Shrimp Lasagna Rolls

These beauties are courtesy of a great food blog that all of you should be checking out, Annie's Eats. While I made a few adjustments to her original recipe, I am very grateful to have stumbled across this fantastic dish.

Basically, this is kind of a fancy upgrade of the vodka shrimp penne I posted a few weeks ago. Stuffing the lasagna rolls with a shrimp-ricotta mixture takes these to a whole new level; one I would totally recommend!



Shrimp Lasagna Rolls

8 lasagna noodles
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
2-3 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
pinch of nutmeg
1 3/4 c. vodka sauce, divided
shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



2. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add lasagna and cook until partially tender, about 8 mins. Drain and set aside.



3. Heat oil in large skillet over med. heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Add garlic and shrimp to skillet and saute until shrimp are cooked, about 4 mins. Set shrimp aside to cool, then chop coarsely.



4. Mix chopped shrimp, 1 c. ricotta cheese, parmesan, egg, basil, salt, pepper and nutmeg.



5. In another bowl (bigger than the one I used!), combine 1 1/2 c. vodka sauce with remaining ricotta. Stir until smooth.





6. Spread remaining vodka sauce over bottom of 8x8" baking dish. Using clean work surface, lay out lasagna noodles. Spread shrimp over full length of noodle (I found it best to leave about 1/2" at each end).



7. Roll up and place seam-side down in dish.



8. Spoon creamy vodka sauce over top. Top with mozzarella.



9. Bake for 25 minutes.



Emily's rating: 9 out of 10
Nate's rating: 9 out of 10

Tomato, zucchini and chicken pasta

One of my favourite things to do is scrounge up a meal from the odd-end ingredients I have on end, and this recipe is definitely a success story from that process. I was running low on groceries, but needed to throw together a quick dinner, and came up with this.

Tomato, zucchini and chicken pasta

1 bag wide egg noddles
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
10 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup frozen zucchini, thawed
1/2 cup parsley or 2-3 tbsp. parsley paste
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
salt and pepper

1. Boil noodles according to package instructions.



2. Salt and pepper chicken and saute in olive oil until browned. Add garlic and shallot and cook until chicken cooked through.



3. Pour tomatoes with juice over chicken and bring to boil. Add zucchini and parsley and heat through. Add potato flakes, as needed, to thicken sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.



4. Drain noodles and pour sauce over pasta.



Emily's rating: 9 out of 10

Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

I was very lucky to receive a batch of delicious recipes, compiled for me by friends and family, at my wedding shower this summer. This one came from my high school bestie Allison, and it's become a good go-to throughout the fall and winter because it's the perfect comfort food.

Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake



Pasta Mixture
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 jar (16 oz.) Alfredo sauce
2 pkgs. (9 oz. each) cheese tortellini
1.5 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped or 1 tbsp. dried basil

Crumb Topping
1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cook pasta in boiling water according to instructions. Drain and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes until onion is tender.



4. Stir in pasta sauce, tortellini, chicken, milk, water, peas and pepper. Heat until mixture just comes to boil; remove from heat. Stir in basil.




5. Grate parmesan and melt butter. Stir in bread crumbs and cheese; mix well.



6. Spoon pasta mixture into bakeware; sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and topping is golden brown.

Pasta with bacon and peas

This is another stand-by that I find really useful for nights where I don't want to make a big meal, but I still need some yummy comfort food. Also, it requires only ingredients that I think most people tend to have on hand all the time.

Pasta with bacon and peas

4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 shallots, halved and thinly sliced
1 box frozen peas, thawed
1 c. half-and-half cream
1 box (18 oz.) pasta (I find fettucine works the best)

1. Boil pasta according to directions.



2. Cook bacon until crisp. Transfer to plate, leaving fat in skillet.



3. Add shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 1-2 mins.



4. Add peas and cream; season with salt and pepper. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 mins.



5. Reserving 1/2 c. water, drain pasta. Pour sauce over pasta and toss. Add reserved water as necessary. Sprinkle with bacon.

Emily's rating: 7 out of 10 (yummy, but doesn't reheat well for lunch the next day)

Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna

This didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped- even though I quadrupled the garlic and added nutmeg to the original recipe, it still turned out pretty bland. I think it's worth giving a second try, maybe making it with a blend of cheeses for the topping and adding more salt.



Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna

2 pkg. (10 oz. each) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed
1.5 c. part-skim ricotta
4 cloves garlic, minced
2.5 c. tomato sauce
4 oz. prosciutto, thinly sliced
1 pkg. (16 oz.) lasagna noodles
1 c. part-skim mozzarella, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil lasagna noodles according to instructions.



2. Make filling: combine spinach, ricotta, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.



3. In separate bowl, combine tomato sauce and prosciutto.



4. In 9x13" pan, spread 1/4 cup tomato sauce. Layer noodles 1/3 filling and 1/3 cup remaining tomato sauce. Repeat twice. Top with mozzarella. Bake until browned 35-40 minutes.



Emily's rating: 6 out of 10 (will redo with changes to recipe)
Nate's rating: 5 out of 10

Lemon Vodka Shrimp Fettucine

I threw this together on Sunday night since I was torn between making a really quick and simple dinner and wanting to start using the shrimp I bought recently. This turned out much better than I expected and will definitely be going into the regular rotation.



Lemon Vodka Shrimp Fettucine

1 lb. fettucine or other long pasta
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup parmesan
1/4 cup oil
1 jar Vodka tomato-cream sauce

1. Bring water to boil. Add fettucine and cook for 11-12 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside.



2. While pasta is cooking, prepare shrimp. Soak in lemon juice for a few minutes and then toss with parmesan.



3. Heat oil in medium sauce-pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to oil and cook through, about 2 minutes on each side. Shrimp are ready when bright pink all over.



4. Drain shrimp from oil and toss with fettucine.



5. Warm sauce over medium-heat (or in microwave) and toss with pasta.

Emily's rating= 9/10
Nate's rating= 9/10