Zucchini Bolognese

4 Cups Zucchini :  Peeled and diced into cubes.
1/4 cup water

1 small Onion:  Chopped

4 link of Sausages
8 - 10 mushrooms: Sliced thick
2 cans TuttoRusso peeled plum shaped Tomatoes.
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tps of Salt,  Blk Pepper, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder
 4 leaves of Chopped  fresh Basil
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 Box of Bow Tie Pasta: Cooked
1/2 cup grated Cheese
=========================
for Bariatric Friendly don't place over Pasta. or use Banza (Chickpea Pasta)



Take Sausages out of skin and cook in olive oil until done.
Strain out oil, Chop into chunks and put in dish for later.

 

Cut off ends of Tomatoes and chop into small chunks.  Chop on a flat plate b/c you need all the juice.  Place in a bowl with all the juice that's left in the can also.



Chop Onion and Sautee in 1/4 - 1/2 cup Olive Oil .            Enough to cover onions.
Cook until lightly brown. 
Add Zucchini, Salt, Blk Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder. 
Cook  and Stir for 5 minutes then add 1/4 cup water.  
Keep Cooking until Zucchini looks almost transparent. (but, not done yet)  another 5 minutes.

Add Chopped Tomatoes and its juice, basil and sugar. Stir and Cook for another 5 minutes.
Once Zucchini looks transparent, (cooked) then
Add Sausage and Mushrooms. Cook for another 3 minutes.
add 1/2 cup Heavy Cream, stir and cook for 3 minutes. ( You want the Sauce to have a peach color.
Add grated cheese Stir and
Pour over cooked Bow Tie Pasta.
Enjoy!

My Zucchini plant got so huge! Never had them grow that big before.

Lasagna

You will have 3 layers of Lasagna.
What you put Between each layer is described below.

Ingredients needed.
Prep all ingredients before you cook the Lasagna Noodles.

• 2  -  32 oz  Containers of Cooking Sauce.  (look under Sauce for recipe)

• 1/2 Can Small Peas  Optional - divide into 2 = portions.

• 2 Boxes of Lasagna. There are 20 per box. You will need 1 box PLUS 13 from the 2nd box.  Cook Lasagna in an x-tra large Deep pot with 1 Tbs salt and 1/3 cup oil.  (oil doesn't make the Lasagna stick to each other.) Cook Aldente (hard). (You will be baking the Lasagna so, you don't want it to become very soft)  Drain out and cool off. Lay it over the collander or pot so they won't stick together.
• 15 Meatballs. (look under Meatballs for recipe) Mashed up.
•   3 Cups Ricotta  mixed with a pinch of Black Pepper, Garlic Powder,                                                2 Tbs Grated Cheese, 2 eggs
• Fresh Mozzarella log - Sliced 
•  4 oz Grated Cheese Romano Peccorino
• 1 lb whole milk mozzarella.
• 1/2 lb shredded Provoloni
• 2 links Sausages. Squeeze out of casing and sauté until cooked then chop them up. 
• 11 x 17 pan 2 " high.  Must be at least 2" high otherwise lasagna won't fit.                                       If you can find 3"in height that would be better.

 

Put everything in its own bowl and divide into portions I have listed.  This way you can make sure you have enough for each row.

 1.   Ricotta mix.  In 3 = portions

 2.   Mashed up Meatballs.  in 2 = portions                                     

 3.   Sausages 2 = portions.

 4.   Grated Cheese. You will just be sprinkling a 
       small amt ea. time. Approx. 2 Tbs.

 5.   Mozzarella Cheese in 3 = portions.

6.    Fresh Mozzarella

7.    Provolone
 8.   Sauce.  1 bowl. Large ladle full each time.

                       



A. 1st Row.

1.  Pour 2 Cups Sauce in bottom of pan. (you need a lot of sauce on the bottom of the pan, so it won't burn when you cook it. and only a little bit in between the layers.)

2.  Lay out Lasagna 8 horizontally.
     2 vertically.  Lay overlapping 1/2 way on top of each other.

3.  1st Portion:  1 Tbs Ricotta mix and fresh mozzarella in rows across the whole pan.

4.  Add in this order: Grated Cheese, Meatballs, Sausages, and Mozzerella. 



Ricotta, Fresh Mozzarella, Grated Cheese, Meatballs, Sausages, Mozzarella.



5.  Pour a little bit of Sauce.  As shown above.
Wave the ladle across the pan. Don't need to much.





B.

6.  Add another layer of Lasagna.

7.  With your palm, push down slightly on top of the Lasagna.



8.  Lay down Ricotta and Fresh Mozzarella as you did in Step A.

                  Next, in this order:  Grated Cheese 1 Tbs, Meatballs, Sausages, Sauce then Mozzarella. 

This is your last layer.

