Tag: easy dinner

Categories
Main Dish

Easy garlic pasta recipe is too ‘shrimp’le to fail

These easy garlic shrimp noodles features a sweet sauce, punctuated by fresh garlic and ginger, along with lots of tasty pasta to soak it all up.
These easy garlic shrimp noodles features a sweet sauce, punctuated by fresh garlic and ginger, along with lots of tasty pasta to soak it all up.

The pantry clean-out continues this week.

Thanks to a stir-fry dish I shared with you back in June, I still had half of a package of lo mein noodles hanging out in the cupboard.

When Joey plopped a bag of shrimp in our cart on a recent grocery trip, I decided I needed to find something to make that could use both ingredients.

Then our week got really, really busy. There was no time to make anything fancy.

But the good news is that both shrimp and lo mein noodles are crazy quick to make.

So when I found a recipe for garlic shrimp noodles that promised to be done in 15 minutes, I jumped on it, and it wasn’t just great because it was a quick meal; it was great all on its own.

This comes from the blog “Lena’s Kitchen” by Lena Gladstone. You can find her original post at https://lenaskitchenblog.com/15-minute-garlic-shrimp-soba-noodles/. I added several spices and extra garlic in my version.

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Easy Garlic Shrimp Noodles

These easy garlic shrimp noodles features a sweet sauce, punctuated by fresh garlic and ginger, along with lots of tasty pasta to soak it all up.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword 15-minute meal, dried ginger, easy dinner, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, garlic powder, ginger, hoisin sauce, honey, lime juice, lo mein, minced garlic, red chili flakes, sesame oil, sesame seeds, shrimp, soba noodles, soy sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
  • 10 ounces soba or lo mein noodles
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound shrimp peeled
  • salt to taste
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Prepare a sauce by adding the soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice, hoisin sauce, honey, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and dried ginger to a small bowl, and whisk until everything is well combined. Set it aside.
  • Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package instructions.
  • While the noodles cook, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the shrimp with salt, and then saute in the shrimp in the hot skillet. When the shrimp is nearly cooked through, toss in the minced garlic and grated ginger, and saute until the shrimp is finished.
  • Decrease the heat to low, and add the noodles and sauce to the skillet, stirring to coat everything in the sauce.
  • When everything is heated through, serve, topped with sesame seeds.

I added the hoisin sauce and some extra honey above, because I didn’t think the sauce had quite the sweetness that I wanted it to have. Otherwise, the sesame oil was a bit overpowering. If you don’t have hoisin, you could add a bit more honey or a bit of brown sugar, instead, until you get the sauce how you want it.

I also left out green onions as a garnish, because Joey isn’t generally keen on raw onions, but that would have been a great addition, as well.

Luckily, Joey wasn’t upset that I hijacked his shrimp purchase with my own dinner plans—mostly because he’s a sucker for anything with plenty of garlic.

And now there’s a tiny corner of my pantry that is ready to be filled with another mystery ingredient sometime in 2026.

This piece first appeared in print Jan. 22, 2026.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Everyone will polish off their plates with this sheet pan meal

A Polish sheet pan dinner is easy to make in short order, with fresh cabbage and onions, along with frozen pierogi and smoked sausage. It’s all topped off with a freshly made beer cheese sauce and some bacon to make a real crowd-pleaser for supper.
A Polish sheet pan dinner is easy to make in short order, with fresh cabbage and onions, along with frozen pierogi and smoked sausage. It’s all topped off with a freshly made beer cheese sauce and some bacon to make a real crowd-pleaser for supper.

While watching random cooking shows over the years, I picked up the advice from several chefs that if you’re cooking with wine, you should choose a bottle you would actually want to drink, or it isn’t worth using in your recipe.

I have never heard the same advice for beer.

I have used some of the lowest quality, icky beers I’ve ever tasted in baking and cooking over the years, and it’s never seemed to mess up the recipe. In the end, the breadiness of the beer remains, and whatever bitter nonsense that was there before seems to evaporate.

