chicken and spinach stuffed shells

I made this back in October for my sister in laws birthday dinner.  I also made stuffed Manicotti which was delicious too.  They were both very good.  I just love Alfredo anything and this was a nice change.  I made the Manicotti with ricotta which was also very good.

adapted from here

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells Serves: 8-10 servings

Serves: about 40 shells

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) box uncooked jumbo pasta shells
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups fresh chopped spinach
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1⅔ cups)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Instructions

1. Cook shells according to package directions. Be careful not to overcook them or they will tear easily when trying to fill them. Drain and set shells out individually on a cutting board or baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x13 baking dishes.
3. In a large bowl, combine chicken and all the rest of the ingredients except mozzarella and spaghetti sauce. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella. Spoon into shells. *Tip: For easier filling, fill a gallon ziplock baggie with the filling and snip a quarter size hole off the corner of the bag. Then you can just pipe the filling into the shells.
4. Spread half of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dishes. Arrange shells over sauce; top with remaining sauce. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. If you are freezing one of the 9x13 prepared pans, freeze it after this step. Include a baggy of the remaining mozzarella for when you cook it.
5. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.
6. Makes 8-10 servings.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the time to Do ALL the things YOU Love.
Donna

Ricotta Blueberry Cake

When I was at Sam's a while back I bought a large container of Ricotta Cheese for the stuffed chicken breast that I posted in a previous post.  So of course there was plenty left so to the drawing board for things to make with what was left.  I made this for work and it was a nice treat.  I am going to make Thumbprint cookies next, which of course I'll share.  I may try to find another recipe for using it in another stuffing type dish. 

This is the cake before the sugar and cutting the hole in it.

 and now powder sugar added

Ingredients:

Servings: 8 ***helpful hint at bottom to get more slices****
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1½ cups ricotta
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup frozen  blueberries, raspberries or blackberries, divided

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9”-diameter cake pan with parchment paper and lightly coat with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk eggs, ricotta, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth; fold into dry ingredients just until blended. Then fold in butter, followed by ¾ cup raspberries, taking care not to crush berries. Scrape batter into prepared pan and scatter remaining ¼ cup raspberries over top.

Bake cake until golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50–60 minutes. Let cool at least 20 minutes before unmolding.

*****To get more slices from your round cakes try this............cut a small circle in the center of the cake and then slice your pieces you will get was more servings this way, which is great if you have more people to serve.    And best part you can eat the little piece you cut out.  :)  *****

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to DO all the things YOU L♥ve.
Donna 

Ricotta Cookies

These cookies are from Lidia's site, we had a family dinner and these were 1 of the desserts.  My daughter made Tarimasu which I will post later.  As you can guess we had Italian.  I made home made Cannelloni with meat and cheese filling.  Two trays were with beef and two were made with Pork 

I must say these cookies are really good, light and so tasty.  I will make them again and again.  Oh yes one other thing they go together very quickly.  A big plus.

Printable
Ingredients:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
8 ounces fresh ricotta, drained
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze
2 teaspoons lemon zest, plus** 1/4 cup lemon juice

**2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl, and set aside.
**those  two starred items I used less than a 1/4 cup of juice and 1 1/2 cups of sugar, it made more than enough

Directions:
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the sugar and butter in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, and crack in the eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. Plop in the ricotta, vanilla, and lemon zest, and beat to combine. Add the flour mix, and beat on low until just combined, but do no over mix.

Drop the dough in heaping tablespoons onto the baking sheets. Place in oven, and bake, rotating pans halfway through the baking time, until the cookies are puffed, golden, and cooked all the way through, about 20 to 22 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on wire racks.

When the cookies are completely cool, make the glaze. In a bowl, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice to make a smooth glaze. Adjust the consistency with a little water or more confectioners’ sugar to make the glaze thick enough to stick to the cookies when dipped. Hold each cookie with two fingers, then dip the top of the cookies in the glaze and let dry on racks until all are done. Let dry for 2 hours before storing.

 Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day and Remember to Find the Time to DO all the Things YOU love.
Donna

Sausage Calzone

I made these the other night for dinner. They sure were tasty. The dough is my favorite pizza dough...best I've tasted. It is best if you make the dough the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight and then about 2 hrs before you make your calzones take it out and let it rest covered on the counter. You can find the recipe for the dough here.

Ingredients:
5 links of sweet Italian sausage (taken out of casing)
1 green roasted pepper (cut into strips)
1 red roasted pepper (cut into strips)
1 Sweet onion (cut into strips)
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 TBL olive oil
2 TLB fresh basil
8 oz. ricotta cheese
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
2 TBL fresh parsley
1 egg
fresh homemade sauce ( recipe found here )

In a large skillet saute the onion and garlic, add the meat and brown, add salt and pepper in some olive oil. Set aside. Roast your peppers in the oven on broil. When charred place in plastic bag and let steam help remove the skins. When done remove the skin and slice.
In a bowl mix ricotta , 1 egg and 2 TBL fresh parsley.
Take golf size balls of dough and roll out into a circle. Place sausage, peppers, onions, a couple of TLB of ricotta and a couple of slices of mozzarella. Fold over and pinch dough so it seals. Brush with olive oil and bake in 500 degree oven for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Serve with sauce and enjoy.



Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week, and those mom's that have kids going back to school, Take a breath and Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the Things YOU love.
Donna

Home made Cheese Manicotti

 I told you the other day about the birthday celebration we had.  Well this is one of the food items we ate that night.  Home made Manicotti..oh so delish.  This dish is a bit time consuming and goes a bit faster if you have someone helping.  These are not made like the shells you find in the store.  The outer casing is more like a crepe.  This coming week I will be making Cannelloni which is a pasta noodle that you fill with cheese, or meat or a combo of both.

Ingredients:
8 Eggs, divided
3 Cups Water, divided
3 Cups all-purpose Flour, divided
1 ½ Teaspoons Salt, divided

Combine four eggs, one ½ cups of water, one ½ cups of all-purpose flour and 3/4 teaspoon of salt in your blender container. Blend until mixture is smooth. Pour the blended mixture into a large bowl. Repeat using the remaining ingredients.
Add the new mixture to the bowl and stir together.

Filling
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup good fontina cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
*optional you can add 1/4 or less of asiago cheese grated*

Tomato cream sauce:
I extra large can of diced tomatoes
3 gloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion
3 TBL fresh parsley, chopped
3 TBL fresh sage, chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup of good white wine (something you would drink)
1/4 cup of heavy cream
extra virgin olive oil
In a large pot heat oil, add onion and cook for about 2 -3 minutes until clear, add the garlic, cook for about 1 minute.  Add tomatoes and bring to boil, turn down and simmer add the wine and cook for several hours until sauce has reduced and thicken a bit.  When you're ready to assemble, heat another skillet with olive oil, add some onions and garlic and saute, don't brown the garlic or it will get bitter...add about a cup of sauce from your pot and stir, add about 1/4 cup of white wine and simmer, you can add a bit more sauce if it's too thick.  Add the herbs and cook for 2 minutes or so then add the heavy cream and stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  You can if you like add some red pepper flakes at this time to get a spicier sauce.  All up to you.  Spread sauce over Manicotti, cover with foil and bake.

To make crepes:
 Lightly butter a frying pan and then heat the pan for about a minute over medium  heat. Use a 1/4 cup measure and spoon batter into the middle of the hot fry pan.
Quickly and carefully tilt the pan in a circular motion until the batter forms a round, thin layer in the pan. (Similar to a crepe or a very thin pancake.)
Cook about 1 or 2 minutes until the shell surface appears dry and shiny.
Carefully turn the manicotti shell over using a spatula, and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Repeat process to make approximately 24 shells.
Stack cooked shells on plate between waxed paper for use later.
You can make your tray and freeze these for up to 6 months,  just like you would do for lasagna.


To assemble, take a good amount of filling and place it in the center of the crepe, careefully roll them up and place in a baking pan that has some sauce on the bottom.

 

Here they are before the sauce goes on the top.  I also sprinkled a bit of mozzarella cheese over the top before topping with sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, until heated through.  

 

The sauce on this dish is a tomato cream sauce.