Sausage, Pepper and Spaghetti Squash Casserole

This dinner started off as sausage and peppers. I roasted the sausage and peppers along with a sliced onion and marinara sauce. As everything was roasting in the oven I noticed the spaghetti squash I received from a co-worker. 

I thought why not make a casserole with sausage and peppers and spaghetti squash! Chris cut the spaghetti squash in half for me in the oven it went for about an hour, maybe 50 minutes.

I shredded the squash and mixed it with some marinara sauce, cheese, and butter. That went into a greased baking dish, and greasing it makes the clean up easier. The sausage and peppers went on top of the squash and I added a bit more sauce and cheese to the top.

I ended up with enough to fix 2 baking dishes. One for the freezer!

Rave reviews were received for this dinner. I liked it because it tasted amazing and with the spaghetti squash we did not need to have the sausage and peppers with rolls. Never a bad idea to cut a carb or two.

Spaghetti Squash Mediterranean-Style

This was super easy to prepare after work. Especially as I did all the prep work yesterday. I roasted the squash and cut up all the vegetables. Tonight it was just some sauteing and heating up the squash. I did not have feta cheese so I used Cheddar and Mozzarella and Parmesan. This was pretty darn good! The recipe is from AllRecipes.com.

Christmas Cookies. Day One.

Let me start by saying I mixed the doughs for all the cookies that I baked today two weeks ago. I put all the dough in the freezer. Even the dough for the Snowballs. Not sure I would freeze that dough again.

The Snowballs (aka Rolly Poollys, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes) are traditionally the first cookie I bake every Christmas. Why? They were the first cookie my Mom baked every Christmas. This year I decided to freeze the dough. The jury is still out on the taste but I thought they took longer to bake and a couple of them lost their shape while baking. I know I am nitpicking but I also know what the cookie should bake like.

Snowballs (makes 36 cookies)

1 c. Butter
1/2 c. Sifted Confectionary Sugar
1/2 c. Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 c. Chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 400˚.
Combine butter and sugar.
Mix in all ingredient for cookies.
Roll dough into small balls.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

Coat cookies right out of the oven with additional Confectionary Sugar.

The Striped Cookie recipe is from a Martha Stewart magazine dating back to the early 90s. This is my husband's favorite cookie. You make a vanilla dough and then a chocolate dough. You can shape them in bars for the striped cookies or in bullseyes. I did both but for the bullseyes, I made the dough into square.. I think they look pretty cool!

The original recipe called for the dough to be mixed together and then divided and that just got too messy. I mix the doughs separately. I tried to find a link to the original recipe but could not.
The Vanilla Dough -
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 c. Confectionary Sugar
3 3/4 c. bread flour 

The Chocolate Dough-
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 c. Confectionary Sugar
3 3/4 c. bread flour

Place butter, vanilla, sugar, and flour in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until well combined.

For the Chocolate Dough add 1/3 cup of Dutch-process Cocoa Powder to the ingredients and mix.

Now for constructing the cookies-
1. Divide both doughs into 4 equal pieces. Place each piece between two 12x14 inch pieces of parchment. Roll into 3 1/2x12 inch rectangles. Transfer to baking sheet; chill 30 minutes. Repeat process with all the chocolate and vanilla dough.

2. Remove the top piece of parchment from all the rectangles. Using the bottom piece for support, invert one vanilla rectangle onto a chocolate one; remove parchment. Repeat, for a total of four layers. Wrap. Make a second brick with remaining four rectangles. Chill at least 1 hour.

3. Heat oven to 375˚. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Unwrap bricks; trim evenly by 1/8 inch. Slice into 1/4 inch thick rectangles; place on baking sheets spaced 2 inches apart.

4. Bake until barely golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Bake or freeze remaining dough.

This year's new recipe is the Orange Cranberry Shortbread. Wow. New favorite cookie. Loved the smell of these in the oven. The recipe is from Mom On Time Out blog. Here is the link.

Next week I will make the rainbow cookies and maybe one or two more recipes.

About dinner. All this baking and we still have to eat dinner. Picked an easy recipe for tonight. Yes, ordering pizza would have been easier. We had Chicken Cutlets and Spaghetti Squash Cacio e Pepe.

