Zuppa Toscana

I was searching around the Internet for recipes this past weekend when I came upon this soup recipe. I have never had Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden, or in general, but all of the ingredients in this recipe sounded like they would be delicious together. Not the least bit healthy but definitely delicious. :)

This made a nice and hearty soup that was comforting on a cold and snowy evening. My husband and I both give it two thumbs up. I look forward to making this again sometime soon.


I made a few changes to the recipe but nothing that would change it to dramatically. I really dislike fennel seed so I used country style sausage and added some black pepper and red pepper flakes to it. I omitted the onion and subbed in some onion powder. I used baby spinach instead of Kale and half and half instead of heavy cream. Since I used half and half instead of heavy cream I smashed up some of the potatoes to give the soup a thicker consistency.

Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Copycat Recipe)

Source: Robbie's Recipes

Ingredients
1 pound spicy Italian sausage - crumbled
1/2 pound smoked bacon - chopped
4 cups water
2, 14.5 ounce cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth
2 large russet potatoes - scrubbed clean, cubed
2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed
1 medium onion - peeled, chopped
2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper - to taste

Directions
1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside.

2. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon; drain, set aside.

3. Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.

4. Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through.

Easy Peasy Pasta

I was watching the Food Network one evening last week and saw Giada making this recipe. It sounded like a great meal and nice change from my typical chicken or ground beef meals.

I thought this dish turned out ok, I really loved the sausage in it but I just was not sold on the entire dish itself. I think I would like it better with a different, or perhaps more flavorful, sauce. My husband on the other hand seemed to really like it, he polished off 3 bowls.


I did make a few changes to the recipe so I will write it as I prepared it and if you are interested in the original recipe click the link under the recipe name.

Penne with Smashed Peas, Sausage, and Ricotta
Adapted from: Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
8 oz pound penne pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pound pork sausage
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

8 oz frozen peas, thawed

1/2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes if dry or according to package directions if fresh. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet heat the olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage into bite-sized bits. When the sausage has browned, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add the peas to the pan and, using the back of the wooden spoon, smash the peas. Turn off the heat. Add the ricotta cheese along with the cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding the pasta cooking water in 1/4 cup additions, if needed, to make the pasta moist. Return the sausage to the pan. Add the parsley, Parmesan cheese, and salt. Toss gently to coat and serve immediately.

Ziti on the fly

My sister had found a recipe for baked ziti and kept mentioning how good it sounded. I am not sure if that was a hint to me to make it for her or what, but I decided to go ahead and make some since I had never made it before. I looked at about 10 different recipes and they all had the same concept but different ingredients. So I took the basic concept and went with it.

The end result was a saucy, cheesy, meaty, noodle filled dish that was sure to delight. My husband and I enjoyed it very much and I will definitely have to make it again. Since we are used to just ground beef in pasta dishes that we really loved the taste difference that the sausage added. Thumbs up all around.

And by the way Cassi, I will save some for you so you can satisfy your baked ziti craving. :)

Baked Ziti
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
1 box (16 oz) Ziti pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb pork sausage
Salt, black pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes (all to taste)
12 oz cottage cheese (or ricotta if you prefer)
1/2 cup (4 oz) mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
8 slices provolone cheese

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season water with salt, boil pasta till al dente; drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile brown sausage and ground beef in skillet and season with desired amounts of salt, black pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes. Drain excess grease away from meats and return back to skillet. Add the jar of spaghetti sauce and let simmer until you are ready to assemble the dish.
- Place enough sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan so the noodles won't stick. Then assemble the rest of the dish- half of the cooked noodles, all of the cottage cheese, 4 slices of provolone cheese, 1/2 of the remaining sauce, remaining noodles, half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, remaining sauce, remaining cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let set 10 minutes to cool before serving.

Slow cookin

I had purchased a few packages of boneless country-style ribs when they were on sale a few weeks back and had no clue what to do with them so I food savered them up and tossed them in the freezer. I was sick of looking at them so I decided that I just needed to make something out of them.

I have been hearing many raves about this recipe from a cooking board that I post on so I decided that I would give it a try. Of course I had no root beer in the house. So I headed down the street to the local drive-in and a bought gallon of fresh homemade root beer. YUM!

This had great taste to it even before I shredded it and added the BBQ sauce. My husband and I both enjoyed it. Usually the BBQ sauce that I use has a bit of a kick to it but for some reason that did not come out in this dish. So next time I will probably add a few dashes of hot sauce or some red pepper flakes to the recipe. Overall, it was wonderful.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

(Source: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

Directions:
Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns.

My modifications:
- used boneless country style ribs instead of tenderloin

-made a dry rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder & chili powder

- coated meat in rub then pan seared

- cooked 6 hours on high, drained root beer, shredded meat, added in BBQ sauce and cooked for 1 1/2 hours longer

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I had some green beans and red potatoes that I wanted to cook up for dinner but I did not want to have to stand over them and stir or turn them while they cooked. So I decided to go back to a technique that I used on the grill one evening, the foil packet. They were so easy and so good that I ended up eating more beans that I did pork.

Green Bean and Red Potato Packets
(Source: Ambers Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
1 pound green beans
3 small red potatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 -2 tbls olive oil (I used garlic flavored)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375
- Wash and trim the green beans, wash and thinly slice the potatoes and toss them into a plastic baggie. Add the oil, garlic, and other seasonings into the bag and shake to coat. Lay a piece of foil onto a cookie sheet (about 12" long) and dump the mixture onto the middle of the foil. Place another piece of foil over top and fold the two layers together to make a pouch that no air will escape from. Place into preheated oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to serving dish and top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Porkin it up.

I bought a 2.2 pound pork tenderloin months ago when it was on sale at the grocery store. I brought it home and shoved it in my freezer. I got sick of looking at it and seeing it take up freezer space so I decided to pull it out and use it.

I am not a huge pork fan so I think that is one of the main reasons it sat in the freezer so long. I was scared that I would not like it. But I braved the storm and ended up making it tonight. I marinated it for about 19 hours. Then I grilled it on the gas grill for about 45 minutes (until 170 degrees). It turned out better than I expected. And I even invited my parents over for dinner because I knew DH and I could not eat the entire thing. It went great with grilled (tin-foil packet) green beans and red potatoes.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds pork tenderloin

* Marinate pork for at least 2 hours, the longer the better though. (I marinated for 19)
* Grill or cook in oven until internal temperature is 160 for med-rare -OR- 170 for well done.