Spicy Tuscan Soup

The days for comfort food are dwindling down and with temperatures on the rise I knew I had to get in just a few more of those homey recipes before I start focusing on some lighter fare for Spring. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how much I adore soups. I like them actually year round, reserving some of the heartier ones for the cooler months and reaping the benefits of the wonderful produce available in the spring and summer for creating fresh and light tasting ones.

I found the recipe for this soup a couple of years ago on Tasty Kitchen. The description mentioned that this soup comes pretty close to one that Olive Garden serves. Not being a fan of any chain restaurant, I actually can't vouch for this statement since I have never eaten there before. However, the ingredients sounded interesting and unlike any soup I had in my repertoire, so I gave it a go.

This dish has become a family favorite ever since the first time I made it. This is a nice "stick to your ribs" kind of recipe, which is perfect, especially on those cool evenings.

Talk about a pork feast. Spicy breakfast sausage, red onions and bacon add tons of flavor, especially when paired with garlic, Yukon gold potatoes and kale. The liquid base of this soup comes from chicken broth. I used a homemade one (I usually have some in my freezer) which adds some nice depth, but even a quality store bought kind will do the trick and works very nicely, especially when short on time. A little bit of heavy cream added during the last few minutes of cooking adds richness and rounds out this fantastic soup.

The first time I made this recipe, I really wasn't sure how Kale would go over with the family, but everyone ended up loving it so much, that I have been increasing the amount of Kale by quite a bit more. This in turn really helps me justify the health factor of this dish. ;-)

This soup has it all. Flavor, spice, and creaminess without being too heavy. When paired with a nice loaf of bread or some bread sticks, it makes for a wonderful quick weeknight meal. Friends of ours who have actually eaten the Olive Garden version before thought this was even better than the original. I would say that is quite the compliment.

Spicy Tuscan Soup

~makes 6 servings~

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 pound spicy breakfast sausage

1 whole medium red onion, diced

3 slices bacon, diced 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

4 Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 1/4 lbs.), peeled and diced 

6 cups chicken broth  

4 cups loosely packed Kale, cleaned 

1/2 cup heavy cream 

Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste  

Preparation:

Crumble sausage into a dutch oven over medium-high heat until cooked through and no longer pink. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add red onion and bacon to dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium and cook until onions soften and bacon begins to crisp. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the diced potatoes and chicken broth. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes or until potatoes are almost done. Return crumbled sausage back to the dutch oven.

Add the kale and let simmer for another 5 minutes or until kale is wilted and soft. Add heavy cream, warm through, but don't boil.  Serve immediately.

Adapted from: Tasty Kitchen

Sausage and Mushroom Manicotti

One of the benefits of having a well stocked, fridge, freezer, and pantry is that creating a meal even when time is of the essence is fairly easy. I know, I do feature quite a lot of recipes from cookbooks, magazines and other blogs and find extreme satisfaction if they turn out just like the pictures that accompanies them. However, I also take great pleasure that comes along with the freedom of just "winging" it in the kitchen. Sometimes, these kind of meals make the best dinners. My husband (who is a fantastic cook) loves to cook this way. Unfortunately, many times he cooks something so delicious that he is never able to recreate it a second time, since he never takes notes.

So in order to avoid this, many times I enlist one of my kids to keep me company in the kitchen and take notes of what I'm adding to a recipe. This is how this dish came about. I was tired after our visitors left, fast food was out of the question, but no one wanted to run to the store. After inspecting what my storage had to offer, this is the recipe I created and it happened to produce a wonderful Sunday dinner.

I started the recipe by browning the sweet Italian sausage along with onion, chopped mushrooms and a small amount of salt. After the sausage is cooked and the vegetables are soft, I set the mixture aside to cool. During the cooling time I went ahead and made my basic all-purpose tomato sauce and cooked the pasta. The sauce comes together quickly and I use this recipe as my base for pretty much anything that calls for an Italian inspired marinara sauce. After the meat mixture had cooled, I combined it with some ricotta cheese, eggs, Italian seasonings, parsley and Parmesan. I piped*  the cheese/meat mixture into my cooked Manicotti and placed them in a 9 x 13 pan that had a bit of the tomato sauce spread across the bottom of the dish. When all the pasta is filled and layered into the pan, the rest of the marinara sauce gets poured over the top and finally a generous sprinkling of mozzarella and more Parmesan finish off the dish before baking it for about 1 hour.

I served the Manicotti along side a Caprese Salad and everyone loved it. The kids asked for seconds, and between the five of us the dish pretty much got depleted. I will definitely make this again, there are so many great options of how to make the filling unique by using different vegetables or meats. Certainly a keeper and I hope if you try my version you will enjoy it as well!

