Garlicky Cheese Bites

Delicious. From Joy of Cooking.

1 can (8 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated garlic-flavored breadsticks (or you can use regular breadsticks and sprinkle them with garlic powder)
4 sticks mozzarella string cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce, heated

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. Unroll breadstick dough. Cut dough crosswise into thirds; separate into 24 strips. Cut each cheese stick into 6 equal pieces (24 pieces total).
Place 1 cheese piece on short end of each dough strip; roll up cheese piece in dough. Pinch and seal dough to completely cover cheese. Place rolls, seam side down, in muffin cups. Turn rolls in cups to coat all sides with cooking spray. Lightly sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from pans to serving platter. Serve warm with marinara sauce for dipping.

Caprese Lasagna

This was good... but I messed it up. I should have cooked the noodles first, they were still a little crunchy, and I had added the rest of the chicken broth and baked for another 30 minutes to try and get them to cook. From Lauren's Kitchen.



Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock
A few grates of fresh nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles
4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
Half a bunch basil, chopped (about 30 leaves)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF.
Place a large saucepot over medium-heat and melt the butter. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk the milk and chicken stock into the butter-flour mixture and bring up to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and simmer until thickened, 3-4 minutes.
Assemble the lasagna by ladling a small amount (about 1/4 cup, just eyeball it) of the sauce into the bottom of a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish and laying three lasagna noodles over the sauce. Top the noodles with about a third of the sliced tomatoes, a third of the basil, 1/4 cup of sauce and about a third of the shredded cheese. Repeat until all ingredients are used up, topping the lasagna off with a final layer of sauce and shredded cheese.
Cover the pan with foil and bake the lasagna for 30 minutes. Remove the foil from the baking dish and bake another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. When ready to serve, top with the remaining chopped basil leaves.

Chicken Tetrazzini

I have made this quite a few times - it is always delicious. I got it from the Kraft website. I served it with my version of Caprese salad - the store was out of fresh mozzarella and basil, so I did the best I could! Those are tomatoes out of my garden... the few that grew this year. Next year I hope to plant the tomatoes in the ground, hopefully they will grow better!

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) spaghetti, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 medium red pepper, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1/4 cup flour
1 can (14 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add chicken, peppers and mushrooms; cook and stir 5 min. or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; set aside.
PLACE Neufchatel, flour and broth in skillet. Cook and stir with wire whisk until boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min., stirring frequently.
DRAIN pasta; return to saucepan. Add Neufchatel cheese mixture, chicken mixture and 2 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese; mix well. Spoon into 2-qt. round casserole dish; cover with foil. Bake 25 min. Top with mozzarella and remaining 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese; continue baking, uncovered, 2 min. or until mozzarella cheese is melted.

French Dip Sandwiches

No picture tonight - I forgot! And, technically, I didn't even make these. My mom is staying with us to watch Calvin this week, so she cooked for me. Either way, these were good and easy to make. Also a good recipe for all of those roasts that we have in the freezer.

Recipe from My Kitchen Cafe, adapted from Dinner's Ready.

1 pot roast, anywhere from 2 to 4 pounds
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
mozzarella slices
1 McCormick Au Jus sauce packet (found in the gravy mix aisle)
Rolls /buns

In crockpot, dissolve Au jus packet in 3 cups of cold water then add the roast (my roast was still partly frozen). Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours (I cooked mine about 8 hours on low before adding the peppers and onion for another hour). One hour before you plan to eat, shred the beef then slice the peppers and onions and add to crockpot. When it is finished, remove meat and veggies with a slotted spoon. Place mozzarella slices on buns and put under low broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Fill the rolls with the meat and veggies, then divide the Au Jus sauce into smaller bowls for dipping.

Creamy Orzo served with Herb-Rubbed Grilled Chicken

I was confused by Giada's recipe, from Smells Like Home, so I made it a little differently. For some reason, I thought that the chicken was cooked in the same pan as the orzo. Next time, I'll do it right! Also, it calls for shallots, but I have no idea what those are and couldn't find them in the store anyway, so I omitted those. I used half of the orzo that it calls for, and I didn't have a garlic clove or fresh parmesan, so I did my best without those (garlic powder and mozzarella/canned parmesan seemed to work just fine).

1 pound orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, juices drained
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
reserved pasta water
2 tsp herbes de provence
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2″

Bring a heavy large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 10-11 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Season pounded chicken on both sides with herbes de provence (1 tsp per breast), salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat and pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat. Add the shallot and garlic, and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Put chicken on grill, turning after 4-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the cream and peas*. Add the orzo and toss to coat. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the Parmesan to the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Stir the pasta mixture until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to maintain a creamy consistency. Season the orzo generously with salt and pepper, and serve.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6-8