Tag: casserole

Thanksgiving 2014

Well Dined | Thanksgiving Dinner 2014

You know, I tried to be good and blog about Thanksgiving stuff before the holiday so that it might actually be useful to somebody.  I even made a few dishes in advance, but I didn’t post about them in time.  Oh well!  Prepare for a lot of Thanksgiving type posts!

Anyway, we don’t have any family where we live so we normally travel for Thanksgiving.  But this year we decided to switch it up and travel for Christmas, so we were on our own for Turkey Day.  We had originally planned to stay at the Inn at Little Washington (!!!), but Jasper got sick and we had to cancel.  So then I had to figure out what to make at the last minute for 2 people – initiate panic mode.  But I got my menu together on Monday, went to the grocery store on Tuesday (which was surprisingly not that crazy), and prepped on Wednesday.

Well Dined | Thanksgiving Dinner 2014

I tried to cut it down to just the basics – turkey (breast only), stuffing (half recipe), mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce (bought), and rolls (bought).  It was still way too much food for 2 people so there are lots of leftover sandwiches in my future.

Well Dined | Thanksgiving Dinner 2014 Turkey Breast

First up, the star – turkey.  There was no way I was going to roast a whole turkey for 2 people, so I bought a whole breast on the bone.  I definitely could have gone with a half breast, but now we have lots of sandwich meat!  And guys, I don’t want to brag or anything, but I am SO GOOD at turkey.  Brined, air dried, stuffed with sage butter, rubbed with avocado oil, and started at a high temp – this baby was PERFECT.  It was juicy and tender with crispy skin and super crazy flavorful.  Love it.  It’s also really easy to carve – you just cut along the breast bone until the meat is released, then turn it on its side and slice. (more…)

Broccoli Cheese Quinoa Casserole

Well Dined | Broccoli Cheese Quinoa Casserole

You know that cheesy broccoli and rice casserole that makes it’s way to every potluck ever?  That is so bad for you, but so yummy, that you eat heaps of it and you tell yourself that it’s got broccoli so it’s okay?  Well here’s your chance to pig out, because this version (made with quinoa instead of rice) is a lot better for you.

Well Dined | Broccoli Cheese Quinoa Casserole

Of course, to convince my husband to eat it (and because I wanted more protein without having to make a separate dish), I threw some shredded rotisserie chicken in there.  You can see in the photo that I just threw big florets of steamed broccoli in there.  I ended up wishing that the broccoli was more evenly spread throughout, so I will recommend chopping it first.

Well Dined | Broccoli Cheese Quinoa Casserole

This is hearty, and creamy, and just plain awesome.  Kids (and big kids) will gobble it up.

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Grown Up Tuna Noodle Casserole

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Okay, I am not a huge canned tuna fan.  But I saw this recipe for stuffed shells with tuna, spinach, and roasted garlic topped with bechamel and buttery bread crumbs and I had to try it.  I even had a couple of tins of really nice smoked albacore (pretty much the only canned tuna I like).  You guys, this is not your grandmother’s casserole.

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

The first thing that makes this dish special is the roasted garlic, which is super easy to make.  Just chop the top off of a whole head of garlic, place it on a sheet of foil, drizzle it with olive oil, wrap it up, and roast away.  When it’s done it becomes creamy and sweet and is delicious spread on bread, but we will be using the whole thing in this recipe.  Just squeeze to pop out all the cloves – I find this to be creepy but fascinating.  All that sweet roasted garlic goes into a creamy bechamel sauce.

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

The filling is tuna, spinach, and breadcrumbs – simple, but good.  After it is all mixed up, half of the garlic bechamel goes in to make it nice and creamy.

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Then that mixture gets stuffed into cooked pasta shells.  I tried to find whole wheat shells, but no luck.  Then you are going to frantically lick the bowl, and the spoon, and your fingers – because this filling is soooooo good. (more…)

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna with Homemade Spinach Whole Wheat Noodles

Well Dined | Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna with Homemade Spinach Whole Wheat Noodles

I had a plan to make spinach and butternut squash lasagna roll-ups last week.  But then I decided to add chicken so that Jasper would be more likely to eat it (note that this plan failed, ha).  And then I thought it would be good to make my own spinach whole wheat noodles, which turned out to be too fragile to roll up, especially with the heavy chicken added.  So it turned into a regular layered lasagna instead, and I’m not even sad.  The colors were so pretty, and it was gooey and cheesy and filling.

Well Dined | Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna with Homemade Spinach Whole Wheat Noodles

So here’s where I made a mistake – I thought I would be clever and puree the spinach in the food processor instead of the blender before adding  in my flour in order to reduce the number of dirty containers.  Except that the food processor didn’t really puree the spinach very well.  I even had a moment where I stopped and thought I should transfer it to the blender and decided against it, *sigh*.  All those little flakes of spinach made the dough very fragile and difficult to work with, but I stuck it out.

Well Dined | Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna with Homemade Spinach Whole Wheat Noodles

The noodles turned out fine (and they certainly tasted good) when cooked, but they were still too fragile to roll (and not very pretty).

Well Dined | Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna with Homemade Spinach Whole Wheat Noodles

So I just layered them instead and all was well.  Now, remember earlier this week when I talked about having leftover butternut squash?  Well, this is where it went.  I pureed the roasted squash and shallots together to make a sauce.  A little of that went on the bottom of the pan, then a layer of noodles. (more…)

Butternut Squash, Apple, and Sausage Lasagna Rolls

Well Dined | Butternut Squash, Apple, and Sausage Lasagna

Oh my gosh, you guys.  This might be my favorite butternut squash pasta since the life-saving mac and cheese.

