Spinach-Artichoke Pasta

I love pasta. But not as much as I love the Spinach-Artichoke-cheese combination.

 I could honestly just skip the pasta and just slurp up the sauce.

Bright Eyed Youth- Olive Skin

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bags spinach
• 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and halved
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella or monterey jack cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 12 oz penne, cooked
• 1/2 bread crumbs
• crushed red pepper

Directions

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot or skillet. Add garlic and throw in the spinach. Stir it around until it's wilted, about 1 minute. Remove spinach from heat and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons butter to the same pot and raise the heat to high. Throw in the halved artichokes and stir it around until they get a little color, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the artichokes from the pot and set them aside.

Reduce the heat to low. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the pot. When melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk until it's combined. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until starting to thicken. Add Parmesan, Mozzarella/Monterey Jack, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir to melt, and if it's overly thick, splash in chicken broth.

Add artichokes and pasta, tossing gently to combine. Gently fold in spinach, then pour the pasta into a serving bowl. Sprinkle the top with crushed red pepper flakes and plenty of Panko breadcrumbs for crunch.

Serve immediately!

Calzones

My family is in love with Dewey's calzones. I've only had them as leftovers, since I'm more of a pizza gal.

So what do you do with left over ravioli filling? Make calzone filling.

All this dough rolling is going  to give me gorilla arms before break is over!

Bright Eyed Youth- "Pretty People Diamonds"

Ingredients 

Dough:

• 3 cups all -purpose or bread flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Calzone:

• 2 cups of ricotta cheese
• 1 cup of stuffing for the calzone  such as sausage, ham, spinach, chard, broccoli raab, artichokes, olives, tomatoes, etc.
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Dough:

Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and the oil through the feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water until hte mixture forms a ball and is slightly stick to the tough. If it is still dry, add another 1 to 2 tablespoons of water and process for another 10 seconds. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead the dough by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball. put the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let rise until the dough doubles in size (it should take 1-2 hours but you can cut it short if you're in a hurry or let it rise for up to 6 to 8 hours in a refrigerator) At this point you can freeze the dough if you want to store it for up to a month. When the dough is ready, form it into two balls and sprinkle with flour. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest until the balls puff slightly (around 20 minutes).

Calzone:

Combine the cheeses and other ingredients you plan on putting in the calzones. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll each dough ball into a flat round, lightly flouring the work surface and the dough as necessary (use only as much flour as you need to) Let the rounds sit for a few minutes; this will relax the dough and make it easier to roll out. Roll or pat the dough into an 8 to 10 inch round on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Put half the filling into the middle of each dough round. Moisten the edges with a little water. Fold one edge over onto the other and press closed with a fork or your fingers.

Bake the calzones on a baking sheet or baking stone for 30 to 40 minutes or until nicely browned.

Tofu Meatballs and Beef Meatballs

This is taken verbatim from this recipe. It was so good; there wasn't a need to change it at all!

This is a beef one.

This is a tofu one.

"I Think We're Alone Now" Tommy James and the Shondells

Heard this while driving late at night, and it's still pretty catchy.