Eggplant Parmesan

I used a recipe from here but modified it quite a bit for our family.  The recipe called for 3 eggplants, I used 1 and it made about half a 9x13 pan so 1 1/2 to 2 is probably plenty.
eggplant peeled
eggs
Italian bread crumbs
Spaghetti Sauce (I used the recipe from Brandon and Ali's chicken Parm)
16 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil

1. First you prepare your eggplant. Peel it and slice it.  Then "sweet" it to take out the bitterness.  You sprinkle it with salt and let sit for 30 minutes.  Then rinse well and dry.
2. Next dip the eggplant in beaten egg and cover with bread crumbs.  Place in single layer on greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes on each side at 350 degrees.
3. In a 9x13 dish spread bottom with spaghetti Sauce.  Place a layer of eggplant in the sauce and sprinkle with cheeses.  Repeat with remaining eggplant ending with cheeses on top. Sprinkle with basil.
4. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Chicken Parmesan - at least thats what I think it is :-)

This was one we posted on our blog, we've had it a couple times now and love it. Bon-appetite

Chicken Parm. on a bed of noodles (Serves 4)

First Bread 4 boneless chicken breasts using Italian seasoned bread crumps (just mix italian seasoning in with the bread crumbs) and egg whites (2) and fry them in a little extra virgin olive oil until browned and cooked through.

Sauce (start by lightly toasting the garlic in the olive oil (2 or 3 tsp of fresh chopped garlic)) Then,

- Add 2 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut in halves

-1 large yellow onion

- Salt and pepper to tase

-1/2 cup of olive oil

- a covering of oregano, 3 fingers of sage and thyme, and parsley

-a little bit of hot pepper seeds

- 1/3 jar of your favorite brand of mushroom spaghetti sauce (you can make it without this part but I like to thicken the sauce a little)

cook all of this until everything is nice and blended put a lid on it to keep it hot and moist.

while cooking the sauce start the noodles and turn the oven on to bake at 400 degrees.

also try to keep the chicken warm.

when the sauce is ready pore it over the breaded chicken in a glass cooking pan and sprinkle a cup of mozzarella cheese on top and put it in the oven for 10 or 15 minutes until you can see the cheese melt and the sauce start to boil. quickly remove and serve on top of a bed of noodles plated individually. The glass pan in the picture is larger than usual and there is more chicken for this size double the sauce recipe (9’’x 13’’).

It is imperative to time this all together so everything is hot, if you don’t it will still taste great but I recommend timing it just perfect. If you think the recipe could use some tweaking go for it, like I said we kind of winged it so let us know if there are any improvements we could make.

Real Italian Calzones

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com.
"This is real calzone, because there is no tomato sauce INSIDE of it! We eat it at least once a week. Have a bowl of tomato or spaghetti sauce on the table for people to top their calzone with, if desired."

INGREDIENTS:
1 package active dry yeast
1cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 egg beaten

DIRECTIONS:
1. To make dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes or until almost doubled.
2. To make filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta cheese, Cheddar cheese (we used mozzarella), pepperoni, mushrooms and basil leaves in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
4. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 2 equal parts. Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface. Fill each circle with 1/2 of the cheese/meat filling and fold over, securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Kurt doesn't like lasagna, but loved this!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1(28ounce)can tomato sauce
1(6ounce)can tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 ounces cottage cheese(we like 2%)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or asiago cheese
12 ounces lasagna noodles, uncooked
16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in frypan.
2. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt and oregano.
3. Cook long enough to get it warm.
4. Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker.
5. Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with cheeses.
6. Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up.
7. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.