Lasagna Soup

This holiday has been a wonderful time for me to experiment with some favorite comfort dishes. One of my family's favorite dishes is lasagna. But I don't make it as often as I'd like because making lasagna can be time consuming. Especially, when you are making most of it (minus the pasta) from scratch. But I came across a twist on this favorite comfort dish that makes it quick to make.

To be honest, I'd been dying for some lasagna for a while but I just didn't have the time to make it. Then one night I stop by my favorite convenience store to get a bowl of soup and there it was...lasagna soup. Now, at fist I was hesitant. You know when you have a taste for something and you know if it's not spot that craving will not go away? Well, I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want something that was almost like lasagna but not quite right because then I would still have a hankering for it.

Luckily, the wonderful people at the store suggested I try it before I buy it. Woo hoo. Those words were music to my ears. I tried it and I liked it. Of course, then I had to figure out how to make my own. I knew the toughest part would be getting the broth to taste just right. Eventually, with a little help from the gravy maker (hubby) I figured it out. I hope you like it just as much as we do. It's going to become a main staple in our house especially, during the fall and winter.

Lasagna Soup
Makes 8 - 10 servings

Ingredients
1/4 pound of sausage
1/2 pound of ground beef (gently seasoned with salt & pepper)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1/2 medium onion
1/2 tablespoon of garlic
1/8 cup of Italian seasoning
(fresh thyme, oregano, basil & parsley)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
15 oz can of crushed tomatoes
4 cups of beef broth (or chicken)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 box of lasagna noodles
Optional: ricotta or sour cream
                  parmesan or mozzarella cheese
                  parsley for garnish

Tools: Dutch oven or metal stock pot and a wooden spoon

Directions:
 Finely chop peppers and onion.

In a dutch oven or heavy metal pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium- high heat.

Add onion and peppers.

Cook until onion is slightly translucent and soft ( about 4 minutes).

Add ground beef and sausage.

Allow meat to slightly brown then begin breaking it up with a wooden spoon.

Add garlic and italian seasoning, continue to mix all ingredients together.

Add tomato paste and stir for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.

Add beef broth and crushed tomatoes.

Cover pot and allow the mixture to come to a simmer (just a couple of bubbles rising to the surface. If your soup is boiling reduce the heat.)

Allow soup to cook for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the cover for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

While the soup is cooking, in a separate large pot bring salted water to a boil.

Add lasagna noodles and cook as directed in the label.

Once cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil.

The final step is putting it all together.

I cut up my noodles and put it in the bowl first. Then pour the soup over and add a little parmesan cheese, dollop of sour cream and sprinkle of parsley. Yum.

It's a quick and easy dish that really hits the spot. Hope it becomes one of your fav comforts.

Chocolate Gingerbread Men

The mission for this weekend started with marking holiday bark. It's a great gift to colleagues and friends. If you know the person well, you can add their favorite sweet to this chocolate treat. About a a week or two ago I purchased some chocolate melts to make some Thanksgiving lollipops. Unfortunately, I never used it so I thought this would be the perfect time to do so.

I like making bark. It's pretty simple and you can add your own spin to it. Maybe some candy canes or some almonds. The hardest part is melting the chocolate down and the chocolate melts make that pretty simple. Just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds to 2 minutes (depending on how many) and it's melted and ready to be smeared on some parchment and topped with your favorite candy or dried fruit or nuts. Then into the fridge it goes to harden. It's that simple.

Of course, today's experiment was even more simple because in the end I realized this was not plain chocolate but chocolate mint melts. So,

I just put the chocolate in a silicon mold. Nice and easy.

Ingredients
12 oz Candy Melts

Tools: Silicon Mold -24 Cavity Gingerbread Man

*Note: If you are making bark spread chocolate on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
If you do not have candy melts you can use chocolate chips. Just add a little bit of shortening.

Directions:
Gently melt candy in the microwave 30 seconds at a time.

Using a spatula gently pour even amounts of chocolate into the cavities.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Rosemary & Olive Oil Biscuits

Have you ever had a taste for something? And you've eaten this and that but it just doesn't hit the spot? That's been my issue lately. I've had a rosemary craving. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it is what it is. I wanted something with rosemary. For a while I didn't care what it was. I put rosemary on meat. Then I wanted rosemary bread. I decided to indulge in a turkey sandwich on rosemary bread, but it didn't do it for me. Then since the holidays were coming I thought I would try make some southern drop biscuits but with rosemary and oil. That was another fail.

Of course, if at first you don't succeed try again. And so I did. This recipe is very similar to a muffin recipe I make. I was excited when I first took it out of the oven. I was expecting this savory muffin the would be fluffy and fall apart like a perfect muffin would. But first it had to be approved. My excitement was short lived when my husband told me I couldn't call it a muffin. I had gone through all of these failed attempts and I was so sure I had gotten it right this time. I was actually going for more of a muffin texture, that why I added sour cream. But in the end it didn't work out. Oh well, I'll tweak the recipe a bit and see what happens. Despite that, I love this recipe. It tastes great. And so, I'm keeping it.


Rosemary &Olive Oil Biscuits
Makes 6-8 large biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary (chopped fine)
1 large egg
1 cup of sour cream
1/3 cup of olive oil
*garnish: course kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and fresh rosemary thoroughly.

In a second bowl, mix egg, sour cream and olive oil.

Little by little add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.

Mix completely.

Grease muffin pan and fill half way with mixture.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Once out of the oven sprinkle with some course kosher salt.

Just for kicks, I'm going to slice this baby in half and put a sausage patty with egg and cheese on it. That should be good. How are you going to eat your biscuit?