tomatoes, and the herbs.

Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer until the vegetables are almost done. 3 or 4 minutes for delicate vegetables, 8 minutes if you've got carrots. Stir often to check progress.

Add the greens. Return to a boil and cook until greens are tender, about 2 minutes, but maybe a little longer for kale.

Add the beans. If you're using pasta, add that too. If you're using lemon, now's the time--don't go overboard though!

Serve. If you can eat cheese, this is great topped with parmesan, romano, provelone, manchego, or most Greek cheeses.

This soup stores well. Freeze leftovers or keep in the fridge. It gets better the next day.

Spaghetti Pizza Pie

Like Pizza but MORE AWESOME. Also healthier, and super easy to make.

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked spaghetti, tossed with a bit of butter or olive oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic paste, or powdered or minced garlic to taste
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
2/3 cup marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella or pizza blend
1 tomato, seeded and chopped

Turn oven to 400. Butter a pie plate and place in the oven while it preheats.

Combine spaghetti, eggs, parmesan, garlic, salt, and herbs in a large mixing bowl.

When the oven is heated, take the plate out and pour the spaghetti mixture in. Spread out so that the edges are a little higher than the middle, forming a bit of a crust.

Spread the tomato sauce in the middle, leaving a 1/2 inch crust. Top with cheese, then tomatoes.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Slice and serve! It's good with salad :)

Pizza sauce

You may be surprised to hear that the most important part of pizza is the sauce. Well, after the cheese, of course. The base, whatever the toppings are piled on, is usually crust but can be any number of other things, including slabs of seasoned tofu or slices of roasted eggplant. It's the sauce that turns it into pizza.

When making homemmade pizza, if you have ever wondered why it just isn't right, you are probably spending money on expensive ingredients. Don't! Pizzarias don't, so you shouldn't either, not if you want authentic. Use cheap mozzarella and cheap pizza sauce, ideally the store brand. Don't use spaghetti or marinara sauce; pizza sauce is different. And don't use too much! Spread a very thin layer with the back of a spoon.

Or, you could save money, avoid wasting sauce, and feel 1337 by using my recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 can tomato paste (about 2 tbsp)
Equal amount of water
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Mix together and allow to sit for a few minutes to hydrate the spices. You will notice this is very thick. That helps avoid the pizza being watery, a problem which afflicts homemade pizzas since we don't have a brick oven.

Mushroom Pastitsio

I have no idea what a pastitsio actually is, beyond delicious, but lately Cooking Light has had a couple of recipes for it that have been amazing. Here is my take on it... It's a cheesy wonderful casserole, with excellent leftovers.

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked rotini, whole wheat works well
16 ounces baby bellas, cremini mushrooms, or regular mushrooms, or a mix
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic or equivalent garlic powder
1 tsp Penzey's Bavarian Blend or 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/3 tsp kosher salt
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups milk
2 tbsp flour
1 brick lowfat or fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup grated mozzarella (reduced fat is okay but not fat free)

Mince the onion and chop the mushrooms finely. Saute together in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms give up their liquid and it mostly evaporates. Add the garlic, salt, and herbs. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the tomato sauce.

Add the milk into the skillet and whisk the flour in while it's still cool (you can't whisk flour into a hot liquid). Cook and stir until bubbly and thick. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the cream cheese and parmesan, stirring until they melt and become smooth. Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and stir.

Pour half of the pasta mixture into a medium sized casserole dish. Spread the mushroom mixture on top, then add the rest of the pasta mixture on top of that. Finally, sprinkle the mozzarella on top of the whole thing.

Bake at 400 until the cheese melts, then serve.

Italian Cauliflower Casserole

From Cooking Light but edited to make it a more filling meal for active folks like us. To make it lighter you can reduce the amount of beef and/or cheese. To make it non-dairy just use Veggie Shreds for the cheese. You can leave off the breadcrumbs if anyone is gluten intolerant or can't have carbs.

