Lasagne Roll Ups

This little recipe is a fun twist on traditional lasagne. Instead of lying the noodles flat, you roll 'em up...hence the name Lasagne Roll Ups. It uses prosciutto as the meat so it's not real heavy with meat but you can certainly add ground beef or ground turkey to the sauce if you'd like. The first time I made this was about 5 years ago, then I kind of forgot about it until a few weeks ago when I ran across it in my binder. I'm sure not going to let 5 years go by before I make it again.

Lasagna Roll Ups



1 12-ounce package lasagna noodles

1 24-ounce jar pasta sauce – or your favorite recipe

1 15-ounce container Ricotta cheese
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, drained well
1 egg
4 ounces prosciutto, chopped
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

1 cup mozzarella cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles in salted water until soft but still firm to the bite. Drain. Lay out on a cookie sheet. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine Ricotta, spinach, egg, prosciutto, parmesan and salt and pepper.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Pour half of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the pan.

Lay out one lasagna noodle on a flat work surface. Spread about 3 – 4 tablespoons of the ricotta filling on the noodle. Roll up starting at the short ends. Place seam side down on top of pasta sauce. Repeat with remaining filling and noodles.

Pour remaining pasta sauce over filled noodles. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella and ¼ cup parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 – 12 lasagna rolls

All the stuff.....this picture shows 

TWO packages of proscuitto. I only 

 used ONE. It also doesn't show the salt. 

But I did use some.

Cook your noodles and lay them 

out on a cookie sheet. Set them aside. 

Then combine the Ricotta, drained 

spinach, egg, chopped proscuitto, parm, 

and the salt and pepper.

Here's the mixed up mixture.

Working with one lasagne 

noodle at a time, spread some 

of the mixture out on each one.

 About 3 - 4 tablespoons for each noodle. 

I didn't measure...I just eyeballed it.

Then starting at the short end, 

roll 'em up! Repeat until all the 

mixture is gone. You should get 

about 12 or so.

Pour half of your sauce in the 

bottom of your pan.

Place the rolls in the pan.

Pour the remaining sauce over the 

roll ups then sprinkle with the cheeses.

Bake it up, eat it up, rah, rah, rah!!

Have you ever had one of those days where it doesn't matter how many times you look in your cabinet, pantry or fridge, you just can't find anything to make for dinner? And you go back multiple times thinking that maybe each time you do, there will be something that has magically appeared that could be a meal? That happened to me the other day. All day long I just couldn't think of one thing to make and nothing was jumping out of my pantry screaming "make me! make me!!". Until I spied the tortellini hiding waaaay in the back of the cabinet behind the mac & cheese and the expired cream of mushroom soup (yes, I have those things, too). I grabbed the tortellini then remembered some spicy Italian sausage and oh! Isn't there a wedge of parmesan in my fridge and also some heavy cream? I think I saw a red bell pepper in there, too! Yay! I had a concept....which soon became a reality. Let it be your reality, too because this turned out amazingly delicious!!



Cream Sauced Tortellini 
and Sausage Casserole



1 package cheese stuffed tortellini
1 pound Italian sausage
1 small onion - diced
1 – 2 cloves garlic – minced
1 red bell pepper - diced

1/2 c. butter
2 c. whipping cream
2 tsp. salt

1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.

Boil tortellini and set aside.

In a large skillet, saute onion, garlic and red pepper until just soft.

Add sausage and cook until sausage is done. Remove mixture to a bowl and set aside.

In the same skillet, melt the butter. Pour in cream and add salt and pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes until thickened. Add grated parmesan and stir until melted.

Add cooked tortellini and sausage mixture to sauce and stir to combine.

Pour into prepared casserole dish and sprinkle with a little more cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Serves 6


*If you want a thicker sauce, combine 2 tablespoons of flour with 3 tablespoons of water and pour into cream mixture. Cook until sauce is thickened then add pasta and meat mixture.

Here's the line up.

Saute the onion, bell pepper and garlic 

in some olive oil for a little bit.

