Meatball Garlic Toast

I love Meatballs as much as I love Pasta and for the same reasons. They’re just so easy, delicious, versatile and everyone loves them. This meatball garlic toast uses my Mama’s traditional meatball recipe reconstruct to fit my lifestyle and taste, using ground Turkey breast. While ground turkey isn’t my favorite I use it when I want a healthier option, plus you can never go wrong with Meatballs.

Plenty of Parmesan with a few simple ingredients and plenty of fresh herbs, turned that flavorless ground turkey into something totally drool worthy.

Three Tips When Making meatballs

First when mixing the meat into the other ingredients don’t over mix or overcook, both lead to tough hard meatballs.

A case in point to the last sentence, a new prep cook was mixing the mixture in the dough mixer, and that explained why the meatballs were rock hard. There is no nice way to put it, they were not good.

The other thing to remember is that the meatballs are cooked twice first roasted, then in the sauce, so it’s easy to overcook them. Roasting the meatballs adds another depth of flavor and beautiful color.

I try to use my handy- dandy toaster oven whenever I can. I don’t like turning on my oven every time I need to toast something, my toaster oven is one of my most used small kitchen appliances, if you don’t have one they’re well worth the 100.00 dollars they cost.

Third this is another custom-able recipe, if you like the traditional use a high grade ground beef, or a mixture of chicken, beef, or veal.

Experiment, food and cooking is mean’t to be fun and enjoyable, I have simplified and gave you made ahead tips to make cooking a journey, not a destination always learning, always finding new ingredients to satisfy our changing life style and diet…..Have Fun!!!

Ingredients

1 Lbs. ground turkey breast
6 slices crusty Italian Bread cut medium thick on a diagonal
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 egg
2 Tbs. each chopped garlic and onion
Salt and pepper
4 cups prepared marinara sauce
1 stick butter softened
1/2 cup each mozzarella, parmesan and sharp cheddar
3 tablespoons each chopped Italian parsley, garlic and onion
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350
In a bowl make the cheesy garlic butter by mixing the last 4 ingredients
Spread the garlic mixture on the bread slices
toast in for 10 minutes
Mix egg, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, onion, parmesan salt and pepper ending with the meat
Shape into golf size balls
Roast in a preheated 350 oven until light golden brown about 10 minutes
Cook an additional 20 minutes in simmering homemade marinara sauce
Top garlic toast with 2 meatballs top with additional mozzarella
Return to oven just to melt the cheese

Tuscan Chicken Penne

You need to add this Tuscan Chicken Penne to your weekly pasta night menu. It’s a creamy pan sauce filled with sun dried tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms and goes prefect with the chicken and pasta. This is a delicious base sauce to add any shape pasta to, it doesn’t have to be penne, use what you have on hand.

My recipes and the way I cook is to use what I have on hand, or what is on sale and the freshest seasonal ingredients. This meal came about because on a shopping trip I bought whole, skinless. boneless chicken breast, they were on sale.

I like to cut them into different shapes to use in different recipes. For this penne pasta I cut the chicken into strips.

The rest I cut into fillets for grilling or baking, lay it flat in baggies and freeze it.

It’s great when all you have to do is take the chicken out of the freezer and it’s pan ready for your recipe, for those busy night , when commitments are long and time is short.

This quick dinner can be on your table in about thirty minutes and has few ingredients so you don’t have to go to the store as often, because you forgot something, and leaving with more than you came for, plus a little extra frustration you didn’t have to pay for in this crazy times.

Lets Talk Pasta Water

In this Tuscan Chicken Penne recipe I used pasta water in the sauce, like I do in 75% of my recipes. Pasta water is the magical ingredient to add to your pan sauces.

Add 1 cup or a couple ladle fulls to your sauce before adding the pasta.The salty, starchy water not only adds flavor but helps to glue the sauce and pasta together, it will also help thicken the sauce.

Save the pasta water before you drain the pasta, this is an easy step to forget. I like to save more of the pasta water then I need to adjust for the consistency am looking for.

If you want to thicken any pan sauce a little pour do this, coat a pat or two of butter with flour and drop it in the sauce. Be sure to cook the sauce at least 5 minutes after adding floured butter so there is no flour taste.

This is a delicious restaurant quality base sauce you can customize to fit your lifestyle and taste and your family will love it. If you make this recipe please leave me a comment and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram with your creations, hearing from you is my favorite part.

Ingredients

1 lbs. penne

1/2 Lbs. chicken sliced into strips

4 cups spinach chopped

4 oz, sun dried tomatoes

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup reserved pasta water

2 Tbs. chopped garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 Tbs. each chopped Italian parsley, basil, and thyme

2 Tbs. each olive oil and butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Instruction

1.Heat oil and butter add onion and garlic saute until opaque

2. Salt and pepper chicken

3. Add s chicken saute on high heat till golden

4. Add heavy whipping cream, chicken stock, pasta water and parmesan cheese

5. Simmer covered until thickens about 15 minutes

6. Add spinach and sun dried tomatoes simmer 5 minutes longer

7. Toss cooked penne in sauce

8. Top with additional parmesan……. Enjoy!!!

Citrus Salmon

Don’t let the looks of this Citrus Salmon dinner intimidate you. This salmon meal may look intimidating, but it’s not, it’s quick and easy too. It’s all made in one pan, with salmon, garlic, onion and the fresh taste of orange and lemon.

Not only is this citrus salmon easy and delicious, it looks and feels fancy. Best part? It comes together in less than 30 minutes. You’ll want to make this healthy meal often. It’s prefect for family week night dinners and decant enough for Saturday night dinner with friends.

This is a restaurant quality meal you can make in your kitchen, to show off what a great chef you are.

How To Make Citrus Salmon

Start by cutting the salmon into equal parts. The measurements in this recipe are for two, if you want four meals double the recipe. Salt and pepper the salmon, in a large saute pan bring the olive oil and butter to medium heat.

Brown salmon 3 to 4 minutes per side then remove fish, add the onions and garlic to the saute pan cook until tender and just beginning to brown.

Now add the lemon, orange juice. lemon, orange sections, herbs and one pat of butter coated in flour to thicken the sauce, simmer for five minutes, return fish to pan only to heat through.

Plate salmon pour sauce over sprinkle with additional Italian parsley and rosemary and enjoy a restaurant quality meal, made by you.

If you made this recipe please leave me a comment and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram that’s my favorite part!!!!

Ingredients

2 6 oz. skinless salmon fillet
2 Tablespoons each butter and extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 chopped onion
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 mandarin oranges sectioned
1 lemon sliced
2 Tablespoons each lemon and mandarin rind
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons each chopped rosemary and Italian parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Salt and pepper salmon
In a large saute pan melt the butter and olive oil bring to medium high heat
Add salmon saute until brown 3 to 4 minutes per side
remove salmon set aside
Add onion and garlic saute until tender and just beginning to brown
Add orange juice, lemon juice, sliced lemons, mandarin oranges, honey, herbs and one tablespoon of butter coated in flour
Cook until sauce thickens about 5 minutes
Return salmon to pan heat through
Plate salmon pour sauce over sprinkle with additional rosemary and Italian parsley…..ENJOY