Ricotta & Roasted Garlic Bread

I could honestly eat ricotta cheese straight out of the container. I happened to have some in my refrigerator, I was making spaghetti and meatballs and wanted some cheesy bread, and voila! This lovely combination of ricotta and roasted garlic came to me. Don't get me wrong, I love raw garlic as much as the next Greek girl, but I thought I would go with roasted garlic for this cheesy bread to give it a milder flavor considering this is a side dish. It's not overwhelming but this is definitely garlic bread. Try making this in place of bread sticks for a little something different!

Ricotta & Roasted Garlic Bread

Makes 10 servings (2 pieces each)

Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 loaf French bread

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 head of garlic

1 Tbsp parsley

1 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel back the first few layers of the garlic skin. Cut the head of garlic in half. Cut the tops off of the top cloves of garlic.

2. Drizzle olive oil on top of the cloves. Wrap in tin foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

3. Squeeze garlic cloves out of the skin. Smash the garlic cloves with a fork to break them up. Mix garlic cloves, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Cut the French bread loaf in half lengthwise. Spread cheese and garlic mixture evenly over the two slices. Broil in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes just to toast the bread, watching carefully. Slice into individual servings and enjoy!

Mmmm I LOVE garlic. Peel back the first few layers of the skin and chop the head in half. Cut the tops off of the cloves.

Drizzle olive oil on top of the cloves, wrap in tin foil, and get ready for your kitchen to smell AMAZING as it bakes in the oven for 30 minutes.

The cloves become milder and kind of sweet after they bake. They squeeze out of the skin very easily. Give them a few mashes with a fork and mix them with the cheeses, parsley, salt, and pepper. Make sure to taste test the mixture here and add salt and pepper as needed.

Slice the bread loaf in half and spread the mixture evenly on both pieces. Broil for 2 or 3 minutes and KEEP CHECKING to make sure you just toast the bread and don't burn it. I've definitely done it before! I practically glue my hand to the oven door and check it every 5 seconds just to be sure!

This was a delightful side dish to my spaghetti and meatballs and it would go well with any meal you would eat breadsticks with. The ricotta stays creamy but the bread gets crunchy and then there's the warm garlic flavor. Oh man it's good!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

I remember the first time I smelled this glorious dish being cooked in the slow cooker... It was love at first whiff. This is my boyfriend's mom's recipe for Italian Beef Sandwiches and the first time I tried it I HAD TO HAVE THE RECIPE! I make it on a regular basis now and it really doesn't get much easier and tastier than this, folks. Throw everything in the slow cooker, let it cook and get super tender for 8 hours, melt some cheese on a sandwich roll, and stuff your face. That's what happens when this sandwich is on the plate in front of you - pure happiness and face-stuffing. And your house will smell FANTASTIC and did I mention it was easy? Ugh. Yum (*does happy-food-dance).

Thank you Mrs. E for sharing the recipe with me!!! :) 

Italian Beef Sandwiches

Makes 6 sandwiches

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Inactive Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours and 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 lb bottom round roast or chuck roast

1 onion

6 Italian rolls

6 slices provolone cheese

12 fl oz (1 jar) hot banana pepper rings

0.7 oz Italian salad dressing mix (dry packet)

Enough water to cover the roast in the slow cooker

1. Slice onion. Add roast, onion, banana pepper rings (including the juice from the jar), and salad dressing mix to the slow cooker. Add enough water to just cover the roast. Cook on high for 8 hours. (This can be done with a larger roast as well, up to 3-5 lbs. Add more onions and water to the slow cooker for a larger roast)

2. Shred beef with two forks and discard any fatty pieces. Slice rolls in half and put provolone cheese slice on one side. Broil to melt the cheese, about 2 minutes.

3. Use a slotted spoon to scoop Italian beef, onions, and banana peppers onto the rolls with cheese. Drizzle juice from the slow cooker over the beef or serve with a side of the juice for dipping. Enjoy!

Want to know how easy this recipe is? This is the hardest step - slicing an onion.

Put the roast, sliced onion, banana peppers with the juice, salad dressing mix, and enough water to cover the roast in the slow cooker and cook on high for 8 hours. Yay for setting it and forgetting it!

Oh my. Just look at how beautiful it is after 8 hours!

It is so tender that it falls apart when you take two forks to it. Shred it into small enough pieces for a sandwich.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat and onions and peppers but you'll also want to either ladle some of the juice onto your sandwich or get an extra little bowl of juice for dipping! 

