Over at Jacob’s Well, my church community here in New Jersey, we all lend our individual skills to the greater whole. A part of our identity is “Life in Community.” Not only does this mean opening our arms to people in need of community, it also means sharing the responsibilities of that community. Of course, we can just show up, enjoy the service, and leave, but the knowledge that extending our efforts a little bit further enriches our identities as Christians and members of Jacob’s Well, seems to drive everyone to contribute in whatever way the can. It is a beautiful and transformative thing to see people sacrifice their time and assets (no matter how slim) to better our community. Each Sunday, in our home service, we share a lunch prepared and organized by families (or groups of friends) that volunteer to feed a whole houseful of people. For me, this is obviously an opporunity to utilize my particular skill set. Nevermind how much fun it was, albeit a challenge, to develop and execute a new recipe for more people than I’ve ever cooked for. It had to be something relatively simple to prepare and transport, inexpensive, but still impressive, and not too similar to past weeks’ meals. It came to me in a dream, LASAGNA ROLLS….with two sauces! Only problem was, I had never made lasagna rolls before. Was I really going to attempt something I had never done before and serve it to 50 people? Sure was! Needless to say, when it came time to pop them in the oven and serve ‘em up, I was incredibly nervous…stomach-churning, sweaty palms nervous. Honestly, I could barely even taste the food when I finally sat down to eat, and I forgot to take pictures of the final product! But, the next day when I ate one of the three leftover rolls, I realized that I shouldn’t have worried at all! They came out pretty much exactly how I was hoping. If you decide try these out, remember that the recipe can easily be adjusted up or down and that any leftovers can be frozen and reheated in the oven. Here goes:
Ingredients
Ground Beef
Onion
Garlic
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Frozen Chopped Spinach
Lasagna Noodles
Butter
Flour
Milk
Crushed Italian Tomatoes with Basil
Fresh Basil
Sugar
Grated Parmesan Cheese (Yes, I used the cheap stuff here…c’mon it’s 50 people!)
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Process
Begin by browning beef, over medium-high heat, in a pot large enough to fit all of the meat at once.
While the meat begins browning, chop some onion and add it to the pot.
Stir it all up and allow to cook for a few minutes, then mince up some garlic and add it in.
Stir to combine. Once the meat is browned, lower the heat to medium. While the meat continues to cook, you should defrost the spinach.
I do this by placing the spinach in a microwave safe bowl and heating on short (minute-long) intervals in the microwave and stirring it between each blast to ensure that it defrosts evenly. Once it is completely defrosted place on top of several layers of paper towels (you can use a kitchen towel, but I don’t have a washer, so paper towels work just fine), wrap the towels up around the spinach and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You may have to repeat this process several times. I had a very large bag of spinach, so I had to do this in batches.
Now, you can toss the spinach in with the meat. Liberally season the meat mixture with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
Stir to combine. The meat should be cooked through by this point, so you can taste it to check the seasoning.
At this point, you can bring your pasta water to a boil. For the amount of meat I made for the filling, I went through 3-4 boxes of lasagna noodles. Once the water comes to a boil, add a generous amount of kosher salt and add your pasta to the boiling water. Cook a little shy of al dente.
Remember to stir the pasta until it returns to a boil, to prevent sticking. Note: If making for a crowd, you may need to prepare your pasta in batches. You never want to overcrowd your pasta pot. If making in batches, drain cooked batches as they come out and place in a bowl covered with cool water.
Now, here is when you’ll have to put your multi-tasking skills to the test. As your pasta cooks, you want to prepare the cream sauce that you will combine with the meat to complete the filling. Begin by heating a large pot over medium-low heat. Add butter and flour and combine to make a roux.
Allow the flour to cook, but keep a good eye on it. You don’t want the roux to pick up any color since we are making a bechamel, which requires a white or blonde roux. Season with salt and pepper.
Add milk to the roux to reach desired consistency. You want the sauce to be pourable, but thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you think you’ve reached this stage, add a little more milk as it will thicken as it simmers and when you add the parmesan cheese.
Allow to simmer and thicken for a few minutes, then add several handfuls of parmesan cheese.
Stir to combine. Taste sauce to check seasoning. If you’re pleased, you can combine the meat mixture with the cheese sauce in a large bowl.
