Tag: weeknight suppers

Visions of Meatloaf Dancing in My Head

The holidays are approaching at seemingly warp speed. With shopping and baking and decorating it’s hard to give much thought to dinner. Dinner is still very important. It gives you the strength to shop and bake and decorate. So, my proposal is to stock the freezer with hearty meals filled with comfort and joy and more than enough love. Soups, casseroles and of course some wonderful marinara or bolognese make for a happy freezer (and dinner table). This musing isn’t about any of those. It’s about Meatloaf.

I love meatloaf. It can take so many wonderful forms. It is easy to make. Just combine any ground meat or meats of you choice with some eggs, bread crumbs, and seasonings and there you have it. I have made many varieties over the years and have shared one or two right here. This go round I’m sharing my new favorite. I love this meatloaf!!! My ground meat of choice was turkey, but this would work with any ground meat that you desire. Eggs and bread crumbs were there of course because I wanted the  meatloaf to remain a loaf and these two ingredients make the perfect glue. Onions are an absolute necessity and for this rendition I added some fresh spinach. Before they went into the bowl, I cooked them in a little olive oil. I like my meatloaf to have a smooth consistency and this seemed to do the trick. The last ingredients were grated Pecorino Romano and some Pesto ( click here for the recipe). In an unusual move on my part, I didn’t use garlic. Hard as that is to believe, this didn’t need it. The healthy dose of pesto provided just the right amount of garlic zing along with all of the other wonderful notes this beautiful green paste provides.

When times are busy, it’s good to cut prep time whenever possible. so I made a large batch and froze it in individual meatloaves. This reduces the baking time and I think they look really cute on the plate.

I took two of my mini loaves out of the freezer and and when they had thawed (safely in the refrigerator), I centered them on a rimmed baking sheet. Why that much room, you may ask. Because they would go into the oven on their own, but they wouldn’t be lonely for long. After about 10 minutes (give or take) I added some olive oil tossed green beans. These were frozen Haircots Verts. It’s winter here so fresh green beans, if they can be found, are not always very tasty. The frozen ones are always tasty no matter the weather. Another 15-20 minutes in the oven and my loaves and beans were ready for plating. Rounding out the dish and making this a comfort food classic was a scoop of creamy mashed potatoes.This was a plate of pure love and comfort and really took very little immediate effort on my part. Best of all, there are more little loaves in the freezer to bring tasty joy to the holidays.

Pesto and Spinach Meatloaf
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Servings
4
Servings
4
Pesto and Spinach Meatloaf
Print Recipe
Servings
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until soft and just beginning to brown.
  2. Add the chopped spinach and continue to cook until the spinach is very wilted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  3. In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients, stirring until everything is blended together.
  4. Form into 4 small loaves. If you are not baking them immediately, freeze them in individual zip top bags.
  5. To bake immediately, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and place the loaves down the center.
  6. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Add the green beans to the pan spreading them around the loaves.
  7. Bake another 15 minutes or until the loaves are cooked through and the beans are tender crisp. Serve
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Dinner in a Box, or Not and Italian Sausage and Cannellini Bean Stew

My goodness but time flies…we are into the double digits of March! There’s been a good amount of stuff going on in the kitchen, but there’s been a lot going on in life so time to sit right down and write has been limited. so here I am to share the highlights of the last few weeks.

Another generous birthday gift from my kids was a three dinner box from Blue Apron. This is one of the increasing number of sites that will send you all the ingredients needed to create home cooked meals. This is totally outside my wheelhouse, but it was a lot of fun to give it a whirl. It was fun to have a virtual mise en place, in place.IMG_1383The Spicy Shrimp Pasta that was the result was pretty tasty, too. IMG_1391

IMG_1415We also enjoyed a Pub Burger on a Pretzel Roll that featured an IMG_1487awesome Cheddar Cheese Sauce and Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes. I added some Honey Mustard Cole Slaw to balance things out.                                       The final dinner was a Trinidadian Curried Chicken with Coconut Grits and Sautéed Collard Greens. By this time, I was I was ready to take a few liberties. I left the chicken thighs whole and cooked them on the grill. I only used a little of the herb mix that was included because I didn’t care for the taste. The grits were heavenly and the collard greens were the perfect side dish. Services like this have a place in many kitchens; great for busy couples that still want to have a home cooked meal.  Being Mama D, I don’t always enjoy being told what to do,but in spite of that, I’m glad I got to try out this way of cooking. In between my Blue Apron Adventures, I was creating some dishes of my own. Here’s one that was particularly enjoyable….

IMG_1420We’re slowly creeping into spring, but cold snaps are still popping up, so something hearty and warm is often a welcome supper. IMG_1417That’s how this Italian Sausage and Cannellini Stew came to the table. The cast of characters predominately came from cleaning out the refrigerator. Small amounts of veggies that couldn’t stand alone were combined with Turkey Italian IMG_1439Sausage and Cannellini Beans. I sliced what seemed to be a ridiculous amount of garlic, which turned out to be just the right amount. Chicken stock IMG_1435and fire roasted tomatoes created the liquid that was fortified with the wine left from the previous night’s dinner (yes, once in a while we don’t finish the bottle). I dubbed this a “stew” mainly because the liquid was less than what I would use in a soup. While stews usually simmer for an hour or more, this pot of goodness only took about 30 minutes Things came together quite nicely resulting in a stew that tasted like it simmered all day.

IMG_1459As with any of my recipes this is just a suggestion of the direction the dish can go. Use what you have on hand or love. Change the ingredients as much as you want. This is not a dish that comes in a box ready for you to prepare (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Here’s what I did…now make it your own.

Italian Sausage and Cannellini Stew
Print Recipe
Servings
4
Servings
4
Italian Sausage and Cannellini Stew
Print Recipe
Servings
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Slice the sausage links into 1 inch chunks (this is easier if they are slightly frozen) and brown in a soup pot over medium heat. Remove the sausage and set aside. Drain off most of the fat in the pot.
  2. Add the olive oil to the pot and allow it to get hot. Add the onions and the carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3 - 4 minutes until the onions begin to soften.
  3. Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, jalapeno, garlic, and squash. Cook for 5 minutes or as long as it takes for things to get soft and fragrant.
  4. Add the wine to the pot and stir to loosen all the brown goodies on the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatoes and the chicken stock to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes or so.
  5. Return the cooked sausage chunks to the pot along with the cannellini beans and season with the Italian Herbs.
  6. Let everything simmer for another 10 minutes or so to heat things through. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add more herbs or salt and pepper as you like.
  7. Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with the grated Romano, and serve.
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