Broccoli Alfredo Lasagna

Broccoli Alfredo Lasagna

Serves 8

• 16 oz lasagna noodles
• 2 C. washed and chopped broccoli
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2 C. ricotta cheese
• 1 C. shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 C. cream cheese
• 3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• 1 Lb. Alfredo sauce (I used Ragú)
• a dash of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and boil separate pots of water for the broccoli and lasagna noodles. Cook until both broccoli and noodles are tender and then drain.

    

2. In a food processor, mix the broccoli, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp onion powder. Make the mixture very smooth with no chunks of broccoli.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 1 tsp of garlic powder and 2 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese. Mix until well blended.  Set aside to layer on the lasagna.

 

4. In another mixing bowl, pour a jar of Alfredo sauce and broccoli mixtures. Mix until well blended and set aside.
5. Spray your 9 X 13 pan with non stick spray and start the layering process with:

•   a layer of noodles
•   1/2 the mixture of ricotta and cream cheese mixture
•    another layer of noodles
•    1/2 the mixture of broccoli-Alfredo sauce
•    layer of noodles
•    remaining cheese mix and broccoli-Alfredo sauce (sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella)      
•    finish with the remaining noodles

      6. Bake for 45 minutes at 350°F .
                          -I like to let it cool for about 5 minutes before cutting pieces.

You can very easily make this dish healthier by using fat free cheeses and whole wheat noodles. I did see in the grocery store that Ragú makes lite Alfredo sauce but it was a little more than I wanted to spend. For this recipe, I used low fat ricotta and cream cheese. Next time I will probably go for the low fat mozzarella and the lite Alfredo, even though Brandon hates my healthier options for meals and can always tell when I use low fat or fat free options (especially with cheese).  Speaking of Brandon, here's his review:

Hello Internet,

Brandon here and this is my follow up written review.  I really hate giving out so many high and positive reviews because once that is done the reader is always left wondering if there is ever going to be a bad one.  It's just like watching travel shows where the host goes and eats at different restaurants each week.  Every time he eats the food (with the owner standing right next to him), he goes on and on about how good it is.  As I'm watching, I can't help but think that the host's review is probably not very accurate.  There has to be one bad meal out there somewhere.  Most times I watch just hoping that the host will suddenly make a sour face and spit the food out.  Unfortunately for our readers, Sam's food really hasn't been bad enough to make me want to spit it out........yet.  I give this meal 9.8 smacks out of a possible 10.  A truly creative and delicious meal that I will want to eat over and over again.

Sincerely,
Brandon

Five Cheese White Pizza

Five Cheese White Pizza

with Mushroom and Onion sauce

I have to go ahead and admit that I was pretty sneaky with Brandon on this recipe. He kept asking me what was in the pizza before he tested it and I'm proud to say that I didn't reveal any of my secrets.  You know what, cooks and magicians are a lot alike!

Sauce:

• 1 small yellow onion
• 6 white mushrooms (whole)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Pizza:

• 11 oz. refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
• 2 C. shredded mozzarella
• 1 C. crumbled feta cheese
• 3 Tbsp cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp ricotta cheese
• a dash of parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a food processor, combine the onion, mushrooms, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Puree until a thick sauce forms.
3. Roll pizza dough onto greased pizza stone or pan. Spread the mushroom and onion sauce on the dough (just like you would with tomato sauce).

4.Bake at 400°F for 7 minutes.  By cooking the sauce first on the dough it will allow the flavor to really come alive.











5. Remove the pizza from oven and spread the ricotta cheese and cream cheese. The cheese will melt pretty easily and that will make it almost effortless to spread on top of the mushroom and onion sauce. Then, sprinkle the mozzarella and feta and before placing the pizza back into the oven, top it off with a sprinkle of Parmesan and black pepper.
6. Bake for another 9 minutes until the crust is golden.
7. Cut the pizza into eight slices and I bet your mouth will already be watering for the first bite!

Brandon's Review:

 He forgot to add that he gives this meal 8.5 disgusting, loud and cheese filled smacks (1 being the worst and 10 being the best and really annoying).

