Traditional Red Sauce

Olive oil

1 large white onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 stick salted butter

5 cans (28 ounce each) San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes (these tomatoes are from Italy, if you use a different brand, it will taste different. Usually found in the Italian section where you find Italian pasta)

2 Tbls pepper

2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 cup red wine

In a large pot add olive oil to cover the bottom and add onions and garlic.  Cook on real low heat until soft. Be careful not to burn the garlic. That is why you cook it on slow.  If you tend to cook with the heat high, add onions and cook until soft, then add garlic at the end for 30 seconds.  

Burned garlic will ruin your sauce.

Next add butter to melt.

Then add cans of tomato and all the seasonings.  

Use an immersion blender and blend up the tomatoes and onion so there isn't anymore chunks.

Add the wine.

Cook in the pot for at least 2 hours or 2 1/2 hours. 

Stir every 15 minutes on simmer.  

You will see the sauce start to thicken and darken in color.

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Quick Red Sauce

Olive oil

1/2 yellow onion diced fine

3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1/2 TBLS black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

1/4 tsp dried thyme

28 ounces can whole peeled San Marzano tomato (tomatoes make a difference in taste)

1/4 cup red wine. medium sweet

1 large sprig of fresh basil. put it in at the beginning of cooking. 

Put the olive oil is a medium sized pot and add onions and garlic. Have the heat on low, very low. Don't rush this part. You don't want to burn the garlic or brown the onions. You want the onions and garlic to very slowly cook in the olive oil. around a good 20-30 minutes. If you are rushed for time, just add the onions and cook until soft, then add in the garlic for a couple of minuted on low. DON'T BURN the garlic. 

add all the seasonings and cook 1-2 minutes. 

Add the can of tomatoes and stir it around.

Add the wine. 

I like to mash and break up the tomatoes. 

I also prefer to blend the red sauce with an emersion blender, but if you don't have that, just mash it up.

Simmer on low for 30 minutes stirring every 10-15 minutes. 

You can cook it longer if you want. I cooked mine another 15 minutes. 

You can add it to pasta like this or add 1/4 lbs of cooked italian sausage. 

You also can add a large sprig of fresh basil if you have it while it is cooking. it adds sooo much flavor. 

If you can find crushed you can use that and avoid using the emersion blender. But I have a hard time finding crushed.

Easy to freeze. I put 32 ounces in 4 Tupperware. Leave space at top for it to expand. 

Chicken and Hot Italian Sausage Cannelloni

I like to add red sauce on the bottom of the pan, then put the cannoli's on top. Then add Alfredo sauce and mozzarella cheese on top.  

4 Tbls butter

1 medium white onion, diced

16 ounces ground chicken

8 ounces hot Italian sausage, ground

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

4 ounces goat cheese

2 tsp dried basil

1 box no boil barilla noodles

In a frying pan, melt butter and add onions.  Cook until soft.

Add in ground chicken and Italian sausage. 

Cook until browned. DRAIN and cool.

Once the meat mixture has cooled, add the 3 cheeses and dried basil. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. 

Put in one noodle and boil for 1 minute 30 seconds, remove from water and spread a layer of the meat/cheese layer on one noodle and roll up. Repeat until you have used up all the noodles and meat.  

You can freeze these the way they are now. Or add pasta sauce to the bottom of a pan and lay the cannelloni on top. Add mozzarella on top and bake until brown and bubbly. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

 These are the noodles to look for. I couldn't find the ones that are not oven ready. But you want these because of the size, they roll up to look like a cannelloni shell.

 This is the meat and cheese mixture.

 This is what it looks like after it has been rolled. 

This is how much meat/cheese mixture to put on.  

Turkey Chili Soup

Diced cooked turkey breast (or chicken, I was going to get a rotisserie chicken but they also had a turkey breast in the same place so I did that)

1 medium onion diced

2 garlic gloves, minced

olive oil for frying onions and garlic

2 cans great northern beans, rinsed

1 can original rotel

4 cups chicken broth

1 can (4 ounces) green chilis

1/2 can (4oz) diced jalapeños with some of the juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

toppings:

shredded cheddar cheese 

sour cream

In a pan cook onions in olive oil until soft.

Add garlic for 30 seconds on low heat.

Add all other ingredients (except toppings) to a crockpot

Cook on high for 2 hours, then lower it to keep warm.

Enjoy a  bowl and top it with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

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Italian Pinwheels

I found this recipe on the internet.  Try making them, they are easy and delicious for a party. 

3 Large burrito soft shells

8 ounce softened cream cheese

1/4 cup italian bread crumbs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (you could substitute cheddar cheese)

2/3 cup diced banana peppers from a jar, dry most of the liquid

2/3 cup diced roasted red peppers from a jar, dry most of the liquid

9 slices of provolone cheese

1/2 lbs Genoa salami (from the deli, I have them slice it thin)

pepperoni slices (I buy one pack you will have leftovers)

romaine lettuce

Mix softened cream cheese, italian bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, banana peppers and roasted red peppers together. divid in 3rds.