  9.  Add another layer of Lasagna.  

 10. With your palm, push down slightly on top of the Lasagna. 

11. Add Sauce. Smooth Sauce over lasagna completely.  Any 

      uncovered spots will burn.          

12.  Add Tsp full of Ricotta and pieces of fresh Mozzarella.  As shown above.

13.  1 tsp grated cheese.

14.  Add Mozzarella and Your done.

1.   Place aluminum foil over top. Making sure it doesn't touch the cheese.

2.  If cooking the next day place in fridge and take out 1 hour before cooking.  When Lasagna is from fridge it take approx. 50 - 60 mins to cook.

If cooking now.  Put oven on 400 degrees. Keep Lasagna covered.

Cooking time will vary 30 - 45 minutes.

When cheese is melted lasagna is done.  Nothing is raw.  So, all you have to worry about is to make sure the Middle part of the Lasagna is hot.

 

Yup!  That's right! to find out if it is hot, the Italian way is to Stick a knife in it and make a small opening then stick your finger in it. ha! ha! But, watch out you can burn your finger!  If it is hot it is Ready.  A better way is to use a food thermometer to check the temperature.  Once you determined it is hot then take the cover off and bake until cheese is lightly golden brown or to your liking.

LASAGNA MUST SIT FOR 5 - 10 MIN.

TO SETTLE BEFORE SERVING.

Enjoy!! 

FYI:  Lasagna is a big project and timely.
You can cook the Sauce and Meatballs up to 3 days before. Keep it in the fridge. Grate the mozzarella, slice the fresh mozzarella and put it into a ziploc bag to keep it from drying out place in the fridge.
I cook my Sauce one day then the Meatballs another day so, it doesn't take up too much of my time.
Better yet!!  Always keep a few containers of Cooking Sauce in the freezer so, you can always have it ready when needed.  I freeze 6 containers of sauce at a time.  Sauce can stay frozen up to a year.  Mine never last that long. 

Penne alla Vodka

1/2 catering Tray of Penne alla Vodka 

Makes 4 1/2 _32oz containers of Vodka Sauce. 2 large catering trays. 

 which can be frozen for another time.

If you want to make a smaller amount just cut everything in 1/2. 

1 Medium Onion sliced, chopped 

10 pieces garlic chopped

2 - Quarts of Heavy Cream

2 - 32oz of Cooking Sauce (recipe on my blog (mamagrecipes.blogspot.com)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp granulated garlic powder 

2 TBS of spicy brown mustard

1/1/2 cups of Vodka

Optional: can add whole chopped tomatoes or just cook it with whole chopped tomatoes instead of using cooking sauce. (puree sauce)

Cook separately then add to vodka sauce mix before you boil the vodka sauce. 

 (1 can of whole tomatoes (Tutto Russo or Cento). Slice into small chunks. olive oil just to cover garlic garlic)

 3 gloves chopped,

Basil 5 leaves chopped small, sugar 1 TBS, 1 tsp Salt, 1/2 tsp Pepper,) cook for 15 minutes. 

2 1/2 cups grated Cheese (Pecorino Romano)

Do not add grated cheese until finished cooking and sauce has cooled for 1/2 hour.

For parties:  Sauce Can be made a few days in advance (leave covered in fridge) 

 or a few weeks in plastic containers in freezer.

Chop garlic and onion finely and sautee each separately in olive oil.

Once lightly golden brown strain in a small hole strainer. You want to get out most of the oil.

  

color of vodka sauce you want to achieve is peach. 

                                                            

Place all ingredients except grated cheese in large pot.

Sauteed garlic and onions

2 - 32oz of Cooking Sauce (recipe on my blog (mamagrecipes.blogspot.com)

You place the red sauce in pot 1st and then add in heavy cream to make a peach color sauce 

2 - Quarts of Heavy Cream (watching the color of the sauce change to peach)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp granulated garlic powder 

2 TBS of spicy brown mustard

1/1/2 cups of Vodka

Cook and stir frequently over medium heat. 

Once it comes to full boil cook for another 6 minutes.

Remove from heat.

After it is cooked. Let cool for about 1/2 hour stirring it to cool down a bit before mixing in  

grated cheese.  (Pecorino Romano) 

Use a beater like the one in picture.  

Add a little bit of grated cheese at a time and stir it in.

This will stop the cheese from clumping.

You're done. 

Mix with Cook Penne Pasta.

There are two ways you can add the pasta to the vodka sauce.

#1.  If you are making a large tray then place the well drained pasta in the tray and stir in vodka sauce. (if made in advance warm up vodka sauce before place in pan.)

Place in oven @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes. So the pasta gets time to sip in the flavor of the vodka sauce. 

#2.  For a few plates add a little bit of vodka sauce to large frying pan heat up vodka sauce than add in cooked Penne and stir.  My family likes it this way.   Not too much vodka sauce and when mixing pasta together it melts the cheese onto the pasta.

