Wine-Braised Italian Sausages

I just was looking for a recipe of mine on my blog because I really thought I put it here but I didn't. So here you go!

Wine Braised Italian Sausages

1 ½ lbs. mild Italian sausages, cut into ½” pieces
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 small carrot, minced
6 sprigs parsley, minced (I used dry)
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced (I always use more since we love garlic)
3 fresh sage leaves, torn (again, I use dry)
generous pinch ground cloves
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 (14 oz.) can whole tomatoes (I used diced)
1 lb. pasta (penne, fusilli or ziti) cooked al dente and drained
1 ½ cups fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago cheese

In a 12” saute pan, slowly cook the sausage in the olive oil until it is well browned. Work over medium heat. Remove it from the pan, pour off all but 2 Tbsp. fat and add the onion, carrot and parsley to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat until golden. Add the sausage, garlic, sage, cloves and tomato paste along with ½ the wine. Simmer while you scrape up all the brown glaze from the bottom of the pan. Once the wine is evaporated, add the rest of it and cook very slowly, 10 minutes. Sauce will be clinging to the sausage. (At this point, you could refrigerate the sauce for up to 3 days). Add the tomatoes and cook at a slow bubble for 5 minutes. Toss in the pasta to thoroughly coat. Blend in half the cheese. Serve hot, passing the cheese separately. Makes 4-6 servings as a main dish.

Chicken Piccata

When planning my menu this week, I asked DH what he wanted - if there was anything special he'd like to have and he asked if I could find a recipe for chicken piccata. So I went to handy-dandy AllRecipes.com and looked it up and sorted on ratings. I found a recipe that looked really good and easy so I took it and modified it for our situation.

So here's the recipe as I made it. We LOVED it and I served it over angel hair pasta and had green beans on the side.

Chicken Piccata

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut in 1/2 horizontally and pounded thin (so 8 pieces total)
2 eggs
2 Tbspl lemon juice

3/4 cup flour
3/8 tsp. garlic powder
3/8 tsp. paprika

2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
6 tsp. chicken bouillon powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water
6 Tbsp. lemon juice

1) In a small bowl, beat the eggs together with the lemon juice. Set aside.

2) In a shallow bowl or dish, mix together the flour, garlic powder and paprika. Dip the chicken in the egg/lemon mixture then in the seasoned flour.

3) In a large skillet, melt one stick of butter and brown the coated chicken pieces. Remove as they finish and put them in a baking dish. Place them in an oven at 350 degrees and cook about 10 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Drain remaining butter and clean pan. (I did this because by the time I was done, the butter was browned and I didn't want that for the sauce.)

4). In the same pan (that is now cleaned), melt the other stick of butter. In the meantime, dissolve the bouillon in the boiling water. Add the dissolved bouillon and lemon juice to the melted butter and cook for about 5 minutes. (I added some cornstarch dissolved in water to this to thicken it but you can keep it thin if you prefer).

5) Serve the chicken with the sauce poured over the top.


My dad loved it. My kids loved it. My husband loved it. *I* loved it. A definite keeper recipe and one I'd make for company too. :)

Recipe - Five Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

I got this recipe from the February issue of Family Circle and it's quickly become a family favorite. Try it out!

1 box (16 oz) cellantani or macaroni
1/4 lb. bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups grated Fontina cheese
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
3/4 cup grated white Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup bread crumbs

1) Heat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
2) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
3) In a large heavy pot, saute bacon until crisp, 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add onion to bacon drippings; saute until soft, 4 minutes. Add butter to pot and melt, stirring.
4) Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until smooth and light brown in color. Whisk in mustard. Gradually add milk and cream, whisking.
5) Stir in thyme, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a simmer. Stir frequently, simmering for 15 minutes.
6) Strain hot milk mixture into a metal bowl, discard solids. Quickly mix in 1 cup of the Fontina, blue cheese, 1/2 cup of the Gruyere, 1/2 cup of the Cheddar, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, bacon and parsley. Continue to stir until all cheeses are melted.
7) Add pasta to cheese sauce; stir to coat. Pour into prepared dish. In a smal bowl, mix remaining 1/2 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Gruyere, 1/4 cup Cheddar, 1/4 cup Parmesan and bread crumbs together. Sprinkle over pasta. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Another great recipe - Penne a la Vodka

Another favorite in our home. It's really easy to make and is delicious. I served this last night to a group of teens with salad and bread and it was well received. :)


Penne a la Vodka

2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 oz. sliced prosciutto or Canadian bacon, chopped
3 green onions, trimmed, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 cup vodka
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. penne

1) Heat oil in a medium-size saucepan over low heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, making sure garlic doesn't burn. Add prosciutto, green onions, ground red pepper and vodka; cook for 4 minutes over medium heat. Add tomatoes; cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Add cream and salt; cook 3 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, cook penne in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water until ad dente. Drain well, Toss penne with vodka sauce to coat evenly.

GREAT Lasagna Recipe

OK - I like lasagna but have never found a recipe I loved so I haven't made it in forever. I tried Pioneer Woman's lasagna but found it too heavy on the sausage and even trying to modify it, it still was too much for me. So I continued my quest. I went to AllRecipes and found "The World's Best Lasagna" with 5 stars and over 2000 reviews so I figured I'd try it. It was GREAT!!! Here's the recipe as I did it for convenience. There are some modifications that I found in the reviews and I incorporated them here. The sauce is awesome and worthy of any good pasta dish you want it for so it's OK to double it and freeze the extra for another meal.

World's Best Lasagna

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water or red wine
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
lasagna noodles (I used 15)
16 oz. ricotta cheese
dash nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water/wine. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seed, Italian seasoning, 1 Tbsp. salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp. parsley. Simmer, covered for atleast 1.5 hours - up to 5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for about 8-10 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce in the bottom of a 9X13" pan. Arrange noodles over meat sauce. Spread with 1/2 the ricotta mixture. top with a third of the mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella and sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Repeat layers and top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese Cover with foil (spray foil with cooking spray to avoid sticking).

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 2 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

YUMMMYYYY!!!!