Take 1/3rd of the cream cheese mixture and spread on one soft shell. Repeat with the other 2 soft shells.

Put 3 slices of provolone cheese in the center from left to right.

Layer genoa salami around the entire soft shell.

Next layer pepperoni. Don't layer them side by side. spread them out so the soft shell does get too fat to roll.  That is why I have the deli slice the genoa thin. 

Last, add some romaine lettuce on the bottom half of the soft shell only.  Make sure you split the ribs so it isn't too bulky.

Start to roll up the soft shell closest to you. Make sure you roll it tight and don't push out the filling. 

Wrap the 3 roll ups in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour to have the cream cheese get hard for easy cutting.

Then cut off the ends and cut slices to equal 8 slices.  Don't cut them too thin or they will fall apart and not too large.  

Best to make them the day you are going to eat them. They did still taste good and weren't too soggy the next day. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

 you cut the ends off. but I save them for later to eat. 

Parmesan Basil Tomato Soup

2 Tbls butter

1 c diced onions

2 diced carrots

2 Tbls minced garlic from a jar

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 (28 ounce) cans san Marzano tomatoes

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained

1 Tbls sugar

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

4 cups vegetable broth

1 parmesan rind (I put it in and it all melted. so you could probably put in a 1/4 cup parmesan)

1 bay leaf

3 Tbls basil pesto (good quality)

2 Tbls balsamic vinegar

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

1 cup heavy cream(next time try coconut milk)

In a large soup pot, add 2 Tbls butter, onions and carrots. Cook until soft on low. 

Add garlic for 15 seconds (don't burn it)

Add tomato sauce, san Marzano tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, sugar, dried basil, Italian seasoning, vegetable broth, parmesan rind, bay leaf, basil pesto, balsamic vinegar.  

Simmer in the soup pot for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Add 1 cup fresh basil.

Add 1 cup heavy cream or coconut milk. 

Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and blended. 

Enjoy!

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Dip Pickle Dip

16 oz sour cream, full fat

4 oz whipped cream cheese (or softened cream cheese)

2 Tbls dried dill weed

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 Tbls dried onions

dash of salt and pepper

1 cup diced small dill pickles

Mix everything in a bowl. 

You can eat it immediately or it gets better if you refrigerate 1-2 hours.

Dip with potato chips

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Butternut Squash Sausage and Wild Rice Soup

1 large sized Butternut squash ( I grow mine in my garden and they are larger than the ones at the grocery store, so if you have to buy 2)

olive oil

salt and pepper (I also put on my squash a homemade seasoning but I don't remember what I put in it.  I have it in a pepper mill.  Just salt and pepper is fine)

1 lbs hot ground sausage

3 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium onion, chipped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground sage

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

vegetable broth 1 cup at a time until thick soup consistency (or chicken broth or water, I used water and it tasted good)

1/2 of a can of coconut milk

1 can  (15 oz) of cooked wild rice, drained

Cut butternut squash in half the long way, clean out seeds.  Rub with olive oil and salt and pepper or seasonings. 

400 degree oven roast for 1 hour, remove from oven and let cool.

While the butternut squash is roasting, in pan brown sausage in crumbles.  

Drain sausage and keep in a bowl.

In sausage fat, cook carrots until brown and soft.

Add onion to carrots and cook until soft.

Add garlic to carrots and onions, cook 1 minute.

Add sage, salt, black pepper and nutmeg to carrot mixture, cook 1 minute. 

Take carrot mixture off the heat and cool until butternut squash is done.

When butternut squash is cool, scoop out insides and add to a soup pot along with the carrot mixture. Add vegetable broth (or chicken broth or water) to the squash/carrot mixture until soup consistency.  

Cook in pot for about 20 mins on low heat.  

Take an emulsion blender and blend up squash/carrot mixture until smooth.

Add in half the can of coconut milk and blend until smooth.

add in cooked wild rice. 

Now at this point you can eat it like this if you are a vegetarian (my daughter is a vegetarian, so I take out a couple bowls full for her, and add the meat to the rest of the soup.)

Add the cooked sausage to the rest of the soup or the entire soup.  If you took some soup out for vegetarians you might not use the entire pound of sausage. Just put in as much as you would like.  

PRINTABLE RECIPE

 This picture above is the carrots, onions, garlic, and spices

 This picture above is the roasted butternut squash

 This picture above is the butternut squash blended with the broth and coconut milk. there is no rice or sausage in it yet.

 This picture above is the coconut milk and wild rice I used.

This picture above is the blended soup with just the wild rice in it.