That was the case for this week’s recipe, as well, as I used a cheap domestic lager to create some darn good beer cheese sauce.

The recipe I tried comes from the Instagram account “foodcreationsforyou” by Ryan Pauly. You can look him up there; he has a ton of recipes. I added lots of extra seasonings and also an onion into my version below.

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Polish Sheet Pan Dinner

A Polish sheet pan dinner is easy to make in short order, with fresh cabbage and onions, along with frozen pierogi and smoked sausage. It’s all topped off with a freshly made beer cheese sauce and some bacon to make a real crowd-pleaser for supper.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Polish
Keyword 30-minute meal, bacon, basil, beer, beer cheese, cabbage, chicken broth, cream cheese, easy dinner, frozen pierogi, garlic powder, lager, onion, onion powder, oregano, parsley, pierogi, rope sausage, sharp cheddar cheese, smoked paprika, smoked sausage, yellow onion

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 small head cabbage chopped
  • 1 small yellow onion sliced
  • 14 ounces smoked sausage sliced into bite-sized pieces
  • 16- ounce package frozen pierogi
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Olive oil to coat ingredients

Beer Cheese Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup lager- or ale-style beer
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 4 ounces cream cheese cubed
  • 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese freshly shredded
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 slices bacon cooked and chopped, divided

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare a large, rimmed baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
  • Dump the cabbage, onion, sausage, pierogi and spices onto the sheet, and drizzle olive oil over everything. Mix with a spoon or with your hands until the oil and spices are well distributed over all the ingredients.
  • Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until everything is cooked through and the pierogi are lightly browned.
  • While the sausage mixture cooks, add all of the beer cheese ingredients, except for the bacon, into a small pot and heat over medium heat, stirring regularly until the cheese mixture is melted and well combined. If you want a looser sauce, add a bit more chicken stock to the mixture.
  • Add in two of the chopped slices of bacon and remove it from the heat or set it to low.
  • For serving, scoop the sausage mixture into a bowl and top it with the beer cheese and more bacon.

This was a great dinner for a cooler evening, and the leftovers reheated well, too. There was also a decent amount of the cheese left over that we used up with other meals. It would be amazing with a freshly baked soft pretzel.

The meal itself had a great combination of flavors, from the smoked sausage to the roasted cabbage and onions and the pierogi. The beer cheese and bacon on top were excellent, and I was glad to once again prove that you can buy some pretty cheap, awful beer and end up with an excellent, delicious meal.

This piece first appeared in print Nov. 6, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Get ready for ‘summer’ all the hot weather with this pasta

Lemon ricotta pasta is a fabulous summer dish, featuring a light flavor of lemon combined with creamy ricotta and parmesan. It can be customized with a variety of proteins or eaten as a vegetarian dish.
Lemon ricotta pasta is a fabulous summer dish, featuring a light flavor of lemon combined with creamy ricotta and parmesan. It can be customized with a variety of proteins or eaten as a vegetarian dish.

After spending a few days out at Camp Mennoscah last week, hanging out with a rambunctious group of 8-year-olds and sweating profusely, I decided I wanted something light and refreshing when I went to cook dinner back at home.

I spent way too much time going through recipes online, convinced that there had to be something that fit the bill that wasn’t just a normal, old salad.

As it usually does, the Internet finally provided me with exactly what I was looking for: a light, lemony pasta dish.

I had to change it a bit, since our local grocery store didn’t have everything I needed, but since I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to shop locally for my food, I was definitely still buying my supplies there. And the good news is it was still absolutely delicious.

This comes from the blog “Olive and Mango.” You can find the original post at https://www.oliveandmango.com/lemon-ricotta-pasta-with-arugula/. I substituted spinach in my version, because I couldn’t get arugula, and I also added extra ricotta and some chicken.

