Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Risotto

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Risotto (slightly adapted from Amuse Your Bouche, Servings: 4, Total Time: 45 minutes - 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         2 red peppers

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         2/3 Tbsp. butter

·         ½ onion, finely diced

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         ½ tsp. sugar

·         1 cup Arborio rice

·         4 cups vegetable stock

·         Black pepper

·         ¼ cup cheddar cheese, grated

·         2 tsp. dried basil

·         1/3 cup soft goat cheese, roughly crumbled

1.       Heat the oven to 450°F. Place the whole red peppers on a baking tray, and roast for around 20 minutes, until the skins are charred. Remove from the oven, and transfer to a plate. Cover with cling film – the steam that is trapped inside will make the skins easy to remove. Set aside for now.

2.       While the peppers are roasting, prepare onions and garlic. Heat the oil and butter in a large wok or risotto pan. Add the onion, garlic and sugar, and cook over a medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, until the onions are soft and just beginning to caramelize. Stir regularly.

3.       Add rice and stir to coat with the butter and oil. Begin to add the stock ½ cup at a time, only adding more when the previous amount has been mostly absorbed by the rice. Stir regularly, and keep adding more stock until the rice is cooked, around 30 minutes.

4.       While the rice is cooking, peel off the skins of peppers and cut into several pieces, being careful to remove the stalk and seeds from inside. Place the pepper flesh in a mug or a deep bowl, and use an immersion blender to blend the peppers into a chunky purée.

5.       When the rice is cooked, add the cheddar cheese, basil, the red pepper purée and some black pepper. Mix well. Serve topped with the goat’s cheese.

I will start off by saying that I LOVE this dish.  My husband LOVES it too.  Double winner!  I thought I added a tad too much pepper, but he liked it just fine.  I guess the best way to describe the flavor is sweet, peppery, cheesy, with a hint of Italian (from the basil).  The goat cheese adds a nice touch – a bit more creaminess to the already super creamy risotto.  I used a garlic cheddar cheese to enhance the flavor even more – awesome decision!  My mouth is watering just thinking about this delicious dish.  Each bite was such a treat to my taste buds.

I had some bits of red pepper that didn’t completely puree, but those and  the onion added just a hint of crunch.  The color was overwhelmingly red, but there were hints of green and black from spices (plus white from the goat cheese).  I liked that this dish was pretty easy to make, considering that it’s a risotto.  I served it with half of a Trader Joe’s Sausage-less Italian Sausage.

I cannot wait to make this again!

Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce (from AllRecipes, Total Time: 50 minutes, Servings: 8)

Ingredients

·         1 container roasted red peppers

·         2 Tbsp. minced garlic

·         ¼ cup fresh basil

·         3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

·         2 cups half-and-half (I used fat-free)

·         ¼ cup grated Romano cheese

·         4 Tbsp. butter

·         salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.      Chop peppers into small pieces, removing seeds as you go.

2.      In a skillet, cook and stir the garlic, basil, and red peppers in 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes, so that the flavors mix.

3.      Place mixture in blender (careful it is hot), and puree to desired consistency.

4.      Return puree to skillet, and reheat to a boil. Stir in the half-and-half and the Romano cheese; cook and stir until the cheese melts. Add the butter, and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

I served this sauce over a Mediterranean ravioli.  I think next time, I’ll choose regular pasta.  I’ll also use regular half and half instead of fat-free because our sauce ended up thin.  It had a slightly sweet flavor to it, I’m not sure if that was the sauce or the pasta.  I had to add some red pepper flakes to mine to get some good flavor out of it, so next time I’ll throw that in while its cooking.  Not a bad sauce, but I’ve had better.

Spinach Mushroom Lasagna

I wanted to try this recipe because I am a huge fan of roasted red peppers, cheese, and pasta.  This seemed like it would be a pretty good mix.  The lasagna is very filling and healthy for a pasta dish – and the fat and calorie content can be controlled depending on your choice of ricotta and parmesan.  I did enjoy it and it made a ton of leftovers – I actually had to freeze about half of it because we just couldn’t eat it all!

Spinach Mushroom Lasagna (expected time 2 hours, 12+ servings)

(adapted from Kraft Foods)

Ingredients

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce – I used a tomato/basil marinara.  Your choice in sauce will affect the overall taste of the dish, so choose wisely!

2 large  red peppers, roasted, seeded and peeled – I used canned roasted red peppers.  Much easier.

1 egg, beaten

2-1/2 cups  Light Ricotta Cheese

2-1/2 cups Shredded part-skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1 pkg.  (16 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

1/2 tsp.  ground nutmeg

12 lasagna noodles

2 tsp.  olive oil

1 large sweet onion, chopped

1 lb.  fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions

1.)    Heat oven to 350ºF.

2.)    Cook lasagna noodles as directed on package, omitting salt.

3.)    Blend spaghetti sauce and peppers in blender until smooth.

4.)    Combine egg, ricotta, 1-1/4 cups mozzarella, spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan and nutmeg.

5.)    Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir 5 min. or until crisp-tender. Stir in mushrooms; cook 10 min. or until tender and browned.

6.)    Spread 3/4 cup sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the mushroom mixture and 3/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with foil sprayed with cooking spray.

7.)    Bake 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 min. Let stand 15 min. before serving.

I cooked my noodles with a half dry red wine – half water mixture.  It adds just a touch of a wine taste to the noodles.  This dish needed something extra.  It was OK as is, but a little garlic powder and cayenne pepper on the leftovers helped its taste tremendously.  Next time, I’ll probably add these two spices into the ricotta mixture – or sauté a few garlic cloves with the onions.  This should make this dish tastier.  The spinach and mushrooms were also slightly overwhelming. I will use only 10 oz. of spinach in my future endeavors and chop the mushrooms instead of using slices.  That should definitely help keep the focus on the overall lasagna and not its component parts.