for all you italian food lovers

kevin looooooves italian food. i enjoy it, but for him, it’s looooove. up to bat this week: 1) chicken marsala and 2) eggplant lasagna.

1) chicken marsala (from epicurious)

we’ve actually tried this recipe before, so it’s not exactly new, but it’s our first time making it together as a married couple so that sorta makes it new? our real reason for posting this recipe is that we love it and it is soooo good (a top-ranked “best of epicurious” recipe, in fact) that we just had to share it with you!

i first tried this recipe with my dear friend Michelle Wolfe during our senior year at Yale. we were on our senior trip, a few weeks before graduation. a group of 8 of our friends went to Orlando for a week and we randomly drew names out of a hat and got paired up with someone to cook dinner for one night that week. i got paired with Michelle and we made this chicken marsala with some spaghetti and probably garlic bread. it was soooooo good! Michelle is lactose intolerant, but even she is willing to take a few pills to enjoy this amazing, creamy Marsala goodness.

we follow the recipe pretty closely, minus a few changes:

• we substitute onions for the shallots
• instead of pounding out the chicken, we butterfly the thicker pieces of chicken

now go and try this recipe! it’s a bit of work, but it is totally worth it.

2) eggplant lasagna (from Danny Boome of Food Network)

my cousin Mel made eggplant lasagna a few weeks ago and it was delicious! the eggplant substitutes for the lasagna noodles so it’s a little healthier if you’re trying to cut some carbs from your diet. anywho, eggplants were on sale at our local grocery store so kevin and i decided to make this! it was soooo goooood!

we made quite a few changes to the recipe so here they are!

Ingredients:

• 3 eggplants, sliced lengthwise 3/4 in thick (4-5 slices per eggplant)
• olive oil
• 10-12 oz sliced white mushrooms
• 3 cups spinach
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbs dried oregano
• 10 oz ground turkey
• 1 (16 oz) contained ricotta cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup grated Parmesan, divided
• 2 Tbs sage, chopped (because we had it leftover from the chicken marsala)
• part skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups marinara

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange sliced eggplant in a single layer on 2 sheet pans. Brush on both sides using olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the eggplant until it is soft and golden. Turn slices halfway through, about 25 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, in a medium skillet add olive oil, minced garlic, onions, and the sliced mushrooms. Saute until soft for about 7 minutes. Add the spinach. Cook for another 2 minutes. Season with some garlic salt and pepper. Once everything is cooked, remove and set aside to cool.

3) In a small skillet, cook the ground turkey. Add oregano. Season with salt and pepper.

4) In a large bowl add the ricotta, eggs, 1/2 cup Parmesan, sage. Mix together. Add the mushrooms/spinach/onions, ground turkey, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix again.

5) Brush an 8-inch baking dish with oil. Spread half of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Lay 4-5 slices of eggplant on top, followed by the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle a thin layer of mozzarella cheese on top of the ricotta mixture. Lay another 4-5 slices of eggplant and finish with marinara sauce. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and more mozzarella cheese. Bake until bubbling and the cheese is golden brown, at 350 degrees, for 30 minutes

31 Jan This entry was published on January 31, 2014 at 10:22 am and is filed under Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.