Make sure all of the meat is coated with the sauce.
Add just a little more parm, and set aside along with lasagna noodles.
In a small pot, combine tomatoes, a pinch of sugar, some salt and bring to a simmer.
Grab some fresh basil and finely slice into ribbons.
Remove tomato sauce from heat, and stir in the basil.
Spread a small amount of the tomato sauce in the bottom of your baking dish (I used a long disposable foil tray).
One by one, lay each lasagna noodle on a flat surface and spread a small spoonful of filling down the center, vertically.
Begin rolling from the end closest tou you, tucking in the filling as you go along.
Place rolls in the foil pan in a single layer.
Repeat filling process until your pan is full (I had to use a second, smaller pan to make 50 rolls).
Cover with a generous, but not excessive, amount of sauce (you want enough sauce so that when you bake it off, the pasta will finish cooking in it).
As I mentioned earlier, I forgot to snap a few pics, but at this point you should top with a healthy helping of shredded mozzarella cheese. You can bake the tray right away, or refrigerate or freeze it until ready to use. Bake at 400 degrees until heated through and cheese is melted and starting to brown. Hope you ENJOY…it’s really not as hard as it looks 
.
Set aside and begin prepping your chicken. As usual, you want to clean off any excess fat and then you should split the breasts as demonstrated in my 
Mix everything up and set aside to marinate well you work on the other components. Now’s a good time to cook up your bacon. In the past year, I’ve discovered that I really like to cook bacon in the toaster oven when I have the time. The bacon doesn’t curl up and the scent doesn’t infiltrate your home so much. So that’s what I did hear. Depending on the thickness of the bacon, I usally cook it on 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, if the bacon is thinner, decrease the time.
While the bacon cooks, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and throw in your chicken.
Sautee on both sides until nicely browned, add a couple tablespoons of butter, and sprinkle the whole thing with some flour.
Toss everything around to work in the flour and allow it to cook out for a few minutes to lose the raw taste. Once a bit of a roux has formed and cooked up, add a few ounces of a tasty white wine.
Bring to boil and let the alcohol cook out. This is important! If you don’t give the alcohol a few minutes to cook out, the sauce will curdle in the next step. Once it comes to a boil and simmers for a minute you can add in the cream.
Stir to combine and allow to simmer so the sauce is thick enough to coat the chicken with a couple tablespoons leftover for drizzling. While the sauce thickens, cut the bread into 2-3 inch wide pieces, spread each side with a healthy amount of the cheese, and layer bacon on both sides.
Once the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is nice and thick, place one breast portion on the bread and drizzle with a little more sauce.
To fancy it up a bit more, serve with a bistro salad of greens, dried fruit, and nuts and some roasted potatoes. Now, please, please, please ENJOY the creamy, bacony goodness!
While I truly enjoyed both cheeses, the Dubliner was really the stand out for me. It almost has the texture of parmesan crossed with cheddar and is fantastic for grating over almost anything and dreamy as a snack. It has a very distinctive, tangy yet nutty flavor that really is a party for your tastebuds. It’s sophisticated on the palate, but not so much so that it’s overwhelming just sliced and eaten on a cracker. Yeah, I’d really like some right now…but, I’m all out. I think I’ll be using my second set of coupons pretty soon. You really should check out Kerrygold’s website to learn more about their other cheeses and find out where you can pick some up. If you’re a true cheese lover, a little effort will be worth it. Go eat some cheese…NOW, and ENJOY!
Stir it all up, then grab another dish and load it up with an excess of panko. Now you can set up your breading station. I usually do this in order of what goes on the protein first and end up at the pan. In this case, that’s fish, honey mustard mixture, panko, and hot pan.
Dip each salmon fillet into the honey mustard to thoroughly coat both sides.
Then dip each fillet into the panko and lightly coat all sides.
Tip: Add your fillets one at a time to the hot pan as you bread them. The breading only takes a few seconds and you don’t need to dirty up another dish.
Get all your fish into the pan and allow the first side to reach a deep golden brown before flipping. The second side will cook faster, so keep an eye on it. The fish is done when it feels firm to the touch and the meat just flakes. On fillets this size, by the time both sides are equally golden the fish will be cooked through.
