Half Baked Harvest's Pesto Zuppa Toscana Meatballs {So Comforting}

 Who doesn't love a giant casserole full of cheesy flavorful meatballs? Why haven't I made these before?

I was checking my email at work when I saw the recipe for these meatballs and I immediately stopped what I was doing to write down the list of ingredients so I could make them asap!

I could hardly wait to tuck into these meatballs in a creamy and flavorful sauce of onions, garlic, fresh herbs, sun-dried tomato pesto, cream, and broth. The sauce is thick and creamy and the flavor is just on point.

 

Then you top the meatballs and sauce with mozzarella cheese and bake! It is the perfect dish  for those comfort food cravings you are having right now! Serve this with pasta or bread, either way it is delicious. I will be making this on repeat all winter long. So yummy!

 

Pesto Zuppa Toscana Meatballs

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

by Tieghan Gerard

Serves 4-6

1 pound ground spicy Italian chicken sausage*

1/2 pound ground chicken, turkey or pork* 

1/2 cup panko

1/4 cup grated Parmesa

1 egg

3 teaspoons Italian seasoning, divided

1 yellow onion, sliced

2 tablespoons fresh thyme*

2 cups finely shredded kale

1/3 cup pesto*

3/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk

1 cup broth

2 tablespoons lemon juice*

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

*Note: I made a few changes to these meatballs, namely using all ground turkey (because it's what I had on hand. I also subbed fresh basil for fresh thyme, omitted the kale (I didn't have any), used sundried tomato pesto instead of basil pesto, and omitted the lemon juice. I also want to mention that you might need to cook the meatballs in batches, unless your pan is huge.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Add the sausage, chicken, panko, parmesan, egg, and 1 teaspoons Italian seasoning to a bowl. Mix until just combined. Roll into meatballs and place each in a skillet. Add the onions to the skillet.

Set the skillet over medium heat, then cook the meatballs for 5 minutes, turning them 2-3 times, until crisp. Add the garlic, thyme, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, kale and pesto. Pour over the cream, broth, and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add the mozzarella, then bake until the cheese is melted, 10 minutes.

Spooktacular @ I Heart Cooking Clubs!
 

Giada's Grilled Lamb Chops

 My son had a lamb dish at a restaurant and kept talking about it over and over so I decided to try my hand at grilling lamb chops. 

I chose Giada's recipe for Grilled Lamp Chops because I had just harvest all my herbs and have been trying to use them up. This recipe was so simple. You make a paste with garlic, rosemary, thyme, cayenne, salt, and olive oil. Then you marinate the chops in that paste for an hour. After marinading the chops, you allow them to come to room temperature and then you grill them for just 2 or 3 minutes per side.

This couldn't be any easier. The paste really flavors up the chops and they are tender. juicy, and succulent! We really enjoyed these!

Grilled Lamp Chops

Adapted from Food Network

by Giada De Laurentiis

Serves 4

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

pinch cayenne pepper

coarse sea salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 lamp chops, about 3/4" thick

In a food processor, or mortar and pestle, add the garlic, rosemary, thyme, cayenne, and salt. Pulse until combined. Pour in the olive oil and pulse into a paste. Alternatively, grind with a mortar and pestle until you have a paste. Rub the paste on both sides of the lamb chops and let them marinate for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator and allow the chops to come to room temperature; it will take about 20 minutes.

Heat a grill pan over high heat until almost smoking, add the chops and sear for about 2 minutes. Flip the chops over and cook for another 3 minutes for medium-rare and 3-1/2 minutes for medium. 

Simple Is Best @ I Heart Cooking Clubs!
 

Erin French's Apple Cider and Prosecco Cocktail from The Lost Kitchen!

My daughter bought her first new car so it was time to celebrate with cocktails! And a fall cocktail is just what's in order. An Apple Cider and Prosecco Cocktail from The Lost Kitchen Cookbook.

In Erin's cookbook she calls for straight up apple cider mixed with rosemary simple syrup and Cognac. I happened to have her Apple Cider and Rosemary Sorbet from last week, so I used that in place of the liquid.

All I had to do was scoop some sorbet into a Champagne glass, top with 1/2 ounce Cognac, and then pour the Prosecco on and garnish with a rosemary spring!

Quick and easy, but also refreshing and crisp. We loved the earthiness of the rosemary with the fruitiness of the cider, and let's not forget...bubbles from the Prosecco. It makes for a lovely fall cocktail!

 

Cider-Prosecco Cocktail

Adapted from The Lost Kitchen 

by Erin French

Makes 1 cocktail

1/2 ounce apple cider, chilled

1/2 ounce Rosemary simple syrup*

1/2 ounce Cognac

Prosecco, chilled

Rosemary sprig, for garnish

*Note: You can use apple cider and rosemary simple syrup, but I'm using a scoop of the apple cider sorbet that I made last week which has both apple cider and rosemary simple syrup in it.

Pour the apple cider, rosemary simple syrup, and Cognac into a champagne glass (or place a scoop of apple cider sorbet into a champagne glass). Top with Prosecco (and Cognac if using apple cider sorbet) and garnish with a spring of rosemary.