* To pipe the filling into the cooked pasta, add the filling to a large gallon size Ziploc bag. Snip off one corner and pipe away. The Manicotti will be filled perfect in no time without the mess!

Sausage and Mushroom Manicotti 
(Susi's Kochen und Backen Original)

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

3 Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage Links, casing removed
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
12 oz. button mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
15 oz. ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/3 cup loosely packed Parmesan cheese, shredded
Susi's All-Purpose Tomato Sauce (recipe to follow)
8 oz. Manicotti Pasta, cooked according to package directions
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Fresh Basil chiffonade for garnish, (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown Italian sausage in a large pan. Add the onions, mushrooms and salt and saute until soft about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

While the mixture cools, prepare tomato sauce. Cook Manicotti according to package directions; drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.

Beat eggs lightly in medium bowl. Stir in ricotta, salt, basil, oregano and parsley. Add the meat/mushroom mixture and the Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.

Spread 1 cup tomato sauce over bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Fill Manicotti with the ricotta mixture; place in dish. Pour remaining sauce evenly over filled shells; sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover; continue baking another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.


Susi's All-Purpose Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon ketchup

Preparation:

Add all the ingredients to a sauce pan and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a simmer and let cook for at least 30 minutes.

Zesty Sausage Queso

My husband loves queso dip. It's usually a staple at potlucks around here in the southwest. A lot of times, people take a shortcut and use Velveeta and Rotel and call it a day. While this is a popular dip, and there is nothing wrong with it if you like processed cheese, I generally don't care for it at all and don't make it at home.

We have a lot of Mexican restaurants here in our area and it appears that each one of them has their own spin on queso. I've had some really good ones, and some that were rather "meh". Considering you can make a big batch of this dish quite cheap if you can find the ingredients on sale it's well worth it, since it feeds a crowd and everyone typically loves it. So I set out to find a recipe that would please our family and friends.

I found a lot of different and good sounding recipes, but in the end I just went with what I thought sounded good, and created a new family favorite. I served this for my oldest child's birthday party a few weeks ago and it was gone in no time (apparently teens REALLY love queso). I also made it again for a work potluck my husband had and he returned with an empty dish, and last but not least, I made it last weekend for a memorial day potluck and it was just as well received.

It is a quick and easy recipe to make. You can also change the flavor by adding different cheeses, pepper jack, provolone or even Gouda are other great choices. I hope you will add it to your next party and only have empty bowls to account for afterward!

Zesty Sausage Queso

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package zesty/hot breakfast sausage (like Jimmy Dean or Bob Evans)

2 cans original Rotel tomatoes, undrained (you can also use hot or mild as well depending on spice level)

3 packages cream cheese

6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat cook sausage until crumbled and browned. Add undrained tomatoes and cream cheese. Turn heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently until the cream cheese is melted and the mixture is well blended. Add your shredded cheese and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and combined. Serve warm with Tortilla Chips!

Tortilla Egg Cups

Breakfast can sometimes be a challenge especially if you have kids. A lot of times my children are fine with a bowl of cereal but every once in a while they crave something savory. Short of fixing a traditional big breakfast of bacon and eggs and sausage I decided one day to come up with something a little bit smaller and portable but still full of the traditional breakfast flavors.

Looking through my fridge and freezer I found breakfast sausage, onions, peppers, eggs and tortillas. Born was the idea of the tortilla egg cups. I figured why not make a breakfast which contained everything in a small little cup. The egg cups take about 45 minutes start to finish but you could certainly make your meat mixture the night prior, refrigerate it and then only fill the cups the day off which will certainly cut prep and cooking time to about 30 minutes.

These tortilla egg cups are a big hit at our house with plenty of variations possible since you can use any kind of breakfast sausage, any kind of vegetable like mushrooms or even broccoli and any cheese you like. They are perfect for a weekend breakfast and are a great addition to any brunch. Try them for Easter and impress your family and friends with this easy but fantastic dish.

Tortilla Egg Cups

~makes 6~

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

6 Ramekins

1/2 pound (8 ounces) bulk breakfast sausage, any flavor

1/4 medium onion, diced

1/2 medium red pepper, diced

6 (8-inch) flour tortillas

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup cheese, shredded

6 large eggs

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush inside of 6 ramekins with melted butter. Place on a baking sheet and fit a tortilla in each of the forms (you will have to fold them slightly to make them fit). Set aside.

Brown sausage in a pan until cooked, add the onions, cook for another minute and then add the bell pepper. Taste for seasoning. Set mixture aside to cool a little bit. (This mixture can be made the night before if desired and then refrigerated).

Take your prepared ramekins and divide filling into the six cups (about 1/3 cup each). Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese on top of the meat mixture. Crack one egg into each of the tortilla cups. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chives.

Brush exposed tortilla with more of the melted butter and place in pre-heated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Serve immediately.