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Lemon Ricotta Pasta

Lemon ricotta pasta is a fabulous summer dish, featuring a light flavor of lemon combined with creamy ricotta and parmesan. It can be customized with a variety of proteins or eaten as a vegetarian dish.
Course Main Course
Keyword fresh lemon, fresh spinach, grated parmesan cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, penne pasta, red chili flakes, ricotta cheese, rigatoni pasta, summer pasta, vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces tubular pasta ex. penne, rigatoni
  • 15 ounces whole milk ricotta
  • 1 cup freshly grated parmesan plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 cups baby spinach or arugula
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • red chili flakes for serving (optional)
  • cooked chicken shrimp, etc. (optional)

Instructions

  • Cook the pasta in a stock pot according to the package directions. Reserve one cup of the pasta water and drain the rest.
  • In the same pot, off the heat, add the ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and stir them well.
  • Whisk in about 1/2 cup of the pasta water, stirring until the sauce is smooth. If it’s not as loose as you’d like, add more water, a little at a time, until it’s to your desired consistency.
  • Add in the spinach/arugula, and stir to coat and let it start to wilt.
  • Stir in the pasta (and any cooked protein you’re adding), and coat it with the sauce, as well.
  • Serve immediately with more grated parmesan and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.

With the cheese sauce and pasta, you would think this dish was super heavy, but the lemon flavor made it taste really light and summery.

We opted to add chicken to our pasta, but we discussed how great it would be with some seared shrimp, a grilled steak or even some grilled salmon. It would be an easy one to customize, and if you’re looking for a vegetarian dish, it was awesome without the meat, too.

Between this great pasta, a few loads of laundry and some quality time in air conditioning, I’m pretty sure I’m fully recovered from my time at camp.

And now I know exactly what to have on the menu when I do it all again next year.

This piece first appeared in print July 3, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Put some pep(per) in your step with a tasty, cheesy casserole

Stuffed pepper casserole is an easy crowd-pleaser with bell peppers and Italian herbs that also makes for great leftovers.
Stuffed pepper casserole is an easy crowd-pleaser with bell peppers and Italian herbs that also makes for great leftovers.

Throughout the winter months, Joey and I make a lot of soups, chowders and chilis, which I still firmly believe are perfectly great recipes to pull out of the box any time of the year.

But sometimes I find myself in the mood for a casserole—something with a ton of flavorful ingredients, all nestled beneath a layer of gooey, melty cheese.

According to an article from “Medium,” the term “casserole” was first used in 1708 and is believed to have its origins in either the French or Greek language. It basically just refers to a communal pot of food.

It was in the 1950s that Americans really got excited about casseroles, according to the article, thanks in part to Campbell’s condensed soups and Pyrex becoming a household name.

No matter where it started, I’m just happy for these comfort meals in nine-by-13-inch pans, and this week’s recipe fit that bill for me.

This comes from the blog “GrandmaRecipesFlash.” You can find the original post at https://grandmarecipesflash.com/easy-stuffed-pepper-casserole/. I added a lot more seasoning in my version.

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Stuffed Pepper Casserole

Stuffed pepper casserole is an easy crowd-pleaser with bell peppers and Italian herbs that also makes for great leftovers.
Course Main Course
Keyword basil, beef broth, bell pepper, brown rice, casserole, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, easy dinner, freezer meal, fresh garlic, ground beef, ground turkey, kid-friendly, onion, oregano, paprika, parsley, shredded cheese, tomato sauce, white rice, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked white or brown rice
  • 1 pound ground beef or turkey
  • 1 medium onion diced (I used yellow)
  • 3 large bell peppers diced (any color)
  • 4 to 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
  • 15 ounces tomato sauce
  • 1 cup beef or chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups shredded cheese I used Mexican blend

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a nine-by-13-inch baking dish, and set it aside.
  • Be sure to start your rice, cooking it according to package instructions. You’ll want to end up with two cups of cooked rice.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, peppers and ground meat to the pan. Brown the meat, breaking it apart as you go. When the meat is done and the vegetables are cooked through, drain off any accumulated fat, and add the garlic to the pan.
  • Saute until the garlic is fragrant, about two minutes, and then dump in the diced tomatoes (don’t drain them), tomato sauce, broth, oregano, basil, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper and your prepared rice. Stir to combine.
  • Once everything is mixed together well, pour all of it into your prepared baking dish. Cover the pan with foil and bake it for 25 minutes.
  • Remove the foil, sprinkle the top with cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and is just starting to brown.
  • Let the casserole cool for 10 or 15 minutes before serving.