Then add the sausage and cook until done. I used spicy sausage but you could use the mild and it would be fine. I also used links and just removed the casings.

Remove the meat/veggie mixture to a 

bowl then add the butter to the skillet.

Once the butter has melted, add the heavy cream and let that thicken. If it's not as thick as you'd like, make a flour/water slurry and add it to the butter/cream mixture. I did this because I like a thicker sauce.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the grated parm and let it melt.

Put the meet/veggie mixture and the cooked

tortellini into the sauce and give it a stir.

Pour the mixture into a greased casserole dish. 

Sprinkle with more parm, cover with foil and bake!

Copyright © 2011 Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. All rights reserved.

The very first time I made this, I was holding a Christmas open house. I had set the table with all sorts of delectable foods and gave this ham center stage! It was SO good. I love anything with a sweet & savory flavor to it and this glaze is just perfect! And easy? Oh yeah...definitely easy. The only thing you need to do to it, is baste it as it cooks. But SO worth it!

Orange Glazed Ham

1 (3-4 pound) cooked or uncooked ham.

¼ cup prepared mustard
5 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup brown sugar - packed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Score ham and place on a rack in a foil lined roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer into the thickest part of the ham.

Combine mustard, orange juice and brown sugar in a medium sized bowl. Pour over ham.

Place ham in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Glaze.

Turn oven temperature to 325 and cook according to ham directions, for cooked or uncooked. Glaze ham every 20 minutes until done. If you find that your ham is not giving off enough liquid to make a glaze, add ½ cup of water the first couple of times you glaze. Just pour the water in the roasting pan and give a little stir then glaze as usual.


 
This is what you'll need for this yummy glaze.


 
Combine the orange juice, mustard and brown sugar.


 
Then pour it over the scored ham. 
Use a rack so the ham doesn't sit 
on the bottom of the pan and burn.


 
Glaze every 20 minutes until done. 
After all the glazing the ham will 
have almost a candy coating all over it. 
You might want to add some water as it cooks. 
Just stir the water into the roasting pan and keep glazing!


 
Oh so good....

We recently went to visit our kids in Alabama. While there, we went out to eat. I don't cook much seafood at home because IT Guy's not a fan of seafood, and doesn't care for it stinking up the house. But when we go out, I take advantage of the wide open space in a restaurant and go for it. I ordered something very similar to this dish and when it came to the table I thought....pshhhh...I could totally do this at home! And I did! So yum! Of course, I had to make some chicken for IT Guy but I sure did enjoy me some shrimp!!!

Kickin’ Shrimp 
with Parmesan Cheese Sauce



16 ounces shrimp – peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic - minced

Place shrimp in a small bowl and sprinkle with seasonings. Toss to coat. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In a medium sauce pan, sauté garlic and shrimp for a few minutes until shrimp is done.


Parmesan Sauce

3 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups half & half
1 ½ cups parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt & pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and whisk. Pour in half & half and stir until smooth. Stir in parmesan cheese and whisk until smooth. Stir in seasonings.

Serve shrimp and sauce over penne pasta

Okee-doke....here's where you start.

Sprinkle the shrimp with the seasonings 

and set aside for a few minutes.

Melt the butter and then add the flour.

Pour in the half and half then the seasonings....

...and the grated parm. Stir until smooth. 

Whoa...someone got carried away with the parm. What a mess.

Saute the garlic and shrimp for a little bit. 

Toss the sauce and shrimp together until....

..you get this! Sprinkle with a little bit of cayenne pepper 

for more heat and deliciousness!! I added some chopped 

red pepper but diced tomatoes would be faboo!

Taco & Fajita Seasonings

I was thinking of ways to use ground beef and came across someone's idea of using it in a taco casserole. While the idea of taco casserole isn't exactly brain surgery, I thought the idea of using crescent rolls as the base of the casserole was brilliant! I took this little tidbit and ran with it creating something I knew the fam would love! We've already showcased nacho casserole AND burrito casserole so why not taco, too??? Give it a try! So easy and yummy! If your family likes tacos like mine does, you're bound to make them happy with this!


