Sweet Baked Beans & Pasta Salad

1 pkg elbow or rotini pasta
28oz can baked beans
2 tomatoes, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cup cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded
2.8oz can French-fried onions
paprika

1) Cook pasta according to package directions.
2) Meanwhile, chop vegetables and place in large bowl.  Add can of French-fried onions.
3) Once pasta is al dente, drain and return pasta to pot.  Add baked beans and heat until warm throughout.  Dump pasta and beans into large bowl with the vegetables.  Stir to mix evenly.
4) Serve, topping each serving with paprika and cheese.

Review:  Mike found this recipe and so I thought I'd make it (trying to guarantee no complaints).  When I began the recipe, I reviewed the ingredients and thought "oh yuck."  It didn't sound good at all!!  But, it was too late to try something different, so I bit the bullet and forged ahead.  Luckily, it paid off, as this is actually really good!!  The baked beans makes it sweet, along with the tomatoes.  While the French-fried onions are also a bit sweet, it adds a savory taste.  I also used smoked paprika, which further enhanced the savory flavor.  It was such a great balance of flavors!  And, very filling.

This Week's Planned Menu

Sunday:
Kidney Bean Bulgur (with asparagus added)

Monday:
Sweet Baked Beans & Pasta Salad

Tuesday:
Savory Mushroom "Popover Pie" 

Wednesday:
Penne With Butternut-Sage Sauce

Thursday:
Potato Medley

Friday:
Pumpkin & Black Bean Burritos

Saturday:
Sweet Potato & Sage-Butter Casserole

Black Bean Burrito Bake

7oz can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
15oz can black beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
4 (8 inch) flour tortillas
cooking spray
1 cup bottled salsa
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1) Preheat oven to 350°.
2) Remove one chile from can. Chop chile. Reserve remaining adobo sauce and chiles for another use. Combine sour cream and chile in a medium bowl; let stand 10 minutes.
3) Place half of beans in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add chopped beans, remaining beans, and corn to sour cream mixture.
4) Spoon 1/2 cup bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas; place, seam side down, in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread salsa over tortillas; sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Review:  This was so yummy, and very easy to make!!!  I actually chopped the chile in the food processor and scraped it out, before adding the beans (and a few corn kernels) for processing.  I have a history of using more chiles than the recipe requires, which then makes it too hot for Mike (Dr. Mike as of tonight).  I stuck to the recipe and only used one chile, but Mike still thought it was pretty spicy.  We topped the bake with more sour cream, which helped cut the heat.  I'll definitely make this again!!!

Spinach, Pesto & Fontina Lasagna

Sauce:

• 2 Tbs (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt

Spinach:

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
• 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 6oz packages baby spinach

Lasagna:

• 15 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 3 1/2 cups fresh ricotta cheese (28 oz)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon peel
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups coarsely grated Italian Fontina cheese (8 to 9 ounces), divided
•  
• Herb Pesto

For sauce: 
Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk 1 minute (do not brown). Add milk and wine and whisk until smooth. Cook until sauce thickens and comes to boil, whisking constantly, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in Parmesan cheese and salt. Season sauce to taste with pepper. DO AHEAD: Sauce can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

For spinach: 
Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic. Sauté until shallots soften, about 2 minutes. Add all spinach (pot will be full). Cook spinach until wilted but still bright green, tossing often, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, transfer spinach to large sieve set over bowl; reserve pot. Press out excess liquid from spinach. Drain 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Return drained liquid from spinach to reserved pot. Boil until liquid is reduced to glaze. Return spinach to pot and toss 1 minute. Remove spinach from heat. Mix in 1 1/2 cups sauce. Season spinach to taste with pepper.

For lasagna: 
1) Place noodles in large bowl. Fill bowl with hot tap water. Soak noodles until pliable, stirring occasionally to separate, about 15 minutes. Place large sheet of parchment paper on work surface. Transfer noodles to parchment in single layer, shaking off excess water.

2) Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2- inch glass baking dish. Mix ricotta, Parmesan, and lemon peel in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Mix in egg.

3) Spread 1/2 cup sauce thinly over bottom of prepared dish. Top with 3 noodles, arranged side by side and covering most of bottom of dish. Spread half of spinach mixture over (about 1 1/2 cups). Sprinkle with 1/3 cup Fontina. Top with 3 noodles and half of ricotta mixture (generous 1 3/4 cups). Drop half of pesto over by teaspoonfuls, spacing drops evenly apart. Continue layering with 3 noodles, remaining spinach mixture, 1/3 cup Fontina, 3 more noodles, remaining ricotta mixture, then remaining pesto. Top with last 3 noodles. Spread remaining sauce over; sprinkle with remaining Fontina. Cover dish with buttered foil.