This was tasty and would be super kid friendly. If you wanted to kick it up a notch with some spice, adding some cayenne or red pepper flakes would be a good touch, too.

The flavor profile was decidedly Italian, with all of the herbs, and it made for a good, hearty meal. The leftovers reheated really well, too, which is always a good bonus.

And whether I have the French, the Greeks or a ’50s home cook to thank, I’m happy there are so many casserole recipes out there to try and plenty of canned goods and glass dishes to make them happen.

This piece first appeared in print March 13, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

This dishy pizza bake can really wow a crowd

Deep dish pizza bake is a new take on pizza, using dinner roll dough and lots of great pizza toppings in a large pan to create a meal with leftovers for days or a great crowd-pleasing meal.
Deep dish pizza bake is a new take on pizza, using dinner roll dough and lots of great pizza toppings in a large pan to create a meal with leftovers for days or a great crowd-pleasing meal.

We have homemade pizza night most weeks at our house.

At this point, it’s down to a science. I mix up the dough while Joey sautes some veggies or debones a rotisserie chicken, and then we work together to assemble the pie before popping it in the oven.

It’s a quick, delicious meal, and with plenty of options out there for sauces and toppings, we never get bored with it.

That being said, Joey sent me a video not long ago of another type of pizza he wanted to try. It was from a creator online who often has to cook for a crowd, and since I was just gifted a very large baking pan, it was the perfect time to see if the recipe was as good as it looked.

This comes from Kevin Ashton, who is on Instagram @oldscoolkevmo. I changed his method a little on my version below.

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Deep Dish Pizza Bake

Deep dish pizza bake is a new take on pizza, using dinner roll dough and lots of great pizza toppings in a large pan to create a meal with leftovers for days or a great crowd-pleasing meal.
Course Main Course
Keyword basil pesto, breakfast casserole, crowd-pleaser, deep dish, easy dinner, fresh mushrooms, frozen rolls, green bell pepper, marinara sauce, meal for a crowd, mozzarella, onion, pepperoni, pizza, vegetarian

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 1 48- ounce bag frozen yeast dinner roll dough
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1-2 cups pizza sauce we used pesto
  • Your favorite pizza toppings precooked
  • 32 ounces shredded cheese we used a combo of mozzarella and Mexican blend

Instructions

  • Spray a large 12-by-18-by-2-inch pan with cooking spray. Spread the entire package of frozen dough evenly over the bottom and spray them with more cooking spray. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set it aside for the dough to thaw and rise. This will take about three hours.
  • In the meantime, cook any toppings that are raw (ex. hamburger, sausage, etc.) that you’ll want to add to your pizza bake, and set those aside.
  • When the dough is about doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap. Drizzle the rolls with olive oil, and then gently squish the dough to flatten it and eliminate seams. Add salt and pepper, to taste, since the bread has not been seasoned at all to this point.
  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  • Spread the sauce over the top of the dough. (You don’t have to avoid the edges. There is no “crust” with this.)
  • Add your toppings and any additional seasonings you like on your pizza, and finish off with a healthy layer of cheese.
  • Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the bread is completely baked and everything is heated through.
  • Let the pizza bake rest for five to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

This was really good. It was also a lot of bread, so if that’s not really your jam, I’d suggest only using half of the dough from the package instead of the whole thing. You can easily adjust all of this for a smaller pan, too, if you don’t want a huge one to eat on for several days. (Or, keep this in your recipe box for when you need to feed a big crowd.)

