Sausage & Mushroom Stuffed Shells

One of my favorite combinations is sausage and mushrooms. I love sausage stuffed mushrooms, sausage and mushroom pizza, and now, sausage and mushroom stuffed shells. I love stuffed shells in general. They are a lot of work, but you can make a bunch ahead of time and then freeze them for a quick meal later. I used my homemade marinara sauce with them. If you haven't tried my recipe for homemade marinara, please do immediately. Once you start making your own sauce, you'll never go back to jarred sauce. I usually quadruple the recipe and jar it with quart sized mason jars.

1 box jumbo shells
2 cups marinara sauce

1.235 lb package of Italian sausage, casing removed

1 15 oz ricotta cheese
1 8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup romano cheese, grated
1 cup mozzarella cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top
1 egg, beaten
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cups chopped mushrooms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook shells as directed on package. Cook Italian sausage in skillet until brown and crumbly. In a mixer, beat cream cheese until soft. Add in ricotta, parmesan, romano, mozzarella, beaten egg, garlic, basil, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined. Mix in sausage and mushrooms. Fill each shell with mixture. Coat the bottom of a baking dish with enough marinara to cover the bottom. Lay shells on top of marinara. Cover shells with more marinara and sprinkle more mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Dinner for Two: Stuffed Chicken

Let me start this post for apologizing for my lack of picture. Dinner wasn't ready until almost 8 o'clock last night so I didn't even give this dish enough time to cool before eating it, never mind stop to take a picture of it. I promise I will update this with a picture the next time I make it. And yes, I will definitely be making it again.

This recipe came about in a couple different ways. The first was that my mom recommended I start including recipes for people like myself, who only have 1-2 people to feed, and aren't interested in always having leftovers. I had exactly two chicken breasts and thought this was a good way to listen to my mama! Also, I have been DYING to try stuffing my chicken with a spinach and artichoke stuffing. Slight problem, Jon was hungry too and Jon doesn't like spinach or artichokes. I kept on truckin' and decided to do one stuffed chicken breast with spinach and artichoke and the other with a simple ricotta stuffing. Doesn't this sound like my feta-licious post? Yeah, he's obnoxious! :oP

The good part was both recipes start with the exact same ingredients,. So with the spinach-artichoke, I just added the two main ingredients- spinach and artichoke. I'm going to include both recipes as 2 servings. If you have a house like me, and want to do one of each, just start with the ricotta base and add in half the called for amount of spinach and artichoke on the second bird. I hope that made sense. If it didn't, email me- cookingwithcait@gmail.com

Ricotta Stuffed Chicken

2 chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded (between parchment paper) to 1/4-1/2 inch thick
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, reserve some for topping
1/4 cup romano, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
1 tbsp parsley
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover bottom of baking dish with marinara or cooking spray to avoid sticking. Combine ricotta and cream cheese until smooth and well combined. Add in mozzarella, romano parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley and egg. Fill chicken as desired and then wrap chicken around filling. Use wooden toothpick to secure if need be. Place in baking dish, sprinkle with reserved mozzarella, cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes.


Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

2 chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded (between parchment paper) to 1/4-1/2 inch thick
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, reserve some for topping
1/4 cup romano, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
1 tbsp parsley
1 cup spinach, coarsley chopped
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover bottom of baking dish with cooking spray to avoid sticking. Combine ricotta and cream cheese until smooth and well combined. Add in mozzarella, romano parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley, spinach, artichoke and egg. Fill chicken as desired and then wrap chicken around filling. Use wooden toothpick to secure if need be. Place in baking dish, sprinkle with reserved mozzarella, cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Simple Red and White Strombolis

Hey Kids!

So today, I decided to get off my staycation butt and put together one of Jon and I's favorites, a stromboli. Jon and I first fell in love with the stromboli at this place in Attleboro, MA, La Strada. Friends that I worked with at the Emerald Square mall introduced me. It was love at first bite. (insert cheesy chuckle)

I always ordered the buffalo chicken stromboli, which is just to die for. Jon does not like buffalo anything so he usually got something like chicken parm or meat lovers.

This stromboli is made up of both whole wheat and all purpose flour to try to save on some calories. I also used my Marinara Sauce which is filled with veggies and not too much sugar.

The wheat dough recipe makes 2 strombolis, 1 thick crust pizza or 2 thin crust pizzas. So, you could just take the dough recipe and make a pizza or continue on to the stromboli construction.

The beauty of a stromboli, just like a pizza, is you can get really creative with your ingredients. You could make a Chicken Caesar, Buffalo Chicken, Italian BMT, Ham & Bacon, possibilities are limitless. I bet it would be so much fun to get the kids in the kitchen to help add the toppings or fillings also. I made two strombolis today, one red, one white. Very simple with the sauce, chicken, and lots of cheese.

Pizza Dough

1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
3/4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour

In Kitchen Aid mixing bowl, mix warm water with sugar until dissolved. Top water mixture with yeast packet and set aside until yeast is foamy, 8-10 minutes. Add olive oil and salt. Using dough hook on mixer, add in flour in 1/2 cup increments until both wheat and all purpose flours are fully incorporated.

Knead dough for about 3-5 minutes, until smooth. Cover with more olive oil and set in mixing bowl on side. Cover with towel and allow to rise for about an hour. Once dough is about double in size, separate into two pieces. Knead each ball again until smooth and set aside to rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Once both pieces have risen, flour work surface. Using a rolling pin, stretch dough into rectangular shape about the length of the rolling pin. Repeat with second piece of dough. Add desired toppings or fillings and bake for 20 minutes.

Red Stromboli
6 servings- 176 calories each

1/2 cup Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded chicken

White Stromboli
6 servings- 276 calories each

1/2 cup Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup Ravioli filling
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded chicken

Layer ingredients on top of pizza dough. Here are some pictures on how to form the stromboli. First tuck in the sides. Next, pull dough from top over and pinch sides to create pocket. Then, pull dough from bottom over and pinch sides and top to seal. Make 4-5 slits in stromboli. Sprinkle top of dough with house seasoning or salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes, until outside is crispy.

 

 

Homemade Raviolis

Hey Kids!

I can't even begin to express my love for raviolis. They are so amazing. I used to just buy the frozen stuff you buy in the grocery store. Now, my Kitchen Aid mixer has made these so easy to make from scratch. If you don't have a mixer, you can just cut the raviolis with a pizza cutter and shape the edges with a fork. This ravioli filling ends up making extra, which I'm going to use in my next recipe for stromboli.

6 Sheets of Homemade Pasta

Ravioli Filling:
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, grated or finely minced
1 tbsp parsely, chopped
1 egg

Start boiling water on stovetop for ravioli using large pasta pot. Combine together all ravioli filling ingredients in large mixing bowl. Use Kitchen Aid mixer to form raviolis. Season water and drop in raviolis. Allow to cook for about 4-5 minutes, until raviolis are floating at top. Serve with marinara or alfredo sauce and Buon Appetito!