Brown the sandwich bun and melt the cheese in the broiler for a few minutes, assemble the sandwich, stuff face. Mmmm warm, tender meat with very VERY little work. And whatever you do, don't let the delicious juice go to waste! Either drizzle some directly on the sandwich or have a little dipping bowl like above.

Potato Salad

My mom is admittedly not a big fan of cooking. I always cooked with my dad growing up and my mom GLADLY  passed on the cooking duties to us, but there are a few select dishes she LOVED to make. One of those dishes is potato salad and it's her specialty! She makes enormous batches for cookouts and barbecues and parties and it's always a big hit! The key to this potato salad - the crunch. It has plenty of crunchy little bits with the celery, onion, and radishes that are a nice variation in texture from the soft potatoes and creamy dressing. 

*Disclaimer: My mom insists that the hard boiled eggs are crucial in this recipe. I'm not a fan of hard boiled eggs so I left them out and it was still PHENOMENAL. Add them if you like hard boiled eggs in potato salad!

Mom’s Potato Salad

Makes 8 cups of potato salad

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

10 redskin potatoes (or other types of potatoes)

5 radishes

3 celery stalks

1 white onion

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp salt

A sprinkle of paprika

(optional) 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1. Rinse potatoes and boil in a large pot of water over high heat until fork tender, about 30 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, chop celery, onion, and radishes into small pieces. Mix together mayonnaise, milk, mustard, and salt.

3. Pour potatoes into a colander and let cool for 5 minutes. Peel the skin off of the potatoes. Cut potatoes into large 1 inch chunks.

4. Mix together all ingredients and season with more salt if desired. Let cool in the refrigerator before serving.

5. Sprinkle paprika on top and enjoy!

It takes a while to boil the potatoes, but that gives you time to chop the veggies and mix the dressing. It took these 10 redskin potatoes about 30 minutes in boiling water to get fork tender. Make sure you don't over cook them or else your potato salad will be mushy! Drain them when you can easily insert a fork into them but they're still firm enough to hold their shape and not fall apart.

Ah all the crunchy bits! This is my favorite part of the recipe because you get different textures in the potato salad. There's nothing worse than mushy potato salad!

Let the potatoes cool and peel the skin off. Chop the potatoes in larger chunks than you think you will need because they break up a bit when you stir everything together!

I forgot to take a picture of the dressing, but its very easy! Just mix the mayonnaise, milk, mustard, and salt. You can taste test the dressing before you mix everything together and add more salt if desired. Mix all ingredients! Let it cool in the refrigerator before serving.

Sprinkle with paprika and you've got a perfect side dish for any barbecue or cookout!

Calzone

This recipe is so simple! Talk about satisfying with minimal effort - A calzone is it. I've always been a more-cheese, less-sauce kind of girl with pizza so I'm a big fan of the cheese overload in a calzone! Ricotta = love. I love making pizza dough from scratch but if you're pressed for time you could always pick up the uncooked dough at your grocery store. Pictured here with Baked Zucchini Fries :) 

Calzone

Makes 4 servings

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

Pizza dough (enough for a large pizza)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2.5 oz pepperoni (and/or whatever other fillings you want)

1. Roll out pizza dough to 1/3 to 1/2 inch thickness.

2. Spread cheeses and fillings on half of the rolled out dough leaving a 1 1/2 inch gap for the crust.

3. Fold dough over and pinch ends together. Fold ends over to create a crust and firmly seal the edges. Score the top of the calzone.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until the top of the calzone is golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping. Enjoy!

 Roll out the pizza dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Load up the fillings! Tonight I went with pepperoni but you could use any of your favorite pizza toppings!

Fold the dough over, pinch the edges shut, and then fold the edge like you're making a pizza crust. 

My boyfriend INSISTED that you had to score the top. I didn't feel strongly either way, so the calzone got scored just for him :P 

Side dish pictured here: Baked Zucchini Fries! Get some veggies in the meal if you can haha! Both are great for dipping in marinara sauce.

Baked Zucchini Fries

I'll admit I had never tried zucchini until about a year ago and I LOVE it! It has a nice mild flavor that can be paired with a variety of foods. You can see a  Calzone in the corner here. MMMmmm both so good dipped in marinara sauce! If you use this Italian Bread Crumbs recipe you won't need any additional seasonings or parmesan because the bread crumbs are already packed with flavor! They have fresh garlic and parsley and romano parmesan cheese and are all you need to season this dish. If you use store bought bread crumbs I would recommend adding some parmesan to the mix!

