Pasta e Fagiole and Pesto-Mozzarella Grilled Cheese

If you want to make a hearty soup that's loaded with protein and flavor, pasta e fagiole is the soup for you. Eat this with Tyler Florence's Italian inspired grilled cheese and you will never look at the soup and sandwich combo the same again.


Pasta e Fagiole:
1 quart chicken stock
2 lbs ground turkey or beef
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 onions
1/3 cup fresh parsley
1/3 cup bread crumbs
6 garlic cloves
1 can butter beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can canelli beans
1 sprig rosemary
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 pinch dry oregano
1 Parmesan rind- optional (if you save these this would be a good time to use it)
2 cups egg noodles or any short pasta you like like elbow
3 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

First take your ground beef or ground turkey and mix with the shredded Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, rosemary, eggs, salt and pepper and fold all ingredients together well. Saute the ground beef until fully cooked through and set aside in a bowl.

In the same pan (to make sure you get all the yummy goodness that's left behind in the pan) add the chopped onion, carrots, and celery and allow to cook until cooked through but not mushy. Next transfer this and the ground turkey to a soup pot. Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and incorporate well. let it simmer and add the chicken stock, Parmesan rind, dried oregano and egg noodles. Add the egg noodles and then add the beans. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes on med. heat. Once the soup has reached the thickness and consistency you want, turn off the heat and serve. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Tyler Florence's Ultimate Grilled Cheese

I saw this recipe on Tyler Florence's show and it is a really delicious version of a grilled cheese.  It is easy and perfect for eating with soup on a rainy or cold day.


Ingredients:
2 slices of artisan bread
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp pesto
3 or 4 slices of thick sliced fresh water- packed buffalo mozzarella
1/4 small onion sliced very thinly and caramelized
salt and pepper to taste

Take 1 tsp of butter and saute the onions until caramelized make sure to season with salt and pepper. Then just assemble the sandwich by spreading the pesto on both sides of the inside of the sandwich, adding the onions and cheese. Then grill on med low heat until the outside is nice and toasty and the cheese is oozing.

Turkey Scallopini Piccata, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Sauteed GreenBeans

We are on Vacation and our apartment has a full kitchen so we decided to save some money and eat in every once in a while. Today was one of those days and I wanted to make something satisfying and hearty. I personally think turkey is one of the most underrated meats anyway so I decided to change up the classic chicken piccata and use turkey cutlets instead. So here's how you make it:

Ingredients (for the turkey piccata)

1 pkg. sliced turkey breast

1 cup flour

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp.  light olive oil (not extra virgin it tastes too strong for this in my opinion)

2 tbsp. capers

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine ( I used prosecco because it's all I had on hand- the fizz dies when cooked)

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Mashed Potatoes:

6 large potatoes peeled and cubed

1/3 cup chicken stock

3 cloves garlic

3 tbsp. butter

1/3 cup half& half

salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Green Beans:

1 bag frozen french cut green beans

1/2 a small onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

To make the turkey, rinse each breast and pat it dry. Next take two pieces of plastic wrap and place the turkey between the sheets. Pound until the breast is 1/8th of an inch thick. Next season with salt and pepper and lightly dredge in flour. In a skillet, add butter and oil and allow to get hot on med. high heat. When hot, add the turkey and cook through until nicely golden brown. Set aside on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Repeat until all the pieces have been cooked and transfer to the cookie sheet. Next take a little more butter and add to the skillet with 2 tbsp. of flour and make a roux. Once the flour has browned a bit add the white wine and chicken stock and whisk until the liquid and roux are well incorporated. To this, add the lemon juice and capers and stir in well. Let the sauce cook until the wine has evaporated and the sauce has thickened enough to coat a spoon. Once done add the sauce to the cookie sheet, making sure you coat the bottom too. Then pour the rest of the sauce over the turkey breasts. Bake in a 35o degree oven until its cooked through and warm- about 15 mins.

For the mashed potatoes, boil and cook the potatoes until fork tender. Once cooked, drain well and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Warm the stock and half&half and add to the bowl along with the butter and salt. With an electric mixer, whip until nice and fluffy, adding more liquid as needed. In a small saucier finely mince garlic and add to the pot with butter and allow to cook until the garlic becomes softened. add to the the mashed potatoes and mix well.

For the green beans blanch them for 2 minutes and drain well. Dice the onions and mince the garlic and saute in a pan until they become soft and slightly browned. Add the green beans and saute, adding salt and pepper as need.