I can tell you, though, this reheated really well and was very nice for a week where we were meeting ourselves coming and going. Leftovers are a blessing for times like that.

It was kind of a deep dish pizza/casserole hybrid, which I really liked. We packed ours with sauteed onions and peppers, chicken, turkey pepperoni, fresh mushrooms and lots and lots of cheese, along with a pesto base.

I think this recipe will make it into the “pizza night” rotation every so often, although I’ll probably make a smaller version in the future. While I don’t really mind eating the same thing for several meals in a row, it’s better to mix things up. After all, variety is the spice of life.

This piece first appeared in print on June 6, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Don’t be ‘alfredo’ trying from-scratch pasta sauce

Alfredo sauce is very simple to make with just a few ingredients and can go from the stovetop to the table in under 20 minutes.
Alfredo sauce is very simple to make with just a few ingredients and can go from the stovetop to the table in under 20 minutes.

It’s amazing what people will passionately debate about online.

Recently, I watched a video that started with two Italians explaining that they were going to show people how to make real alfredo sauce. The rest of the video was another creator trying out the dish, and from his reaction, I knew I had to give it a shot.

Of course, before that, I read some of the comments, and people were up in arms about whether or not fettuccine alfredo is really Italian or is an American invention.

I had to do some research, and I found an article by Francesco Dama entitled “Italian or American? The truth about fettuccine alfredo” that claims that the Italians created the dish and some American actors in the 1920s helped make it famous.

After reading the article, it was clear that the ingredients used for this particular recipe were, indeed, the ones used by the dish’s creator, aptly named Alfredo.

The recipe I tried comes from content creator Corey Bonalewicz. You can find his videos on Instagram @iamcoreyb. His website is coreyb.com. I added salt and pepper to my version and added the amounts for the ingredients.

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Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo sauce is very simple to make with just a few ingredients and can go from the stovetop to the table in under 20 minutes.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword butter, easy dinner, fettuccine, grated parmesan cheese, linguine, parmesan cheese, parmesan-reggiano

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces fettuccine or linguine noodles
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Cook your noodles according to package instructions. When they’re done, be sure to reserve a couple cups of pasta water.
  • While the noodles cook, spread the butter onto the bottom of a large serving bowl and grate your cheese.
  • When the noodles are done, put the hot, drained noodles into the serving bowl and mix until the butter is melted and evenly distributed onto the noodles. Next, stir in the cheese. Add about one-quarter cup of the hot pasta water and stir.
  • Add more water, a little at a time, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the consistency you want.
  • Serve immediately.

I made the rookie mistake of buying pre-shredded parmesan for this, and it was disastrously difficult to get it to smoothly melt into the sauce. It was still good, but I will definitely make this again with cheese I grate myself. If you’re not aware, pre-shredded cheese normally has an additive to keep it from clumping, which makes it tough to melt smoothly.

That being said, the flavor was on point for this, and I really enjoyed it. To make it a full meal, I sauteed some onions, bell peppers and spicy rope sausage to serve over the pasta, and it was great.

And whether you think fettuccine alfredo is a true Italian dish or something Americans came up with, it’s still delicious, and that’s really all that matters.

This piece first appeared in print on March 21, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Italian comfort dish ‘gnocchi’ed dinner out of the park

Gnocchi alla sorrentina is an Italian comfort dish that features gnocchi, lots of fresh basil and fresh mozzarella in a yummy tomato sauce.
Gnocchi alla sorrentina is an Italian comfort dish that features gnocchi, lots of fresh basil and fresh mozzarella in a yummy tomato sauce.

Joey and I received an amazing opportunity last week to speak at the Kentucky Press Association’s winter conference.

We had a fabulous time with some really great people. My only complaint was the weather for our drive there and back heavily featured thick fog and switched between torrential downpours and drizzles.

By the time we came home over the weekend, I was thankful for some Kansas sunshine, but I also found myself really craving some comfort food to get the last bit of that dreary weather feeling out of my system.