Then cut your tomatoes into medium wedges.
Toss in a baking dish, grate some garlic over the top, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Then pop ‘em into the oven.
While your bread toasts and your tomatoes roast, you can prepare the dressing. Squeeze the juice of one lemon and one lime into a bowl, drizzle in some olive oil whisking while you do so (to emulsify or homogenize the liquid).
When your bread is golden brown and the tomatoes are soft, bubbly, and brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple minutes.
Toss the tomatoes into the dressing, with most of their juices.
Your bread should look like this:
Now use your mitts or grab some salad spoons and toss up the whole thing until everything is well-combined.
Be careful not to over mix, you don’t want it to be squishy, you just want everything to be coated in dressing. Now, serve it up with some protein, and ENJOY!
While the shrimp cooks, preheat your broiler and finely chop the onion and garlic. You can also start bringing a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. When the water boils, add the pasta and cook until al dente (still a little firm).
When the shrimp is cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, melt a couple tablespoons of butter and add the onions and garlic.
Allow the 
At this point, your shrimp should be cool enough to handle, and you can cut them up into bite size pieces (you can also leave them whole, I just think this dish eats better with the shrimp in smaller pieces).
When the roux has darkened just a tad in color and no longer tastes pasty, you can begin adding liquid. I started by adding in the wine.
Stir rapidly until everything smooths out and allow to come to a boil. The alcohol must be cooked out before you add the milk, or the sauce will curdle.
Then add milk until sauce reaches desired amount and consistency. Remember you want enough to coat all of your pasta and a little extra.
Season with salt and pepper, add a dijon mustard to taste, and just a touch of nutmeg, bring to a boil.
Next stir in all but a few tablespoons of the cheese and continue stirring until melted and completely incorporated.
At this point, you should check your pasta for doneness, strain it when it’s ready, and return it to the pot. Then stir your shrimp into the cheese sauce.
Pour the sauce into the pot of pasta and gently stir until every noodle is coated (note how I’m using two different pastas, this is not technique my friends, this is lack of planning…still tastes good though).
Add more seasoning if necessary, transfer to a baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and pop into the broiler.
Remove from the broiler when the top is brown and bubbly.
Serve it up and indulge in this cheesy delight.
ENJOY!
An unbelievably satisfying snack of balanced salty sweet nuggets and chewy, melty, and crunchy textures, it meets every demand of the tastebuds with smooth panacea and elegance. My favorite are the burnt caramel hazelnuts and almonds. The burnt caramel itself is a signature of Recchiuti. From the first taste of these nuts, I was intrigued. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what made them so delightful, but after a quick visit to 
Now, woosh it all around to combine.
Add the chicken, and give it another woosh. Then set aside and allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes (if you’re using the bag, make sure to seal it), mine was in for about an hour and a half.
When you’re ready for dinner, lightly mist a skillet with cooking spray and allow to get very hot. Add your chicken to the pan.
Now, don’t mess with them! You want to let them caramelize (that is, allow the sugars from the marinade to brown on the chicken). When you’ve achieved a nice dark brown, almost burned looking crust, you can flip them over. And just believe me, those dark bits are awesome!
Don’t be scared! Now allow the second side to get equally caramelized and the chicken to cook through. If your chicken breasts are a little bit thicker, you may need to lower the fire so that they can cook through without the outside burning.
Conserve your money, save your time, and ENJOY!
Then add the veggies to the pan, and season with salt and pepper.
Saute until veggies soften and onions begin to go translucent.
Add in the ground beef and allow the first side to brown up.
When the bottom is nicely browned, turn and allow to cook through and mix with veggies. Drain off any excess grease.
Stir well to incorporate and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, discard the bay leaves, and allow to cool for a few minutes. While you wait, carefully separate your discs, lay the first one out and fill one half with a small amount of meat mixture.
Fold over disc so that edges meet.
Use a fork to seal and crimp edges. Repeat this process until all of the discs are filled and sealed.
Cover a cookie sheet with a silpat, parchment paper, or a light coating of cooking spray. Then place each pastelillo on the cookie sheet and lightly mist with cooking spray.
Bake 10-15 minutes until crust is bubbly and crisp.