Taco Casserole



1 package crescent rolls
1 cup crushed tortilla chips - divided use
1 envelope taco seasoning mix (or 2 tablespoons homemade, recipe follows)
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion
8 oz sour cream
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
8 oz cheddar cheese- shredded
½ cup salsa
1 4 ounce can sliced olives - drained
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8x11 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Saute onion until slightly soft then add ground beef and cook until done. Add taco seasoning, less 1 tablespoon,  (or use homemade seasonings) with ½ cup water. Cook until thick.

Spread crescent rolls on bottom of baking pan (be sure to pinch seams together).

Sprinkle 1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips on top of the crescent rolls then add meat. Spread sour cream mixture on top of meat then pour salsa on top of sour cream. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips, olives and finally cheese.

Cover with foil and bake about 25 – 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Allow to sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Serve on a bed of shredded lettuce with tomatoes and guacamole.

Here's the line-up.

Brown the ground beef with the onion.

Line the bottom of your casserole dish with the crescent rolls. You'll have to squeeze them in to make them all fit. I went up the ends with mine a little bit.

Add the seasoning to the meat and let it cook for a bit.

Add some taco seasoning to the sour cream. You can leave it plain if you want, but IT Guy won't touch plain sour cream.

Crush some tortilla chips and sprinkle on top of your crescent rolls.

Then start layering. Meat, sour cream, salsa, more crushed chips...

..olives....

..and cheese!

Bake it for about 20 - 30 minutes until it's hot and bubbly and delicious looking!

Taco Seasoning

1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons crushed dried red pepper flakes
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. instant minced garlic
1 tsp. ground cumin

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Store in a sealed jar to use as needed.  Use 2 – 3  tablespoons of mixture for tacos. Makes the equivalent of 4 - 6 packages of taco mix.

Copyright © 2011 Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. All rights reserved.

I am so mad at myself! A few weeks ago one of my foodie friends posted a recipe for Chili Colorado. I thought I saved the recipe to try and by-jingos (as my MIL is apt to say)...I cannot find it. So after a little research on my own, I came up with my own recipe. It's IT Guy's thing he loves to order when we go out for Mexican food. He loves that dark red chili flavor. I have to say...and he did, too...this turned out pretty good. I think next time I'm going to add some chili powder along with the re-hydrated chiles, but IT Guy said this was a keeper for sure!

Chili Colorado



1  2 – 3 pound chuck roast
1 medium onion - sliced
1 ½ cups beef broth
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
8 dried New Mexico chiles – rehydrated
Hot water for rehydrating the chiles
About 1/2 cup water - divided use


Place dried chiles in a medium sized bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside for 30 minutes. After chiles have rehydrated, pat dry. Slit open and remove the seeds and chop off the stems. Pulse in a food processor with 1/4 cup water until smooth. Strain mixture through sieve with 1/4 cup water to remove skins and seeds.

Place roast in crock pot and add sliced onions.

In a small bowl, combine beef broth, tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth then add the chili paste and stir. Pour mixture over roast in crock pot and allow to cook on low 6 – 8 hours or until meat is fork tender.

Serve with rice or flour tortillas.

The goods. Next time I'm going to add 

about a tablespoon of chili powder to this.

Rehydrate your chiles. I put mine in a bowl then 

put a plate on top of them to help keep them submerged. 

I let them soak about 30 minutes.

The dried chile is on the left and the 

rehydrated one is on the right.

Mix together the broth, tomato sauce, salt, 

pepper, cumin, oregano and garlic.

Whizz the rehydrated chiles through the food processor then run it through a sieve to get a smooth sauce, discarding and chile skins and seeds. I added 1/4 cup water to this because it was so thick. I just poured a little bit at time into the sieve as I was straining the chile mixture. Combine chile paste with beef broth mixture.

Put your roast in your crock pot and cover with sliced onions.

Then pour the chile mixture over that. Cook on high 

for several hours....5 - 7 should do it. As it's cooking, 

break apart the meat when it gets tender enough.

Serve over rice or plain with flour tortillas.