Lasagna Soup

It's the beginning of the month which means it's Secret Recipe Club time.  Before I reveal my recipe I have a confession - I didn't make anything this month, my husband did, but I did not.  The day before the reveal and as always I had marked a bunch of different recipes, but hadn't made anything.  To make things more challenging I had to work, so I brought in some backup.

I was a little worried about bringing in Mike as a replacement.  He is an excellent cook, but he has trouble following a recipe, so even though I gave him a recipe for Lasagna Soup there was a great possibility I could have come home and found something completely different.  In the spirit of SRC he did follow the recipe, but made a few changes and we now have two delicious recipes to turn to when a craving for lasagna soup strikes.

As a thank you to Mike for helping out I have a favor to ask of you.  Mike loves knowing what other people eat and he started a Facebook page called "so what did you eat".  He just started it and would love to build it up so if you could "like" the page and share what you eat Mike, and I, would really appreciate it.  It doesn't matter if you had a gourmet meal or a bag of chips and a soda, just snap a picture and share away.

As I said this month's SRC dish was lasagna soup from Cravings of a Lunatic.  There are so many great recipes to choose from, I was initially going to make the Turtle Popcorn, but with all the Halloween candy around I couldn't add another sweet to the house.  Even though it didn't make an appearance this month I am sure it will around Christmas time.

Here is Kim's recipe.  This is a delicious, quick and easy dish.  Perfect for cold days when you need some warm comfort food.  Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (I didn’t have fresh so I used minced garlic)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 box (32 oz) of beef broth, or mix 4 cups boiling water with 1 to 2 tablespoons of better than bouillon beef base (I used the better than bouillon)
• 1 (28 fl oz) can of whole peeled tomatoes (san Marzano), pulsed in blender
• 1 (1 lb 8 oz) jar of pasta sauce ( I used Ragu Sauteed Onion & Garlic)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups broken lasagna noodles
• 1 (5 oz) package of grated parmesan cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella (the new pizza mozzarella is the bomb)

Instructions

1. Brown your ground beef, onion, and pepper in a large dutch oven. It should be broken into fine particles and cooked till juices run clear.
2. In the last minute or two add the garlic.
3. Now add your brown sugar, tomatoes, sauce, oregano, basil and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. Add the noodles and simmer until they are tender. Stir in parmesan.
5. Turn on your broiler.
6. Transfer soup into ovenproof soup bowls. Place in oven and broil for 3 to 5 minutes.

Gnocchi

After being away for a week camping and visiting family, then coming back to an earthquake - which is very unusual around here - and finally losing power for two days because of hurricane Irene, I feel like I am just reentering the modern age.   All of these things on top of getting the kids ready to go back to school has made these last two weeks a blur.
To help ease back into a routine and begin posting again I decided to start with something easy - Gnocchi.  I saw this recipe in July's Secret Recipe Club reveal and knew it would be a perfect recipe to do with the kids.  It is a simple recipe and perfect for all ages and ability levels, plus it is a great recipe to have on hand when you need a quick dinner.

Older/Experienced Cooks Can:

• Prepare mise en place
• Measure ingredients
• Mix
• Roll and cut dough

Younger/Beginner Cooks Can:

• Assist with measuring
• Mix ingredients
• Roll and cut dough

Hints and Suggestions:

• Challenge older cooks to use only one measuring cup - great practice with fractions.  
• Have younger cooks use a ruler when cutting - provides regular size pieces and gives practice with number recognition.  

Gnocchi in general is pretty easy, but this recipe is great because it is made with instant mashed potatoes so you can make it last minute and not have to worry about the extra time of cooking and mashing potatoes.  Pair it with a simple salad and top with your favorite sauce and it makes a wonderful quick dinner.

Gnocchi

(Printer Ready) recipe from This Chick Cooks

1 c. Instant Mashed Potates flakes

1 c. Boiling Water
1 Egg
1 ½ c. Flour
½ tsp. Dried Basil
¼ tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

In mixing bowl combine potatoe flakes and boiling water, mix until combined.  Stir in egg.  Add remaining ingredients mix until combined.  
On lightly floured surface knead mixture until soft, about 10-15 times.  Divide dough into four even balls.  Working with one ball at a time roll dough into a long rope about 1/2” thick, then cut into about 1” pieces.  Using a fork lightly press each piece.  Repeat process with remaining balls.  

To cook, place small batches of gnocchi in large pot of lightly salted boiling water.  Cook until pieces float, about 1 minute, remove with slotted spoon.  

Top with your favorite sauce and cheese, and serve!

Stomboli

We were supposed to go out on Friday night, but after a long week we just weren't up for it and decided to change plans.  Which meant we need something for dinner that would be quick and easy.  Enter, Stromboli.  I am a fan of anything that hides some of its ingredients and allows the use of those random bits of food that you have leftover at the end of the week.  This week we had some marinara sauce, one uncooked chicken breast, a head of broccoli and some mozzarella.  I made the pizza dough and while it was rising I poached the chicken in white wine and steamed the broccoli.  I used my steamer pot to cook the chicken and steamed the broccoli above it.  Once the chicken and broccoli were cooked I diced them into small pieces.  When the dough was done I divided it in half and rolled it out into two rectangles.  Spread the marinara sauce, leaving about 1/2" boarder on the edges.  Then sprinkeled the chicken, broccoli and mozzarella on top.   Bring the sides up and crimp together, closing tightly.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parmasan cheese, bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.  Serve with a nice salad and you have a great, sort of quick meal.