 Nibbles & Sips @ I Heart Cooking Clubs!

 

 

Erin French's Apple Cider and Rosemary Sorbet From The Lost Kitchen!

Over the summer I made ten different ice creams, or frozen treats, and learned a lot! A few weeks ago I bought some apple cider and decided to pour it into my ice cream machine. The instant results were delicious, kind of like an apple cider slushy or granita. When I put away the leftovers, however, they froze solid in the freezer. I had a feeling that would happen.

That very week, I bought Erin French's The Lost Kitchen Cookbook and saw her recipe for Apple Cider and Rosemary Sorbet! Imagine my surprise when Erin added a rosemary infused simple syrup to the apple cider. Turns out the simple syrup is exactly what this needed to sweeten the dessert up and also keep the sorbet more scoopable in the freezer. Simple syrup for the win! And by the way, use ALL the simple syrup. It might seem like a lot, but Erin says when things freeze they usually require more sugar because our taste buds can't taste the sweetness as much.

Look, this is THE FALL DESSERT OF YOUR DREAMS! Seriously, it's so easy and refreshing and delicious - literally everyone should be making it! Make it with a basic simple syrup, infuse it with rosemary for some added earthiness, scoop it into a glass and pour some Prosecco over it. Whatever you do, just make it! Its amazing!

 Apple Cider & Rosemary Sorbet

Adapted from The Lost Kitchen

by Erin French

Makes about 1 pint

Rosemary Simple Syrup (recipe follows)

2 cups apple cider

Making The Rosemary Simple Syrup: Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 4 sprigs of rosemary in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Allow the mixture to boil just long enough for the sugar to dissolve, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool. Pour into a jar with a lid and refrigerate for up to a week  

Making The Sorbet: Combine the rosemary simple syrup and apple cider, then transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions (or as I like to say, until you get the desired consistency).

 

 I Heart Cooking Clubs Welcomes Erin French!

Ina Garten's Easy Sticky Buns {An Easy and Fun Autumn Treat}!

Ina Garten's Easy Sticky Buns are the epitome of easy. There is no need to make any dough because you simply use puff pastry. Puff pastry is so easy to work with and the recipe comes together in no time.

First you make a mixture of butter and brown sugar and smear it into the bottom of a muffin tin. The butter and brown sugar mixture is topped with chopped nuts - feel free to use any nut you have. The recipe called for pecans, but I had walnuts so I used those!

Then you roll out the puff pastry dough, brush it with melted butter and top that with brown sugar and cinnamon. At this point you can add raisins or really anything else you'd like. I chose to forego the raisins.

Then you roll the dough up lengthwise and cut each roll into sixths. Place each sixth on top of the butter and brown sugar mixture with the nuts and bake!

I would advise to watch these closely. The butter and brown sugar mixture will rise up around the puff pastry and you don't want it to over cook or it will become to hard and sticky and start to take on a burnt sugar flavor. Ina says to bake these for 25-30 minutes, but I found that just under 20 minutes was the right amount of time for my oven!

These rolls are in fact sticky and delicious. Fair warning though, they are not a soft cinnamon roll sort of pastry. Instead they are buttery, flaky, crispy, sticky and almost verging on too sweet. Which reminds me to point out that you could do with using less brown sugar, especially if you don't like desserts that are cloyingly sweet. Otherwise, they are delicious and fun to make!

Easy Sticky Buns

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa

by Ina Garten

Serves 12

12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) butter, at room temp

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup pecans, chopped in large pieces*

1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted)

For the Filling:

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

2/3 cups light brown sugar, light packed

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup raisins* 

*Note: You can make this recipe with nuts and without nuts. With raisins and without raisins. You can use pecans or walnuts, or use any nut. The point is, feel free to tuck any nut or dried fruit in this mixture. You could even sub chocolate chips or caramel chips. Make it your own!

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place a 12 cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 12 tablespoons of butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 tablespoon of the mixture in bottom of each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly between the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half the melted butter, leaving a 1 inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 cup of raisins (if using). Starting with the end nearest to you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam-side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second piece of puff pastry.I

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the buns/rolls are golden brown on top and firm to the touch. Be careful- they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and nuts out onto the buns with a small spoon) and cool completely! Enjoy!

September Potluck @ I Heart Cooking Clubs!
 

Celebrating Fall Equinox: One Pot Fall Vegetable Orzo and Chickpeas!

People tend to assume that I spend a lot of money on groceries. I always laugh at that, because they couldn't be more wrong! 

If anything I spend less since nearly EVERYTHING I make is from scratch! I think people who cook a lot tend to spend less on the average for that reason. Frozen foods and packaged foods are convenience foods and those will cost you big time.

Let's take this dish, for example, One Pot Fall Vegetable Orzo and Chickpeas. It calls for orzo pasta, spinach or kale, butternut squash, Parmesan cheese, broth, onion, garlic, and fresh herbs.