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
1 large yellow onion, minced
4 garlic cloves or equivalent garlic powder
1 tsp sriracha or ground red pepper to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, ideally a garlicky or herby one
1/2 cup grated garlic and herb cheddar
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup bread crumbs

Steam the cauliflower 5 minutes or until it's crisp-tender. Drain and place in a large casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheddar.

Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes until it begins to soften. Then add the beef, stirring to crumble, and raise the heat to medium-high. Keep stirring and cooking the beef until it is all browned. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper while the beef cooks.

When the beef is done, stir in the tomato sauce and heat through. Pour the meat mixture over the cauliflower and stir to combine, gently so the cauliflower doesn't crumble.

Sprinkle the parmesan and bread crumbs over the top of the casserole. Broil for 4 minutes or until golden, and serve.

Lasagna Noodles: Also Just Suggestions

As I've mentioned before, lasagna is delicious. It's also pretty healthy, if you use the reduced fat cheeses, and can be made more healthy by adding veggies like spinach to the fillings, and by substituting other things for the woeful noodles.

Yes, the noodles are a problem. Nothing ruins your wholesome cheesy protein-and-calcium-packed dinner like a big ol' wad of refined flour! Here's some great alternatives to those loathsome noodles:

1. Whole wheat noodles: Duh. This is a great time to use whole wheat, though, because the flavorful fillings blend well with any unpleasant aftertaste of the whole wheat, and the chewier texture works well for the noodles' role as a structural element. This is the amateur solution, though.
2. Tofu noodles: CRAZINESS! But it works. It's highly labor-intensive, but produces a fairly tasty and noodly lasagna, with all the health benefits of soy.
3. Eggplant slices: My exciting new discovery! Like eggplant Parmesan, except without the deep-friend crust. Delicious, fresh-tasting and affordable, as well as lower in calories than any other option, enabling you to have MORE of it!
4. Whatever else you can think of: Seriously, go buck wild. Lasagna is peasant food, which means there's no sense standing on ceremony: If it slices, it goes. Try slices of tomatoes or zucchini, or if you want to get really crazy, prosciutto or pepperoni!

If you're curious about the tofu noodles, here's a recipe:

1 block extra-firm tofu

Slice the tofu very thinly, about 1/8 inch each. Using a hollow-edge santoku knife helps make it easier to work with the slices, without tearing them. Lay them on an oiled baking sheet, and bake at 300 for about 15 minutes or until they are "al dente" the way a lasagna noodle should be. Then use them exactly like a noodle. This makes enough for three layers; if you like a many-layered lasagna, use two blocks of tofu.

Incidentally, pre-baking tofu is a good idea in a lot of situations, producing a more toothsome, chewy texture.

And here's how to use eggplant slices:

1 large eggplant
Salt

Peel the eggplant, and slice lengthwise (NOT crosswise, the slices go to long way) into 1/4 inch slices. Lay the slices out and sprinkle liberally with salt. Turn over and sprinkle the other side. Then stack them up in a colander and let sit for a while. An hour is plenty of time.

This process pulls the bitter juices out of the eggplant. After they have sat, remove the slices and rinse off the bitter juices in the sink. (You probably could also do this by soaking them in salted water, I just haven't tried it yet.)

Brush the slices with olive oil, and roast in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes, or until tender and golden at the edges. If you leave off the olive oil, they might be tough, so be warned.

Now you can use them like a normal noodle. Yay!

As far as the rest of the recipe goes? It's not exactly rocket surgery. Lasagna has four elements: Soft cheese filling, tomato sauce, shreded cheese, and "noodles" (whatever layerable thing you are using, noodle or no).

My soft cheese filling is usually three cups of ricotta, 2 eggs, some parmesan cheese, and a teaspoon of oregano. You could also use parsley and/or basil, and you can add garlic if you like. An easy addition is to thaw a package of frozen chopping spinach, squeeze out the water, and toss the leaves into the filling.

Then I use plain mozzarella for the shredded cheese layers, but also sometimes I use Sargento's reduced fat Italian cheese blend, which is quite good. Their Pizza Cheese and Italian Herd And Cheese Bistro Blends are good, too.