Broccoli Rabe with Sausage or Shrimp

                                                                                 

For Bariatric Friendly - Do not Add Pasta.  

    

Serves 4

  Broccoli Rabe 2 Bunches

Sausage cooked and chopped 4 links
Tomatoes chopped or sundried tomatoes

Garlic Sliced-  3 cloves

Red bell peppers chopped 1/2

Mushrooms Chopped 4 pcs

Chicken Broth college inn  1 or 2 cans
White Wine 1 tbs

Penne Pasta cooked  1 lb

Grated Cheese

The time consuming part of this dish is cleaning the Broccoli Rabe.

I cook about 4+ bunches of Broccoli Rabe at a time. Need a commerical  14 qt size pot to do this.   Lay them straight in a roasting pan to cool off, cut them into pieces and then freeze portions in a ziploc bag. So, when I want to use a recipe with Broccoli Rabe I can prepare it in a few minutes.

Or of course, you can cook 1 bunch at a time.

 Fill large pot with water little bit of salt and boil water. While you are waiting for the water to boil.   

Broccoli Rabe: Cut off ends of stalk and peel off outer layer. As you can see in picture once you cut off end and peel back it comes off easily. 

Place in large bowl and rinse in cold water.

STEPS BELOW IMPORTANT so that you don't over cook the Broccoli Rabe.     Put all the Broccoli Rabe into the boiling water.

COVER.

When water boils over again.  Take off  Cover. Cook for 3 minutes.

Then strain out into a collander into another pot. to save water to cook pasta in.  Pasta will have better flavor cooked with the broccoli Rabe water.   or you can put another pot of water with  alittle salt for your pasta.                                                                           

  Cook Pasta aldente and strain into collander and rinse with cold water so they won't stick together.   Leave Pasta on side for later use.

  Cooking the Broccoli Rabe this way won't make it soooo bitter .   If you like it very bitter than steam them.

Sautee sausage and chop. leave on side.

                                                                         


Fry chopped garlic in a little bit of olive oil to lightly golden brown. (can use oil left from frying sausage for nice flavor and just add more oil if needed as you cook.)

Add in chopped red bell peppers and chopped tomatoes or sundried tomatoes. Stir and Cook for 3 minutes.

Add in sliced mushroom.  Stir and Cook for 1 minute.

Add cooked and chopped sausage. Stir and cook another minute.

 Add Broccoli Rabe 3- 4 inch lengths  and  White Wine

Then add Chicken Broth.  Once that comes to a boil --

Add in cooked pasta, grated cheese and stir for 1 minute.

Done!!  Enjoy!!!

Instead of Sausage you can use:

cooked sliced Chicken Cutlet, or

cooked shrimp (cook the shrimp with olive oil, salt and garlic powder. Add to mixture right before pasta)
Instead of Tomatoes add sundried tomato (sliced)

White or Red Clam Sauce, Baked Clams, Mussels, Seafood Marinara

                      White Clam Sauce 

White Clam Sauce w/ Shrimp 

White Clam Sauce 

   

         Clams - Use Top Necks

Don’t forget to look below. I will have other variations or added ingredients to enhance the taste to the basic recipe.

To easily open clams. Buy Clams in advance. Put them in a bowl/pot and wash the shell. (Rub the clam shells with your hands to make sure all sand is off of them.) Once outside shell is cleaned put them into the freezer for at least 1 day. Once frozen, fill the pot with very hot water and leave the clams in there for a few minutes. This forces them to open up a little and then it is much easier to slide the clam knife in and spread them open. (Clams can also stay frozen for many months.)

Very important!!

When you open the clams and it smells bad, throw that one out! Clams should not have a bad stinky smell to them.

• Use 2 bowls. read below. 

·  While opening them place your hand over an empty bowl so any juice from the clams can drop into their first. You don’t want any bad clam or clam juice to mix with the good ones. It will ruin the whole meal.

·  If clam is good then place that juice into another bowl. I use a small sauce pot with a small pasta strainer on top. This way when I open the clam and it smells good, I then place it in the strainer. The clam stays on top and the juice of the clam drips to the into the sauce pan.

Basic Recipe: 4 people

6 clams per person. Best size is Top necks. Using the clam knife to scrape clams out of shell into a bowl. As suggested above. If defrosted you can squeeze the yucky part out. (The black part) Or if frozen cut it out with a knife. Or you can leave it because that has flavor too. But, some people like to clean it out. (If clams are still frozen, keep the juice. It looks like a chunk of crushed ice) that will become the clam broth.

1/4 cup Olive Oil

 4 gloves of Garlic, sliced thin 
Large Pinch of: Basil, Oregano, Parsley (fresh whenever possible)
1 tsp Garlic powder, 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

 2 TBS salted butter and 3 Tbs of White Wine Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio 

Optional: Shrimp 

Do NOT add SALT. Clams are already salty.

