Toasted Ravioli

Growing up, I would love when I found toasted ravioli on the menu of a restaurant we were at, and I would always order it as my meal.  For some reason, I don't really eat ravioli at all unless it's toasted (fried) ravioli.  I just love the crunch mixed in with all of the yummy cheese in the ravioli, dipped in a warm marinara sauce.  This meal or appetizer can be somewhat time consuming since you have to bread each individual ravioli so I like to use the bigger ravioli that you find in the frozen section instead of those smaller ravioli that are in the refrigerator section.  I served these in some tomato sauce that I had in the freezer that was leftover from when I made spaghetti and meatballs.  Delicious!

Ingredients:

1/2 of a (25 oz.) package of frozen cheese ravioli, thawed
1 cup flour
3 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup italian bread crumbs
salt and pepper
oil (I use vegetable or canola oil)
grated parmesan cheese (optional)
marinara sauce, for serving

Directions:

1.  Add flour to a ziploc bag and season with salt and pepper.  In a shallow bowl, beat up eggs with milk.  In another shallow bowl add breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper.

2.  First, shake up ravioli in flour bag to coat, then dip in egg mixture.  Last, coat with breadcrumbs and set aside until all ravioli are coated.

3.  Pour oil in a large skillet to a depth of about a half of an inch, and heat over medium heat.  In batches, fry ravioli for about a minute on each side, or until golden brown.  Drain ravioli on paper towels and sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese, if desired.

4.  Serve with some warm marinara sauce for dipping.

Bruschetta

For dinner last night, we wanted something quick and light so I decided to make bruschetta. We love to make this in the summer since tomatoes are so flavorful then, but it's still good with tomatoes in the fall with a little extra salt and balsamic. What really makes this meal for us is the splash of balsamic. You'll want to use really good quality balsamic in this recipe. We use balsamic vinegar that has been aged for 18 years. We bought it from this great little shop in Chicago called Old Town Oils. I actually bought some olive oil and balsamic vinegar from this place for my mom and mother-in-law last Christmas. If you live in Chicago or go there for a visit, you should definitely check it out! It's a little pricey, but definitely worth it :) The only problem is once you know what really good balsamic tastes like, you'll never want the cheap stuff again!

Ingredients:

3 medium sized tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1/4 of a small red onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped basil
Splash of EVOO
Splash of good balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 french baguette, sliced and toasted

Directions:

Just mix all ingredients together and season to taste. Let sit about an hour to let all of the flavors mix together. Serve on top of toasted baguette. We used pillsbury french loaf bread and sliced and brushed with a little melted butter. We toasted the bread under the broiler for a few minutes.

This is super fast and tastes great! Just adjust the ingredient amounts to fit your taste!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Sometimes when I don't want to make a big meal for dinner, we end up just snacking on one of our favorite appetizers. That's what we decided to do last night while we watched The Bucket List (pretty good movie!).

I've made this recipe several times, and I love how easy it is and how great it tastes (I think it's better than restaurant spinach and artichoke dip!). It's not the healthiest of recipes with all of the cheese, but everything in moderation :) I prefer the cheese based spinach artichoke dips instead of the ones with a mayonnaise so here's a good recipe if that is what you like too.

I found the original recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/, but I changed it up just a tiny bit. I just noticed that half of the recipes I've posted so far have been from allrecipes, but I just love that site! When I want to try something new, it's my go to site because I love reading through all the reviews, and I only made recipes that are rated 4 1/2 or 5 stars and have pictures. Anyways, here's the recipe. I usually add extra salt and pepper to most recipes, but I don't add any salt at all to this recipe because the alfredo sauce is already very salty.

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons garlic
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I added a little less than this)
1 (10 ounce) container Alfredo-style pasta sauce (I used the alfredo found in the refridgerated section)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Stir together all ingredients and spread in an 8x8 baking dish.
3. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and bubbly. Serve warm. (I made mine ahead of time and put in the refridgerator until dinner time so I baked the dip covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered and baked for another 15 minutes.)

Delicious!

Baked Goat Cheese

When I was growing up, I was pretty picky and didn't like to try new things so goat cheese wasn't on my list of food that I liked (well I never actually tried it but I convinced myself that it wouldn't be something I would like). Everything changed when I moved to Chicago 5 years ago! I would say that now I love to try new things and there isn't a lot that I don't like :)

Anyways, I first tried baked goat cheese at a tapas restaurant here in Chicago called Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. I loved it and still get it every time I go there, and it's such a simple (and delicious) dish that I started making it at home about a year ago. Here's how I make it:

Ingredients:

Goat Cheese (I use a little 5 oz package for my husband and I but you can adjust the amount)

Marinara Sauce (I used about a cup of this recipe from Giada, but I have also made it with store bought sauce and it still turned out great)

2 teaspoons Minced Garlic

Drizzle of EVOO

Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

1 package pillsbury refridgerated french loaf (or you could use any french baguette)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Divide goat cheese into 4 balls (or more depending on how much goat cheese you have)

3. Put goat cheese in a small shallow baking dish and pour in your marinara sauce. Use enough marinara to surround the goat cheese, but make sure you don't cover the top of it. I used about a cup in my dish but you may need more or less depending on the size of your baking dish.

4. Add the minced garlic around the goat cheese, drizzle with a little EVOO, and add a little fresh cracked pepper on top.

5. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, and bake the french loaf bread at the same time.

6. Once I take it out of the oven, I let it sit for about 5 minutes while I slice the bread. I also brush a little melted butter on the bread and stick under the broiler for a couple minutes, then you're ready to eat!

Just spread some of the goat cheese and marinara on your bread slices and you have a delicious dish! This is great as an appetizer, or I use this for an easy weeknight meal for my husband and I.