Another recipe in our “cooking for the week” series, for these meatballs we use ground turkey to keep the fat low. It’s often on sale in our local supermarket as a buy one get one free on a 20oz package, thus this recipe has 2-1/2 lbs of meat.

2-1/2 lbs ground turkey
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

First, mix the ingrediants in a large mixing bowl, then form into balls. We use an ice cream scooper to get these consistant.Use a bit of cooking spray then cook on a low flame with the lid on. About 10 minutes on low, then flip over.

Another 10 minutes or so and they are ready.

These meatballs freeze well, and go great in our homemade pasta sauce. Enjoy.

written by admin \\ tags: meatballs, pasta, recipe, sauce

Welcome back. This week we’d like to share with you a traditional lasagna recipe.

First, the ingredients:

1 recipe Pasta Sauce
2 lb. lasagna
3 lb ricotta
1 egg
1-1/2 lb mozzarella (shredded)

Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of water until al dente (a bit hard). Drain. Rinse with cold water to keep from sticking.
In a mixing bowl, mix the ricotta and egg. Next, begin by putting a bit of sauce in the bottom of a large casserole dish. (note: the dish shown is 9″ x 13-1/2″ x 3″ deep. This recipe will make two of these pans. It’s perfect for the 18x13x3 trays you see on buffet racks with sterno keeping it warm.) Then put the first layer of pasta noodles.

Now, put a layer of sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella.

Repeat this process, alternating the direction of the noodles from one layer to the next. Depending on the pan sizes you use, you’ll get three or four layers in the two pans or one large tray. Note, to last week’s sauce, I added 1-1/2 lbs of ground turkey. Browned a bit, then drained of fat. Once it’s all set, bake at 350F for 1 hour, or until it starts to brown. Our oven is pretty accurate, the first time you make this keep an eye out in case your’s runs hot. And the final product.

This freezes very well, and the one pan you see can be 6 meals when served with soup and salad, or 8 servings as part of a larger meal. So this effort results in a nice Sunday dinner and a very happy freezer.

written by admin \\ tags: cooking for the week, lasagna, mozzarella, pasta, ricotta

My next “cooking for the week” offering.

Few cloves garlic
1 lb sweet sausage
1 lb hot sausage (substitute 1 1/2 lbs boiled chicken for sausage, if you’d like)
2 lbs zucchini
1 large onion
1 red or green pepper
2 cans (15oz) chicken broth
2 cans (15oz) tomato sauce (or one 32oz can whole or crushed tomatoes)
1 tbl basil
1 tbl oregano
1 tbl parsley

Brown garlic & sausage (drain), add everything else, simmer till zucchini falls apart. This recipe can be changed to suit your diet, change from pork sausage to turkey sausage if you wish. This can be served as you would any soup, or you can serve it on a bed of rice or pasta to make it into a full meal. It freezes very well, and as we discussed last week, this is another great way to prepare ahead. Next time I make this, I’ll add pictures to this post. Last, note that chicken and sausage both go on sale on a regular basis, so I tend to buy those, and freeze them, and when zucchini is in season, it’s time to make this soup. A bit of planning can be pretty rewarding.

written by admin \\ tags: cooking for the week, crushed tomatoes, hot sausage, pasta, soup, sweet sausage, turkey sausage, zucchini