I poked through some recipes for a bit and landed on a popular comfort meal from Italy, and even better, the version I decided to try comes together a lot quicker than more traditional versions of the recipe, which was a win-win after being away from home for several days.

This is from the blog “Girl Gone Gourmet.” You can find the original post at https://www.girlgonegourmet.com/gnocchi-alla-sorrentina/#tasty-recipes-13873. I added onion, red pepper flakes and extra basil, mozzarella and garlic in my version.

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Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina

Gnocchi alla sorrentina is an Italian comfort dish that features gnocchi, lots of fresh basil and fresh mozzarella in a yummy tomato sauce.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword basil, easy dinner, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, fresh garlic, fresh mozzarella, garlic, gnocchi, mozzarella, olive oil, parsley, potato gnocchi, red pepper flakes, tomato puree, vegetarian, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil I used extra virgin
  • 1/2 small yellow onion diced
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cups tomato puree I ended up using twice that, since I let my sauce reduce
  • 1/2 cup basil leaves loosely packed and torn into pieces
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 16- ounce packages gnocchi
  • 8 ounces fresh mozzarella sliced
  • parsley flakes for plating

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium heat.
  • Add the onion and saute until it is cooked through.
  • Add in the garlic and saute for just a couple minutes until it is lightly browned.
  • Stir in the tomato puree, basil leaves, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Turn the skillet to medium-low and let the sauce simmer, stirring regularly.
  • Bring a stockpot of water to a boil. Cook the gnocchi until it rises to the top of the water.
  • Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the skillet, and stir to incorporate all the ingredients.
  • Lay the sliced mozzarella spaced evenly on the top of the gnocchi.
  • Turn the broiler in the oven on high and place the skillet in the oven, leaving it for a few minutes until the cheese is melty and the sauce is bubbling.
  • Let the gnocchi cool slightly, and serve, topped with parsley flakes, along with a thick slice of crusty bread.

I loved this one. It’s a vegetarian dish, but it doesn’t feel like it. The gnocchi and all the melty mozzarella kind of make you forget that there isn’t any meat on your plate, and the addition of fresh basil really kicks this up a notch to taste homemade, despite the main part of the sauce coming from a can.

Paired with a big slice of garlic bread, this was exactly what I needed to clear the rainy day doldrums out of my mind.

I hope we get a chance to go back to Kentucky again soon. It’s a beautiful state with lots of neat people. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for a little better weather the next time around.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 1, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Say ‘oky gnocchi’ to trying this creamy pasta dish

Ground beef gnocchi features a creamy tomato sauce with slightly salty fresh parmesan and tons of Italian seasonings to make this the a fabulous cool-weather dish.
Ground beef gnocchi features a creamy tomato sauce with slightly salty fresh parmesan and tons of Italian seasonings to make this the a fabulous cool-weather dish.

International cuisine website “Saveur” features an article called “Pasta’s Predecessor: The History of Gnocchi,” that I found really interesting when trying to figure out how the little potato dumplings came to be.

As with all traditional foods, there is controversy about where in Italy the dish originated, as well as when it was first developed, but according to the article, there are references to gnocchi all the way back to the Renaissance, which is pretty neat.

Historical gnocchi was made with a variety of ingredients, and if you start searching, you’ll find modern chefs love to play with it, too.

I really like cooking with gnocchi, because it is incredibly easy to prepare and adds some great, soft texture to a pasta dish.

That’s why I had to give this week’s recipe a try when I spotted it online. It looked like the perfect cool-weather dinner meal to sample.

This comes from the blog “Salt & Lavender.” You can find the original post at https://www.saltandlavender.com/ground-beef-gnocchi/. I added extra seasonings in my version.

