Garfield's favorite - Lasagna!

Meaty - cheesy deliciousness! Adapted from a recipe on Allrecipes.com - as usual, my way is better! At least - that's what my family says.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 32 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup water
• 16 ounces cottage cheese
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley or Italian seasoning
• pinch of salt
• pinch of ground black pepper
• 9 lasagna noodles

Directions:

• In a large skillet over medium heat brown the Italian sausage and ground beef. You really want to chop up the meat small, chunks make for too-thick or uneven layering.  Drain the grease if desired. Add spaghetti sauce and water, and simmer for 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, 1/2 cup of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.
• To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. 
• Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F(175 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This can be made a day ahead of time, and kept refrigerated overnight - but plan to let it sit on the counter for an hour or so before cooking - and you may have to cook for a full hour covered, before the 10 minutes uncovered.

Creamy Tomato Bisque

Oh my goodness, has it really been nearly a month since my last recipe? Oh this just won't do! Here's tonight's dinner - Creamy Tomato Bisque. I love it served with a salad and French Bread, but if you need to serve more people, use it as a sauce on Pasta! I actually got this recipe from my friend Karol. She thought of it when we shared our dinner at Palermo, Elk Grove's best Italian Ristorante! I made a few adjustments, mostly due to not shopping in advance!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup chopped onions (chop them as small as possible! A pampered Chef food chopper works wonders!)
• 3/4 cup unsalted (I used salted) butter
• pinch dill seed
• dash dill weed
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (add an extra can of tomatoes if tripling recipe)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• pinch white pepper
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley (I used some fresh, some dried)
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup gorgonzola or parmesean cheese

Directions:
If you have a food processor - get it out. You'll need it to puree the soup. If you DON'T have a food processor, I advise chopping the onions to smithereens before cooking, and combining all other veggies and herbs in a blender before they go in the soup pot.

In a large pot, saute onions in 6 Tbsp. butter along with dill seed, dill weed, and herbs for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and heat.

Make a roux (thickening paste) by blending 4 Tbsp. butter and 4 Tbsp. flour, whisking constantly over medium heat for 3 minutes, without browning. Add roux to soup and whisk to blend. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add chopped parsley, honey, cream, half and half and cheese. Remove from heat and puree. Strain. (I just poured it through a wire strainer). Reheat to serve. Since this soup is thin, it is best served in a mug. Dip Fresh warm french bread in it if you like!

Guest blog from the NorCal Knot's sm23

Thanks for the suggestion, Shelly!

Okay - on to the recipe! This is a vegetarian pasta dish that I only just tried tonight. I can't say it was my favorite dish ever, but my family all liked it, and the children even cleaned their bowls! They're not the easiest kids to please, so I'm going to have to keep this recipe!

Lemon Gnocchi with Spinach & Peas

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen baby peas (not thawed)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (you can substitute half and half, or milk, but it may cause the sauce to separate some when you add the lemon)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes (we skipped this - not hot peppers for kiddos!)
  
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 3 cups packed baby spinach (about 3 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 pound dried gnocchi
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan (make sure to use grated, not shredded, or you will end up with a big, tough ball of cheese)

Directions:
Simmer peas with cream, red-pepper flakes, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large, heavy skillet, covered, until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add spinach and cook over medium-low heat, uncovered, stirring, until wilted. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice.

Meanwhile, cook gnocchi in a pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain gnocchi.

Add gnocchi to sauce with cheese and some of reserved cooking water and stir to coat. Thin with additional cooking water if necessary.

***Wendy here - we skipped the hot pepper flakes, but I will probably add them in when I cook this for just hubby and I. I didn't add in any of the pasta-cooking water, just threw the sauce in and served it up with Garlic bread. Thanks sm!***