Well Dined | Butternut Squash, Apple, and Sausage Lasagna

Sheets of homemade pasta filled with roasted butternut squash, apple, onion, sausage, and three cheeses; topped with a creamy sage bechamel.  It’s totally swoon worthy.

Well Dined | Butternut Squash, Apple, and Sausage Lasagna

The filling is a little complicated, but totally worth it.  While your butternut squash is roasting in the oven, mix up and brown your sausage mixture.  Did I mention that you are creating your own sausage, so you can adjust the spices to your liking?  And you can be sure that there are no weird preservatives or sugar?  Awesome.  Anyway, next you saute some onions, garlic, and apple.  Plus a little white wine – aww, yeah.

Well Dined | Butternut Squash, Apple, and Sausage Lasagna

Oh my gosh this filling.  It’s insane.  You may want to make extra to use in other ways.  I’ll talk about that later. (more…)

Cheesy Baked Pumpkin Shells

Well Dined | Cheesy Baked Pumpkin Shells

I feel like I constantly need some form of cheesy winter squash pasta on hand at all times.  It’s kind of a problem.  I saw a recipe for shells with pumpkin and ricotta that sounded good, but the comments all said it came out dry and bland.  So instead of using that recipe, I decided to make a pumpkin version of my Spring Shells and Cheese.

Well Dined | Cheesy Baked Pumpkin Shells

So instead of ricotta, I made a bechamel with sage, pumpkin, Gruyere, and Parmesan.  Then I added in some sauteed spinach and shallots, for health and color.

Well Dined | Cheesy Baked Pumpkin Shells

Because adding spinach totally makes up for all the cheese and pasta, right?  I mean, I did use whole wheat shells…

Well Dined | Cheesy Baked Pumpkin Shells

Anyway, I added in some pecans for crunch.  Nuts are healthy, too, right? (more…)

Best Ever Lasagna Revisted

Well Dined | Best Ever Lasagna

I’ve written about my favorite lasagna recipe before, but it was years ago and I think it needs to be revisited – especially now that my neighbors confirm it is the best lasagna they have ever had.

Well Dined | Best Ever Lasagna

The cast of characters is pretty simple, but I think what makes this lasagna stand out is the use of veal and white wine.  It’s a bit different from the standard, but that’s what makes it special.

Well Dined | Best Ever Lasagna

I really like for my veg to be finely diced for this ragu, so that there aren’t any big chunks.  But I did not make those perfect cuts on my own – I use a veggie chopper.  It’s fast and it makes everything uniform.

Well Dined | Best Ever Lasagna

The other thing that makes this ragu great is that it is simmered for up to 5 hours.  That low and slow cooking brings out all the flavor.  I highly recommend using San Marzano tomatoes in this, they are just the best.

Well Dined | Best Ever Lasagna

Americans might be used to the type of lasagna with ricotta and mozzarella, which is fine but not very authentic.  This version has a creamy bechamel (aka my favorite food) and tons of Parmesan, and it is just so dreamy.

Well Dined | Best Ever Lasagna

I really went all out for this batch and made my own lasagna noodles for the first time.  It is certainly not necessary to do that, but I do think it took it up one final step to perfection.  I did have several issues while doing this, though.  The learning curve is pretty steep.  Don’t try to be clever when you roll out your own pasta and leave the sheets really long – trust me, it makes them almost impossible to cook.  Now I know why the store-bought ones are short.  I’m also going to edit the pasta dough recipe in the original post because it was awful and really soft and hard to work with.

Anyway, go make the best lasagna of your life.  You will thank me.  Recipe here.

Butternut Squash and Kale Mac and Cheese

Well Dined | Butternut Squash and Kale Mac and Cheese

So I actually made this a year ago and didn’t manage to post it before it was way past butternut squash season, doh!  I figured I would just hold off and post about it the next Fall, which is what I am doing now.  The problem is, my photography has improved leaps and bounds since then so these photos look really awful.  I am so sorry in advance, but the mac and cheese is really good.  I promise.

Well Dined | Butternut Squash and Kale Mac and Cheese

I saw this recipe on an episode of The Chew, and the idea was that it was orange and black for Halloween.  Orange from the squash, black from the kale.  Except that kale is green, even when it’s wilted…  Whatever – it uses Fall produce and it’s delicious, so let’s pretend it works.

Well Dined | Butternut Squash and Kale Mac and Cheese

Cook up some bacon (I used pancetta because stuff and things), add some butter, sweat some onions and garlic, wilt some kale – awesome.  So here’s where the original recipe gets weird (The Chew website is notoriously bad at reviewing their recipes) – it says to have 1 butternut squash, peeled and diced, and to saute the squash in the pan.  Then later it says to add in the butternut squash puree.  What butternut squash puree?  There is no butternut squash puree in the ingredient list.  Huh?  Also – sauteed squash?  Meh.  So here’s what I did (as you can see in the previous picture) – tossed that cubed squash with olive, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; then roasted it.  Yummy.  Then I took half the roasted squash and mashed it.  Ah-ha!  Now there is butternut squash puree, sort of. (more…)

Turkey and Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

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Okay – it is really hard to get an attractive picture of a shepherd’s pie.  The blogger I got this recipe from did cute little individual dishes and I thought “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” and just did one big casserole.  But after posting a very unattractive photo on facebook (that sparked a crazy battle between two friends, no joke) I know why she did it that way!

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Photography aside, this dish is great.  Lean but satisfying ground turkey mixed with a ton of veggies make a hearty filling.

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Topped with delicious super-food sweet potatoes, this version of shepherd’s pie is super healthy and super delicious.

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Baking it in individual dishes is definitely cuter and neater, but if you don’t care whether the topping gets mixed into the filling on the plate – you can totally do one big dish. (more…)