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Ground Beef Gnocchi

Ground beef gnocchi features a creamy tomato sauce with slightly salty fresh parmesan and tons of Italian seasonings to make this the a fabulous cool-weather dish.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword basil, diced tomatoes, easy dinner, garlic, gnocchi, ground beef, heavy cream, minced garlic, one-pan dinner, one-pot dinner, oregano, parmesan cheese, parsley, potato gnocchi, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 small onion diced (I used yellow)
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 14- ounce can Italian-style diced tomatoes undrained
  • 1/3 cup chicken broth or water
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 pound potato gnocchi uncooked
  • 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • In a large skillet with a lid, saute the ground beef and the onions over medium heat, crumbling the beef as it cooks.
  • Once the ground beef is fully cooked and the onions are soft, drain of any excess grease from the pan.
  • Stir in the garlic, oregano, basil, parsley, salt and pepper, and saute for just a couple of minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
  • Pour in the can of diced tomatoes, broth/water and heavy cream, and stir until combined. When the mixture begins bubbling slightly, stir in the gnocchi.
  • Place the lid on the pan, turning the heat to low-medium, and let it simmer for five minutes.
  • Remove the lid and stir again, letting the sauce reduce a bit for a few minutes.
  • Once the sauce is as thick as you like it and the gnocchi is soft, stir in the parmesan and serve immediately.

This was creamy and delicious. It was basically impossible to avoid getting seconds. All of the Italian seasonings melded with the richness of the gnocchi and the light saltiness of the parmesan to create a fabulous meal.

I’m guessing the use of store-bought tomatoes and dried herbs wasn’t quite what the originators of gnocchi had in mind when they first created the dumplings, but I’d also wager they would be pretty happy with the outcome if they gave it a taste.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 2, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Combination of chicken, veggies, herbs more than just fair

Crescent roll chicken pot pie casserole comes together quickly and features lots of great flavors from some fresh vegetables, along with plenty of herbs. It makes for a fantastic weeknight meal.
Crescent roll chicken pot pie casserole comes together quickly and features lots of great flavors from some fresh vegetables, along with plenty of herbs. It makes for a fantastic weeknight meal.

We have a friend we lovingly refer to as “the human jukebox.”

He has a ton of songs floating around in his head, and all it takes to get him to launch into one is to subtly mention a lyric.

Joey and I sometimes make a game of seeing if we can make a comment that will result in him humming, whistling or singing the song later on, after it’s invaded his subconscious. He always rolls his eyes and feigns annoyance when we bust up laughing at the outset of his tune.

My secret, though, is I tend to be a bit of a human jukebox myself, especially when I’m cooking with a particular set of herbs as I was this week: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Simon and Garfunkel get me every time.

Getting “Scarborough Fair” stuck in my head this week was completely my own fault, though, as I decided to add a ton of seasonings to a chicken crescent roll casserole recipe I found in order to transform it into a chicken pot pie-inspired dish.

The recipe I started with comes from the blog “The Seasoned Mom” by Blair Lonergan. You can find the original post at https://www.theseasonedmom.com/crescent-roll-chicken-casserole. I added quite a few ingredients in my version.

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Crescent Roll Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Crescent roll chicken pot pie casserole comes together quickly and features lots of great flavors from some fresh vegetables, along with plenty of herbs. It makes for a fantastic weeknight meal.
Course Main Course
Keyword carrots, celery, cream of chicken, crescent roll dough, garlic, garlic powder, garlic salt, onion powder, parsley, peas, rosemary, sage, shredded cheese, shredded chicken, thyme, yellow onion

Ingredients

Filling Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 celery stalks diced
  • 3 medium carrots diced
  • 1/4 yellow onion diced
  • 6-8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup frozen peas
  • 1 cup chicken shredded
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon sage
  • garlic salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 ounces refrigerated crescent roll dough

Sauce Ingredients

  • 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • garlic salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an eight-by-eight-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set it aside.
  • In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots and onion, and saute until the vegetables are soft.
  • Add in the garlic and peas, and saute for another couple of minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
  • Remove the skillet from the heat and add in the chicken, cheese, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, garlic salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
  • Roll out and separate the triangles of crescent roll dough, and place a spoonful of the chicken mixture into the center of each, loosely rolling the dough around it, and place the filled dough into the prepared baking dish. It’s OK if they are touching. (If you have extra filling after you’re done with the dough, just sprinkle it around in the pan.
  • Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the crescent rolls are golden brown.
  • While they bake, add all of the sauce ingredients to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk or stir until the cheese melts.
  • When the rolls are baked through, pour the sauce on the top, and place the casserole back in the oven for five to 10 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly.
  • Serve immediately.