Oh and by the way we made a huge high-five sugar cookie over the weekend too.  Here are some of the pictures.

Have a great week!

Cheesy Mustard Quesadilla

Cheesy Mustard Quesadilla

(Serves 1)

• 1 8 inch tortilla
• 1/4 cup shredded mild cheddar
• 1 tbsp shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup canned black beans, drained
• 1 tbsp mustard (I know the mustard sounds crazy but it gives it a nice tangy taste.  C'mon, give it try!)
• a dash of garlic powder
• 1/4 cup chopped onions (optional)

1.Preheat oven to 400°F

2.For grilled onions, turn the stove top on medium heat and cook onions until golden and tender.

3.Spray each side of tortilla and pan with cooking spray.

4.On one half of the tortilla begin layering the ingredients starting with mild cheddar, mozzarella, black beans, onions, mustard (spreading it zig-zag on  tortilla) and finish it off with a dash of garlic powder and fold the tortilla in half.

5.Give your quesadilla a good press to make sure the ingredients stay together but don't press too hard or the ingredients will all ooze out.

6.Cook in oven for 8 minutes and take out quesadilla to flip. Then, cook on opposite side for another 5 minutes. 

7.Let cool for 5 minutes

8.Serve with lettuce, sour cream, and your favorite salsa.

Brandon introduced me to a similar version of the Cheesy Mustard Quesadilla, but I decided to add a couple of ingredients that would make it more flavorful despite his disgust for vegetables. On Monday night, I was quite entertained by Brandon's reaction to the onions in this dish.  I have never heard anyone say that onions remind them of little creepy crawlers.  I just don't understand how he can eat an Awesome Blossom and not be grossed out but when it comes to Sam's quesadilla with onions...well, I'll just let you take a look...

Here is Brandon's chow-down, smackin' and interesting review....

With Onions

Without Onions

Where it all started

As far back as I can remember, cooking with and for my family has been one of my favorite things to do.  I can remember both of my grandmothers preparing awesome home cooked meals and even though I didn't prepare it with them, I still remember the taste when it would hit my mouth.

During my high school years I finally started thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up. So, naturally I thought about becoming a chef.  In my junior year of high school, I started taking culinary arts classes through a local technical college. I was able to get high school and college credit for the classes I took and was really able to explore my own creativity with food. I just loved the thought of creating something new. I proceeded into the Culinary Arts program after High School with a dream to open a coffee shop and bakery sometime in the future.

Within a year of attending culinary arts school, my career path changed and I started attending a different college to get my Associates in Business.  At this school I met a young, handsome man and fell in love. After six months of dating he asked me to marry him and we did a year later.  We both looked for any job we could find and after being fed up with retail, I started looking for banking jobs (following in the footsteps of my father).  I got a job as a bank teller and I had plans of moving up the ladder because at the time I thought it just might end up being my career, but slowly I came back to the realization that I wanted to do something with cooking.  A couple years later my husband got a job offer in another state and threw our lives upside down.  Now, in the newness of everything, I've decided to get back to the basics and start cooking and being creative again.

In my three years of marriage, I have found it very interesting trying to cook for a picky husband. I am always wanting to try something fresh and new in the kitchen but my husband likes the same old stuff and usually only enjoys eating out. About a year ago, he decided that he wanted to veer away from meats and slowly become a flexible vegetarian (flexible because he doesn't like a lot of vegetables).  I have lost more battles in this cooking war than I've won and I need some new recipes to try and freshen things up a little.   I want to get creative again and maybe, in the end, cook a meal that my husband will really enjoy.

Objective: to prepare meals for my picky, vegetarian husband--who hates vegetables--that he will fall in love with and want to eat again and again (although he does get tired of meals fairly quickly).

I will post a new recipe every week with pictures of the meal and the approval (or disapproval) of my husband.

By the way, here are some of the funny titles that my brother-in-law, husband and I all worked on;

-Beauty and the Feast
-Stimulate the Palate
-Guess Who's Judging the Dinner?
-Finicky fricassee
-Culinarious
-Lost in Mastication


But eventually we settled on The Great Cooking Objective and I guess one question still remains, will I succeed in this cooking objective each week?  Follow me and find out...