I could go to the store and buy pre-washed and packaged greens, packages of cubed up butternut squash, canned or boxed broth, and two kinds of herbs. All of that adds up, you're talking $15-20 just on those ingredients alone. However, I bought spinach from the produce section that I wash, dry, and chop myself. A container of already pre-washed spinach costs $3.99, mine was $1.69. A package of cubed up butternut squash yields about 2 cups for $4.99, but I bought an entire butternut squash for $4.19 and got 6 cups of squash when it was all said and done. Broth costs anywhere from $2-3 boxed up in the store, but I make mine with leftover chicken bones and vegetable peels, pretty much for free. I have chives, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, and parsley growing in abundance in my backyard that I grew from seeds for minimal costs and they save me money every week.

Moral of the story: Grow your own and also, do it yourself! Stay away from the pre-packaged stuff that you think saves you time because in the end it costs more and you get less. Plus, it's not that hard to just do it yourself! 

This was a fun dish to make. I enjoyed washing, cutting, and prepping all the veggies. I love the orange and green pops of color in the orzo and the ease of a one pot dish. Plus, this makes a ton of orzo! We had it for dinner and then I had enough for four lunches throughout the week! It was cheesy and comforting and so pretty and satisfying. I can definitely see myself making it again this fall!

One Pot Fall Vegetable Orzo and Chickpeas

Adapted from How Sweet Eats

by Jessica Merchant

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups cubed butternut squash, 1/2" to 1" cubes

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped*

2 cups kale or spinach*

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup orzo

1 (14 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2-1/2 cups vegetable stock

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives, sage, thyme, etc. for topping

Note: I left out the cremini mushrooms because we aren't big mushroom fans. I used spinach instead of kale because the spinach just looked better.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the onions and garlic with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir in the butternut squash with another pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the squash is beginning to get tender.

Stir in the mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the kale or spinach, cooking for another few minutes until it wilts. Stir in the nutmeg and if you think it needs it, another pinch or two of salt and pepper.

Stir in the dry orzo pasta. Stir in the chickpeas. Pour in the vegetable stock and let the mixture come to a boil. Reduce it to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook for 15 minutes, until the orzo absorbs the stock and is plumped up. If the orzo isn't finished, cook for a few minutes more. The mixture still might be wet. If it seems too wet and the orzo is fully cooked, cook it for 5 minutes, stirring often, with the lid off.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Top with fresh herbs and serve! 

Fall Equinox @ I Heart Cooking Clubs!
 

Game Day Eats: Savory Bacon, Sage & Pumpkin Puff Pastry Pizza

 It's no secret that I'm a big fan of How Sweet Eat's Puff Pastry Pizzas! I've made the Zucchini, Lemon, and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Pizza; the Chicken and Bacon Ranch Puff Pastry Pizza; the Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza; the Puff Pastry Breakfast Pizza; and...The Savory Bacon, Sage, and Pumpkin Puff Pastry Pizza.

I love the ease of them and the way the puff pastry puffs up in the oven. These are perfect for weekdays and busy nights and they are also perfect for game nights! I highly recommend them!

This Savory Bacon, Sage and Pumpkin Puff Pastry gets a mixture of ricotta and pumpkin smeared on the base of the puff pastry.

Then the ricotta-pumpkin mixture is topped with mozzarella, apple cider caramelized onions, and sage. I have never topped a pizza like this before, so it was a fun recipe to try! And so pretty! I was able to use the sage from my garden. Woohoo!

 When the pizza comes out of the oven you top it with Parmesan and tuck in! The pumpkin isn't overly pronounced, but you can taste a hint of it. The pizza is very cheesy and you can taste the sweetness of the caramelized onions. It gives the pizza a bit of a sweet and savory taste. The bacon provides a good amount of saltiness and crunch, but I couldn't help but feel like the pizza was missing some garlic and if I made it again, I'd add a little garlic somewhere along the line. Good overall, but not our favorite.

If we had to pick some our top puff pastry pizzas it would be as follows: Zucchini, Lemon & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Pizza (the best in my opinion); Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza; Chicken & Bacon Ranch Puff Pastry Pizza; and also the Puff Pastry Breakfast Pizza.

 

Savory Bacon, Sage & Pumpkin Puff Pastry Pizza

Adapted from How Sweet Eats

by Jessica Merchant

Serves 2-4

 3 slices bacon, chopped

2 sweet onions, thinly sliced

salt and pepper

1/4 cup apple cider

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese

1 handful fresh sage leaves

1 large egg, for egg wash

Parmesan cheese, for topping

 Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring often, just until the fat is rendered - you do not want to cook it until crispy, because it will crisp up more in the oven. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel to remove excess grease.

Throw the onions into the skillet with the rendered bacon fat. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes until the onions begin to soften. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the apple cider. Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes stirring often, until the onions are slightly caramelized. This will start to happen quicker after you add the apple cider.

Preheat the oven to 425F. Place the sheet of puff pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Poke it all over with a fork.

Stir the ricotta and pumpkin together in a bowl until combined. Spread it all over the sheet of puff pastry, leaving a one inch border.

Top with the mozzarella, caramelized onions, bacon and fresh sage. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp on the edges. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Let cool slightly before serving. 

Game Day Eats @IHCC!