1. Chop Clams in chunks. Not too small. The scallop piece (the clams piece that is stuck to the shell) must be sliced opposite the grain and small. It is a tougher piece. Set aside.

2. In sauce pan [Med/ High heat] Sautee olive Oil and sliced Garlic to lightly golden brown.

3. Add Clams juice and spices. [Med high heat] Stir.

4.  Bring juice to a full boil. (You can count to 10 but BE CAREFUL the juice in the pot will overflow so watch it closely.)
Optional: You can also add whole shelled baby clams in step 4. If Clams don't open by end of cooking this dish, don't use them.  Clams must open up so, that they are not raw. 

5. Pour Clams, 2 TBS butter and 3 Tbs white wine in the pot with the boiled juice.

Turn onto Medium heat - bring again to a boil, count about 10 seconds and remove pot from heat. (You don’t want them to boil/cook to long otherwise the clams will become tough.

Optional:  Add Shrimp to Clam Sauces. in Step 5.

Shrimps (peeled, cleaned and cut in 1/2)

          

That’s it. Now, Place over cooked Linquine or Banza/Chickpea Pasta for no gluten pasta

For the whole clams in shells: Once clams shell opens it is cooked.   
  Don’t eat unopened clams.

 

• 
  

RED CLAM SAUCE:  

Even easier. Look under my recipes for Marinara or Whole plum tomato.

1. Cook sauce.

2. Add just Cleaned chopped clams, ½ amount of the juice and cover. No spices, since they are already in the sauce. (If you like it spicy add a spec of hot pepper flakes.)

3. Bring Covered Clams to first boil, remove lid, count about 10 seconds and remove pot from heat. (You don’t want them to boil/cook to long otherwise they will become hard.}

Done. Put over pasta.

 Baked Clams  2 dozen. 


Ingredients:
Same recipe as for White Clams Sauce. Plus below:
2 dozen Clams
Breadcrumbs with seasonings (grated cheese, black pepper, granulated Garlic powder, chopped parsley, chopped Basil, onion powder.
Paprika
1/4 cup finely chopped celery.
1/4 cup finely Chopped Red Pepper (vegetable)
1/2 cup sour Cream
5 Bacon strips. Cooked, crispy and chopped.

• Make clams as stated above for white Clams Steps 1 - 5.                                       but don't chop clams to small.   
• Once cooked then next step is to:  Separate Clams from Clam juice:

• With Bowl underneath to collect clam juice: Place cooked pot of Clams  through strainer.                                                                                                                 
• Need In 3 separate bowls :

• 1 for Clams, 1 for clam juice and 1 for breadcrumb mix

• In the Clam bowl: Add in ¼ cup Sour cream. Stir. 

• In breadcrumb bowl:  Pour in little bit of clam juice. Enough just to moisten bread crumb, fluffy up, Don't pat down, otherwise it will be a hard mess.

IN CLAM SHELLS:

• Add 1 - 2 TBS of chopped clams mix,(filling clam 1/2 way.) 
• 1 tsp of clam juice, 

Add a few pieces of :   Finely Chopped Red Pepper (vegetable) and                       finely chopped Celery 

•  Add the moisten bread crumbs
• Add chopped bacon bits. 
• Add: Sprinkle paprika on top of each stuffed clams. 
• Place in preheated oven on 425 for 10 minutes (until breadcrumb is lightly golden).
•  Then broil 1-2 minutes (until crispy) 

NOTE: You don't have to worry about clams being raw because they are already cooked. 

                    

Steamed Clams or Mussels.
Clams – shell washed

 

Place baby shelled clams in pot with butter, garlic powder, black pepper, and a little bit of water. (1/4 cup water enough so the butter doesn’t fry the clams. Cover and cook. When all the shells are opened it is done. The juice is from the butter, water and juices inside the clams.

For Mussels use Green kiwi mussels (farmed raised) they are large and clean. No bad ones. Most fish markets sell them in boxes. They come opened. Just rinse and clean outside of shell before you cook them. Can be Steamed or cooked with Marinara Sauce/ Whole Chopped Tomato Sauce. Same as above instructions.

Seafood Marinara:

Marinara Sauce Recipe. Cook sauce for 5 minutes then add ingredients below and cook for 10 more minutes or until cooked. A pinch of dry red pepper flakes. Cook over Medium heat. Sauce has a small boil to it.

Clams – shell washed (COOKED WHEN SHELL OPENS UP)
Also if you don’t want clams in shell then just put some whole clams in there.  I like to cut them up into 4 pcs.

Shrimp –peeled and cleaned (COOKED WHEN SHRIMP TURN PINK)

Kiwi mussels – rinse shell ( COOKS IN MINUTES )

Calamari – cleaned and sliced (COOKED WHEN WHITE AND FIRM)