This is really saucy. You could easily get away with doubling the filling, getting an extra can of crescent rolls and using a nine-by-13-inch dish instead—while using the same amount of sauce.

I didn’t mind the extra creamy sauce along with the vegetables and buttery dough, though, so it’s all about what you like.

Of course, the addition of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme complimented the chicken and veggies nicely, too. That combo is a true love of mine.

This piece first appeared in print on May 18, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Try to wrap your mind around enchilada meatballs for dinner

Enchilada meatballs take all the wonderful flavors from the classic Mexican dish and serve them up in meatball form. They are great for dinner with a side of rice.
Enchilada meatballs take all the wonderful flavors from the classic Mexican dish and serve them up in meatball form. They are great for dinner with a side of rice.

I’ll admit it. We’ve been in a bit of a meal rut lately.

Joey and I have fallen into a pattern of three to five dishes that we make every week, and while our meals are never bad or disappointing, they have been lacking a little excitement.

So I decided to pull out a kind of strange recipe I saw online recently to create some enchilada meatballs. (Yes, that’s what passes for excitement at our house.)

I have had enchiladas. I have had meatballs. Heck, I’ve even had enchilada casseroles, but it’s such a simple dish that there aren’t a lot of ways to be creative with it. So I thought I really needed to see what enchilada meatballs were all about.

This comes from the blog “The Weary Chef.” You can find the original post at https://wearychef.com/recipe/cheesy-mexican-meatballs/. I doubled nearly all of the seasonings in my version below.

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Enchilada Meatballs

Enchilada meatballs take all the wonderful flavors from the classicMexican dish and serve them up in meatball form. They are great for dinner with a side of rice.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword chili powder, cumin, easy dinner, enchilada sauce, enchiladas, garlic powder, ground beef, hot sauce, kid-friendly, meatballs, onion powder, oregano, quick oats, shredded cheese

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef leaner is better
  • 10 ounces red enchilada sauce divided
  • 3/4 cup quick oats
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce I used chipotle Tabasco
  • 2 cups shredded cheese I used Mexican blend

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
  • In a bowl, combine the ground beef, 1/4 cup enchilada sauce, oats, eggs, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, cumin, chili powder and hot sauce. Using a spoon or your hands, mix everything together until it’s well combined.
  • Using a one-inch scoop or just a spoon to portion, roll the mixture into meatballs about the size of a ping-pong ball. Place them in the prepared baking dish. They don’t need to be very far apart.
  • Once all the meatballs are in the dish, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top of them. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, remove the foil and sprinkle the cheese over top of the meatballs. Bake, uncovered, for 10 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and just a little browned. Serve immediately with your favorite Mexican sides.

We ate these with some Mexican rice and rolled them up in tortillas, kind of like a meatball sub. This was absolutely delicious, but it was also extremely filling. Those meatballs are deceptively dense but also really good, so be careful when filling your plate.

As far as the spice level, this was incredibly kid friendly. If I were to make this again just for Joey and me, I would buy spicier enchilada sauce and maybe use a spicier hot sauce in the mix, too. Just as is, though, it was very mild, and you could always back off on adding the hot sauce or even cutting back on the chili powder for your pickier eaters.

It’s fun to take traditional flavors and mix them up a bit by serving them in a new way every once in awhile, and this recipe was no exception.

Of course, now that our meatball leftovers are gone, we are slowly falling back into our normal rut. I guess I need to hop back online for something new.

This piece first appeared in print on March 9, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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