For tomato sauce, well... You'll laugh, but I find that the cheaper tomato sauce that comes in a can is better than the glass jarred sauces, with the exception of the very expensive ones Emeril makes. I suspect that the ordinary jarred sauce is damaged by the exposure to light, and Emeril's probably is, too, but the original recipe is so much superior that it's still good despite this. I wish they sold tomato sauce in dark glass!

Well, there you have it: Lasagna.

If you want to try something more special, here's my favorite "alternate lasagna" recipe: Creamy Spinach Lasagna with whole wheat noodles, by Cooking Light.

To make that recipe, you will want to add parmesan or romano cheese to the creamy filling, as well as some finely chopped onion and minced garlic, and some of your favorite herbs, such as basil. Otherwise, the filling is bland. With those additions, though, this is a luxuriously silky lasagna that is great for company, because it uses "normal" whole wheat noodles, and in such a way that the whole wheat flavor is actually a part of the recipe, not an unfortunate side effect.

Ricotta Cheese

I'm only one-quarter Italian, but it's a very loud, assertive 25% (it also gesticulates wildly when it talks, wears leather pants, grows a tomato plant on its tiny balcony, and stares openly at beautiful women). This vociferous genetic heritage bangs its spoon on the table and demands lasagna.

Fortunately, the rest of me agrees that lasagna is pretty darn tasty. I have a bunch of recipes (or suggestions ;) ) for lasagna, which I will eventually share, but they all have one important thing in common: RICOTTA.

Educational Aside: Ricotta means "re-cooked" in Italian. It is made by taking the whey that is a byproduct of making other cheese such as mozzarella, and then adding a little more acid and re-heating the whey. This causes a second batch of curds to form, much smaller than the first batch, which are strained out, salted, and enjoyed. It's in the category of cream cheese and cottage cheese, being uncultured and fresh (like some people I know). It contains lots of lactose, unlike cultured cheeses who might have less if the culture has broken the lactose down.

Not all ricottas are the same. There's the fat content:

1. Whole Milk: The richest, creamiest, most authentic cheese, but also a bit of an indulgence, as with all full-fat cheeses. I use this on special occasions.
2. Part-Skim: Slightly higher water content, slightly grainier texture, slighter healthier nutritional profile. I consider it a good compromise.
3. Fat-Free: Has an oddly gelatinous texture, usually because there are various gums added to keep it a cheese - there would otherwise not be enough to it to be anything but liquid whey. I will sometimes mix this into regular ricotta when I am making a recipe that I feel has too much fat already, but I never use it by itself. If, however, you are being really careful about your caloric intake, you can use this anywhere you'd use regular ricotta. Putting it through the food processor, or just stirring it really well, helps with the texture.

Then there's the brands (in reverse order of deliciousness):

1. Store brand: Good enough if you're mixing it with something, like if you're using a recipe that calls for part ricotta and part cottage cheese. Has the grainiest texture, and is the most inclined to separate.
2. Sorrento, Sargento, and Dragone: These are, to my tastes, roughly equivalent. I like Dragone part-skim slightly better, and Sorrento whole milk slightly better, but honestly, if it's in a recipe I can't tell the difference.
3. Biazza: THIS IS THE SHIZNIT. Seriously. I am not even joking. THE SHIZNIT. Go buy it and eat it, straight out of the carton with a spoon, it's that good. It's incredibly creamy, the curds are so tiny that you can't even detect them so there's no graininess, it doesn't separate, and it's totally natural with no gums or lactic acids. It's a bit regional, made in New Jersey, so might not be available everywhere. If that's so, then I feel your pain.

If you've sprung for a good ricotta, here's your ultimate low-carb, high-calcium, high-protein dessert:

Per serving:

1/2 cup ricotta
2 packets or 1 1/2 tbsp sweetener or equivalent
1/2 tsp vanilla, OR 1/4 tsp almond extract

Mix that sucker up in a bowl and eat it. BAM - instant deliciousness. Even my husband can make this. It's a good breakfast food, too. If you want to make it fancy, you can drizzle on a little chocolate or caramel sundae syrup.