4) Bake lasagna until heated through and bubbling at edges, 50 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove foil from dish.

5) Preheat broiler. Broil lasagna until top is browned in spots, turning dish occasionally for even browning, about 4 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes to set up.

Review:  What a mess!  Fontina doesn't exist in our area.  So, I subbed a bag of mozzarella and Parmesan mix.  I also didn't make the pesto, as I had some in the fridge.  And, I failed to fully read the instructions and only boiled three (not five) layers of lasagna.  Crud.  So, my top two layers are pasta-less.  Therefore, it was a soupy, oily mess.  And, this is without the spinach water that I poured down the drain, before reading that I needed to keep it!!  So, I made lots of errors in making this recipe.  I blame the fact that the recipe is organized oddly (and I couldn't organize it in a better manner for my blog purposes!) and I kept getting lost in the directions.  But, I figured it was lasagna, which I assume to be impossible to ruin.  Well, this lasagna wasn't exactly ruined, but I wouldn't recommend making it the way I did.  It didn't have very much flavor, had too much ricotta and was very oily.  I'd probably half the ricotta, mix the pesto (made with less oil) into the ricotta mix for easier spreading, and combine the layers.  I'd recommend three layers, one being all of the spinach mixture and one being the ricotta/pesto layer.  Top (third layer) with sauce and cheese.  Much easier!  And, use fontina, I'm sure it would have really *made* the recipe!

Quilt #2

My plan is to make four quilts, two for each kitty.  Dmitri got his first quilt made back in February.  He's happy to test out the newest one:

I have both of Katya's put together, but I need to bind them.  In the meantime, she enjoys making sure Dmitri's is up to snuff:

This Week's Planned Menu

Sunday:

Spinach, Pesto & Fontina Lasagna

Monday:

Springtime Pasta Primavera

Tuesday:

Rotini Greek Salad

Wednesday:

frozen pizza

Thursday:

Black Bean Burrito Bake

Friday:

celebrating Mike's dissertation defense?

Saturday:

spaghetti

Mushroom, Radicchio & Smoked Mozzarella Lasagna

4 Tbs vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs radicchio, chopped
2 1/4 lbs white mushrooms, half sliced thin and half quartered
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
4 Tbs all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves, washed well, spun dry, and chopped fine
2 tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 cups smoked mozzarella, shredded
1 cup plain mozzarella, shredded
nine 7x3 1/2-inch sheets dry no-boil lasagna pasta

1) In a large (12- to 14-inch) non-stick skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté radicchio, stirring, until wilted and golden. In a food processor pulse quartered mushrooms until chopped fine. Add chopped mushrooms to radicchio with salt and pepper to taste and sauté, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated.

2) In a heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour until smooth. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Whisk in milk in a stream and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes, or until thick. Stir sauce into mushroom mixture. Mushroom sauce may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, its surface covered with plastic wrap.

3) In cleaned skillet cook garlic in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderately low heat until softened. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden and liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Stir in parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Remove skillet from heat and cool. Stir in lemon juice.

4) Reserve 1/2 cup smoked mozzarella for topping. In a bowl combine remaining smoked mozzarella with plain mozzarella.

5) Preheat oven to 375°F.

6) Pour 1 cup mushroom sauce into a baking dish, 13 by 9 by 2 inches (sauce will not cover bottom completely), and cover with 3 lasagne sheets, making sure they do not touch each other. Spread about 1 cup sauce over pasta. Top sauce with one third of sliced mushroom mixture and half of mixed cheeses. Make 1 more layer in same manner, beginning and ending with pasta. Spread remaining sauce evenly over top pasta layer, making sure pasta is completely covered. Spread remaining sliced mushroom mixture evenly over sauce and sprinkle with reserved smoked mozzarella.

7) Cover dish tightly with foil, tenting slightly to prevent foil from touching top layer, and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake lasagna 10 minutes more, or until top is bubbling and golden. Let lasagna stand 5 minutes before serving.

Review:  I had a few alterations to this recipe.  I used a 24oz package of mushrooms, which I don't think was enough for the recipe.  I also subbed a mozz mix (Parmesan, smoked Provolone and Mozzarella), since it's hard to find just shredded Mozzarella in this area.  The smokiness of the two smoked cheeses was amazing.  This lasagna tasted really fancy and exotic. 

And, I destroyed the kitchen.  This is just the stove, and the counters were equally as trashed.  It took two hours to prepare this dish!