Trattoria Ravioli

A trattoria is an Italian style eating easablishment less formal than a ristorante, but more formal than an osteria. There are generally no printed menus, the service is casual, wine is sold by the decanter rather than the bottle, prices are low, and the emphasis is on a steady clientele rather than oh haute cuisine. The food is modest but plentiful (mostly following regional and local recipes) and in some instances is even served family-style (i.e. at common tables).

We got this recipe from the cookbook Spread a Little Joy made by the producers of Philadelphia Cream Cheese.... so as one may assume, it is incorporated into every recipe in the book (Score!)

We plan on using this book over and over again, but the first recipe we decided to make is the one you see on the cover (instead of tortellini we used ravioli).

It requires only a few ingredients:

The exact recipe calls for:

2 packages of refrigerated cheese tortellini or ravioli, uncooked
1 cup milk
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
6 tbsp grated parmesean cheese
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (we always add a bit more)
6 oz fresh or frozen baby spinach leaves (we used fresh)
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes

The process is very quick and easy...

1. Cook pasta as directed on package *someday we will make our own ravioli from scratch! I promise!
2. Meanwhile, cook milk and cream cheese in large skillet on medium heat until cream cheese is melted. Incorporate until well blended. Stir in parmesean and pepper. Add spinach; mix well.
3. Drain pasta. Add to spinach mixture with tomatoes, mix lightly.
4. Buon appetito!

Sarah ended up adding a little bit of garlic salt for some extra flavor. We concluded that this is a "reduced guilt" version of alfredo sauce, because it doesn't involve nearly as much milkfat as traditional alfredo, especially if you use reduced fat cream cheese and milk! Overall, we LOVED this meal!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatball Subs

Origin: Italia
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

We have to make the exception to our vegetarian rule every once in a while, so Megan and Lisa decided to invite some friends over to make a delicious omnivorous dinner, inspired by the lovely Giada De Laurentiis.

These meatball subs were relatively simple, and they turned out tasting great. To start, we seasoned the hamburger with our secret weapon, Wee Willy's Buttery Herb and Garlic Seasoning.It's made in MN and you can literally put it on ANYTHING that needs a bit of an herby kick. (Megan and I use it for pasta a lot).

Along with Wee Willy's, we used a few crushed ritz crackers, 1 egg, 1/2 cup ketchup, salt, and pepper to make sure the hamburger held together during the cooking process.

The second key ingredient is Bel Gioso Mozzarella Pearls. These tiny little pearls of fresh mozzarella are about 1/2 inch in diameter and taste great!

Simply make sure the seasoned hamburger surrounds the mozzarella pearl. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes or until hamburger is cooked through.

Meatballs are done!

We then sliced some french bread in half, topped it with provolone slices and marinara sauce along with the cooked meatballs.

 Alisha, Andy, Megan, and Lisa busy in the kitchen

Put the sandwich in the oven and broil it until the bread gets toasted.

We've got some exciting ideas for cooking this week, so stay tuned! This one is a crowd pleaser for sure.

We will return shortly to our regularly scheduled programming....

As you may have noticed, we have taken a short break from posting lately. Too many midterms, exams, and projects have gotten in the way of our weekly cooking routine, but we promise to return shortly after spring break with some great new ideas :)

Consider Donating to Oxfam

The three of us feel blessed not only to have food on our table every night, but to have the ability to cook with a variety of fresh, nutritious, and clean ingredients. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to have the same luxury as we do, there are many starving people living in poverty throughout the US and the rest of the world. For Megan's event planning course, her class is putting on a fundraiser to help Oxfam America build a school in an impoverished nation. Oxfam America is one of the best relief agencies in the world, helping citizens in over 98 countries.

From the Oxfam website:

"Oxfam is an international confederation of 14 organizations working together in 98 countries and with partners and allies around the world to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.
We work directly with communities and we seek to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them."

The event costs only $5 and is being held this Thursday, March 3 at UW-Stout. Their goal is to raise $1,500 through ticket sales and donations. Please consider coming to this event! If you are not able to attend, any donation will help.

Link: Oxfam's Website

Link: UW-Stout Oxfam Hunger Banquet Information

Check Out This Awesome Website

Do you need an idea for dinner tonight? Don't have time to run out to the store? Completely exhausted any sort of creative ideas to "use what you've got"? Well this website offers solutions to any dinner dilemmas. My Fridge Food allows you to fill out a simple checklist of ingredients you've ALREADY got in your fridge or pantry and then spits out some new recipes for you to try based on what you have! It's a great way to get new ideas and save time and money by making it possible to purchase very few extra ingredients.

Link: My Fridge Food

Have fun!

Twice Baked Potatoes and Spinach & Romaine Salad

Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Origin: USA (for the most part)

This has been one of our favorite meals this semester because there's a great variety of flavors and textures involved with both items. We decided to go with a nice and hearty main dish, twice baked potatoes to go along with this chilly Wisconsin weather. We freshened up our evening with a delicious and crispy salad made with spinach and romaine lettuce, topped with mandarin oranges, fresh strawberries, and toasted almonds and Sarah's homemade peanut vinaigrette. Bon Appetitio!

 Sarah prepping the salad

Ingredients for the vinaigrette: honey, rice vinegar, peanut sauce, olive oil, ground ginger, and toasted almonds. Most ingredients were added to taste (We need to do a better job at keeping track of exact measurements... sorry!)

 Making the potato filling

 Gutting the potatoes

 These bad boys cooked at 350 degrees until the cheese was melty and bubbly. Yum.

 The salad put together

Picture perfect! And very fitting for a chilly February evening.

Twice  baked potatoes are pretty simple, so we didn't use a recipe at all. Generally this is how it went:

Bake 4 large potatoes until soft
Assemble the following ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl:
2 tbsp melted butter
4 oz. sour cream
3 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
chives, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

When the potatoes are done baking, cut them in half and scrape most of the insides out from the skin. Combine potatoes with above ingredients, spoon back into potato skins, and bake at 350 until warm. Top with fresh chives!

Pizza Braid and Caribbean Cole Slaw

Prep time: 15 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes

Origin: Italy (sort of) and the Caribbean

This week we wanted a pretty simple yet delicious thing to make for our "girls night in". Sarah had a great idea for a fun spin on homemade pizza that's super easy to make. You can use a variety of fillings for this braid. Some recipes suggest broccoli and cheese, ham/turkey and cheese, or veggies and cheese. (By this point, you should probably realize that we include cheese in everything we make. You can't blame us, we live in Wisconsin!) We decided to fill the braid with our favorite pizza toppings!

Typical ingredient shot: banana peppers, pineapple, pizza sauce, mozarella, crescent rolls, and wine for drinking.

 Sarah rolled out two cans of crescent rolls onto a greased baking sheet (on on top of the other) for the dough base.

 She then cut 2-3 inch slits on either side of the dough

 We brushed a mixture of olive oil and herbs on the bottom, then topped it just like a pizza.

 Sarah then twisted the opposite sides of dough together, making it look like a braid. After she braided it, she baked it at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until the crust was golden brown.

 Here's the final product!

For a side we chose a fresh and crispy Caribbean theme cole slaw. Unfortunately, Lisa made it earlier that day so we don't have any prep pictures. The ingredients include: red and green cabbage, clementines, raisins, onion, some spices and Rudolph's Famous cole slaw dressing. You can find the link for the recipe here!

Meanwhile, we were listening to music from our high school days (queue Taking Back Sunday, The Used, Blink 182, Yellowcard, Brand New, Senses Fail etc.) and then ended our evening with a viewing of Pretty Woman, just in time for Valentine's day! All in all, it was a great "girls night in"!