First, the oven was preheated to 350˚. The Chicken Cutlets were added to a bowl of beaten eggs, chopped parsley, Parmesan Cheese. Next, the cutlets were then dredged in a mixture of breadcrumbs (I used 1/2 plain and 1/2 plain Panko), flour, Parmesan Cheese, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. I placed the cutlets on a baking sheet, covered with parchment, and drizzled olive oil over both sides of the chicken. The temperature of the oven was raised to 450˚.  They baked for about 20 minutes until the underside started to get toasted. The cutlets were flipped and baked for about 5 more minutes.

The chicken was moist and the breading was crisp.

The Spaghetti Squash Cacio e Pepe was a nice side after the Christmas Party Carb overload from last night. The squash was split. PLEASE be careful if you try this at home. The seeds were scooped out and discarded. Yes I know I could have roasted them but I had a lot going on already. I put the squash in a roasting pan, cut side down and put about an inch of water in the pan. The squash was roasted at 375˚ for about an hour. Using a fork I pulled the squash away from the shell.

I heated up butter in a saute pan. The cooked squash was added to the pan, along with the zest of 1/2 a lemon, chopped thyme,  and ½ cup Parmesan, stirring to combine, until squash is heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in pepper and season with salt. Serve topped with more Parmesan.

Spaghetti Squash Chicken Parmesan

This was the second time I have made this for dinner. I did not post it the first time. We both loved this and Archie is happy whenever we have chicken. I cut the Spaghetti Squash in half. I had to pierce the shell a few times and microwave the squash for 4 minutes because the shell was so hard to cut. Once it cooled I cut it in half and removed the seeds. I brushed the inside with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. The squash was placed on a baking sheet, flesh side down and put in a 375˚ oven for 45 minutes, or until the shell can be pierced with a fork.

The sauce was Marcella Hazan's Tomato, Onion and Butter Sauce and I had the breaded chicken cutlets in the freezer.

Once the squash was cool enough to handle I shredded the inside of each squash half so that the spaghetti strands were loosened. Then I mixed in a little of the sauce and some Parmesan. The cutlets were sliced and put on top of the squash. More sauce over that along with some Mozzarella and Parmesan. Some basil and oregano sprinkled on top and back in the oven for about 20 minutes. Delicious!

And it is starting to look like spring at our house!

Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini and Sausage Pie

A pasta pie made with Spaghetti Squash and Zucchini and Al Fresco Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage.

First, I microwaved the Spaghetti Squash. (Click Here for KitchenTreaty's easy to the follow instructions on preparing Spaghetti Squash.)

Next use a vegetable peeler or a mandoline to slice the zucchini. Saute the zucchini in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Mix the zucchini and Spaghetti Squash with 2 beaten eggs. Add chopped fresh basil, parsley and thyme and Pecorino Romano Cheese. Set aside.

Saute the Chicken Sausage. Add the sausage to the vegetables and stir to blend. Place in pie dish that has been sprayed with a cooking spray.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until the custard is set.

Steak Pizzaiola and Spaghetti Squash Cacio e Pepe

Steak two nights in a row? I wanted to make something special for Father's Day. My Dad and Chris's Dad were wonderful men. They were the best Dads and we miss them both.

 

 

The Steak recipe is from Lidia's Favorite Recipes. The sauce was so amazing. Chris grilled the steak, perfectly again. We usually make Steak Pizzaiola in the oven. Now in the summer we will definitely use this recipe. And remember the Italian bread. You will not want to waste any of this sauce.

 

The sauce is from Lidia's Favorite Recipes.

Ingredients-
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch strips
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 cups sliced white button mushrooms
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
One 14-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

Method-
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced garlic. Let the garlic sizzle a minute, then toss in the bell peppers and mushrooms. Season with 1 teaspoon of the salt and the oregano. Saute until the mushrooms and peppers are caramelized on the edges, about 5 minutes.

Pour in the tomatoes, and slosh out the can with ½ cup hot water, adding that to the skillet as well.

Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the peppers break down, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Chris let the steaks rest for a few minutes and then we topped them with the sauce. Did I mention not to forget the Italian bread?

 

I have wanted to make Spaghetti Squash Cacio e Pepe as soon as I first saw the recipe on the Proud Italian Cook site. I used zucchini ribbons in place or the asparagus. Delicious! Light but packed with flavor from the cheese and pepper. There is a little left over and I am considering making a pasta pie.

Twice-Baked Spaghetti Squash, Cheese and Turkey Kielbasa

This was a perfect meal for a snowy February night.

Found the recipe on Completely Delicious blog.

Followed it the recipe but added some Turkey Kielbasa.

This was really amazing. The cheese sauce made the dish. 

It was not a heavy meal. Just a new comfort food!