Baked Zucchini Fries

Makes 5-6 servings

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

3 zucchinis

2 cups Italian Bread Crumbs

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

Salt to taste

1. Slice zucchinis in 1/2 inch thick fry-like sticks.

2. Whisk together 2 eggs and 1/4 cup water.

3. Set up 2 plates for dipping – one for the flour and one for the bread crumbs. Spread out the flour and bread crumbs on their plates. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

4. Roll each zucchini piece in flour, dip in egg wash, then roll in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on lined baking sheet.

5. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping. Enjoy!

Slice the zucchini up!

Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. This will make the removal process and cleaning up much easier!

Set up your dipping stations. Flour, egg wash, bread crumbs.

First dip/roll: flour.

Second: egg wash.

Third: bread crumbs.

Place the zucchini in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes!

Serve with marinara sauce for dipping. Scrumptious!

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

I've been DREAMING about enchiladas lately. I think I was going through Mexican food withdrawals because I haven't been to my favorite restaurant lately. But rather than going out to eat I decided to make an attempt at chicken enchiladas! I've never made them before but I looked at a million recipes online and put together my own little concoction. I personally prefer the green tomatillo sauce to the red sauce so I cleaned out my grocery store of tomatillos and made that from scratch too! I am not claiming that this recipe is authentic Mexican or anything, but I at least made everything from scratch and damn it, it tastes good!

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Makes 10-12 Enchiladas, 5-6 Servings

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

10-12 corn tortillas

8 tomatillos

3 cloves garlic

2 jalapeños

1 white onion

1 lime

2 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded

1 cup water

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Husk, rinse, and cut stem end off tomatillos. In a large saucepan bring water, tomatillos, jalapeños, and half of the onion to a boil. Covered and boil over medium high heat for 10 minutes. The tomatillos will turn a more olive green color, as opposed to lime green.

2. Place cilantro, juice of half the lime, cumin, garlic cloves, the cooked tomatillos, jalapeños, and half of the onion in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Dice and sauté the other half of the onion until it becomes translucent. Mix sautéed onions with shredded chicken, 1/3 cup Monterey jack cheese, and 1/4 cup sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 4. Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Using tongs fry the corn tortillas one at a time in the hot oil for 10 seconds on each side. Place fried tortillas on a plate lined with paper towels.

5. Spread a few spoonfuls of tomatillo sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and roll up. Place rolled tortilla seam side down in the baking dish and repeat until chicken mixture is gone.

6. Pour remaining tomatillo sauce on top of rolled tortillas in baking dish. Spoon remaining sour cream on top of tomatillo sauce. Sprinkle remaining Monterey jack cheese on top.

7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes and broil for an additional 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese (watch carefully!). Enjoy!

Husk, rinse, and cut the stem ends off the tomatillos. I cleaned my grocery store out of them! Boil 1 cup water with tomatillos, jalapeños, and 1/2 the onion covered for 10 minutes (ignore the poblano pepper - I didn't end up using it).

 The tomatillos will turn a kind of olive green when they're done!

Place tomatillos, jalapeños, half the onion, cilantro, juice of half the lime, cumin, and garlic cloves in the food processor. Blend until it is very smooth!

The sauce should not be chunky. Add salt and pepper to your liking. This would be great as a green salsa on its own!

Dice and saute the other half of the onion until the pieces are translucent.

Mix sauteed onions with shredded chicken, 1/3 cup Monterey jack cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Using a rotisserie chicken for this recipe would be perfect! Just make sure you get a plain rotisserie chicken, not bbq or lemon pepper or whatever.

Fry the tortillas in vegetable oil over medium high heat for 10 seconds on each side. Make sure the oil it HOT or else the tortillas will just get soggy. And ONLY 10 seconds on each side! Place the fried tortillas on a plate lined with paper towels.

Spread a few spoonfuls of the tomatillo sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking pan.

Fill each tortilla with a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture.

 Roll each tortilla and place them seam side down in the baking dish.

Here's where it gets fun... Top with the remaining tomatillo sauce!

Spoon the remaining sour cream on top of the tomatillo sauce. The sour cream and cheese balance out the spiciness of the tomatillo sauce well. I wanted to use Mexican crema but my grocery store didn't have any :(

Top with the remaining Monterey jack cheese!

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and broil for another 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese. Look at all the cheesy goodness!

Each serving should get two enchiladas (the corn tortillas are small) and I served it with black beans and rice. This DEFINITELY fulfilled my Mexican food cravings!