Risotto and Beef Stuffed Tomatoes

All year long I wait patiently for FRESH garden tomatoes out of my mother's garden.  There is nothing better than a beautiful, ripe, red tomato!  Popped right into my mouth from the vine or sliced thickly on a piece of homemade bread with cheddar cheese makes my taste buds sing with happiness.  I also LOVE a good stuffed tomato.  Comfort food at it's best in my book! 

 

 

 

 

  It takes time and patience to prepare stuffed tomatoes.  A true recipe from the heart as it is a deliciously comforting dish that only requires simple ingredients.  I chose to make my stuffing with ground beef to accompany the risotto.  Ground chicken, pork, turkey or sausage could be easily put in place of the beef. 

 

I found this recipe to be a perfect weekend meal as it does take a little time to prepare with the use of Arborio rice in the filling.   But the risotto is a perfect addition to the tomatoes and meat as it has such a lovely texture and is full of flavor.

 

 So grab those last garden tomatoes, your favorite ground meat and some lovely risotto so that you can whip up a batch of stuffed tomatoes for this coming weekend.  It's truly the right thing to do!

 

 

Risotto Stuffed Tomatoes

(recipe from Ms. enPlace)

 

Ingredients:

 

2-4 large tomatoes

1 lb ground meat of your choice (I used ground beef)

1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling \

2 Tbsp chopped garlic - about 2-3 cloves

1/2 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup reserved tomato juice from tomatoes

1 1/2 cups chicken broth, warmed

1/3 cup loosely packed chopped basil or parsley

salt and pepper to taste

 

 

Directions:

 

1. Cut off top 1/3 of each tomato and set aside.  Remove insides of each tomato with paring knife/spoon and reserve what you scoop out.  Be careful not to puncture the walls of the tomatoes as you work.  Drain reserved tomato pulp over a bowl in a strainer.  Breaking up the tomato pieces will help this process along.

 

2. Place tomatoes in a medium greased baking dish.  Propping the tomatoes up against one another may need to happen in order for them to stay upright.

 

3. Using a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp olive oil to sauté your meat over medium heat.  Saute meat until lightly browned.  Add in garlic and then lower your heat, cooking a few minutes more.

 

4. Add rice into the skillet with the ground meat/garlic mixture.  Saute until the rice is translucent - about 5-7 minutes.  Add in 1/2 cup of the reserved tomato juice - stir until almost all absorbed.  Add in warmed broth - 1/2 cup at a time, each time stirring after each addition until adsorbed.  Test rice for "doneness" after about 15 minutes.  If rice is still hard add in more liquid - 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until almost absorbed each time.  If rice is chewy, remove skillet from heat. Stir in herbs along with salt and pepper to taste.

 

5. Preheat oven to 400. Spoon mixture into prepared tomato shells (most likely you will have extra filling left over that you can use for another meal/dish - we made burritos out of our extra filling). Place tomato tops over the stuffed tomatoes and then drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 35-40 minutes - tomatoes will be soft and the rice tender when done.  Remove your lovely stuffed tomatoes from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

 

 

 Enjoy!!

 



 

 

 

Happy Risotto and Beef Stuffed Tomato Making!



(Carrie's Famous) Tater Tot Shepard's Pie

In the beginning of this month I had the pleasure of escaping on vacation with a group of dear friends of mine for a whole week to Cape Cod.  We were all of 15 - 9 women and 7 children (ages 7 months - 9 years old) in one lovely house over looking the water.....

We enjoyed one sunset after another...each one more beautiful and full of magic than the one before.

Watching the sun set each evening was just one of the many highlights of our vacation.  FOOD...absolutely scrumptious food was a huge part of our vacation too.  Making sure those kiddos were well fueled for all their swimming and low-tide adventures was very important.  Carrie, as seen below with her adorable little doggie named, Saki ....

....made 3 scrumptious, kid-friendly casseroles that were gobbled down with happiness by all.  One of the three casseroles that she made was a Tater Tot Shepard's Pie.  It was SO good!  When we came home from vacation it was one of the first meals I made for my family.  They loved it as I know you guys will too.

(Carrie's Famous) Tater Tot Shepard's Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ground beef or turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 can cream of corn

1 can sweet corn, drained

1-2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1  bag frozen Tater Tots

Directions:

1.  Over medium heat saute chopped onion until soft.  Add in ground meat and cook to brown. Turn off heat and then drain grease.  Stir in garlic salt, ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce.  Pour meat mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.

2.  Over ground meat mixture layer spoon can of creamed corn and drained can of sweet corn. Sprinkle a layer of grated cheese over corn.

3. Layer frozen tater tots over grated cheese.....

....and then sprinkle with more cheese to finish it off.  Pop into preheated 350 degrees oven.  Bake for 25-30 minutes (check after 20 minutes to make sure casserole is not getting too brown).

Serve up some yumminess!

Happy Tater Tot Shepard's Pie Baking!

Macho Nacho Pie

Macho, Macho Man......la la la la la la la laaaaaaaaa....... :-)

Yes, this is the song that went through my head as I made at this savory pie.....

Such a yummy pie....super easy peasy to make and full of great flavor!  Don't be afraid to jazz up this pie to your liking.  I added corn to the recipe but later thought about also adding chopped green peppers or even a little salsa or some diced green chilies. 

Go ahead and be a "Macho Man" and make this recipe into your own!

Nacho Pie

(recipe adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef - ground turkey or chicken can be easily substituted

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (8oz.) tomato sauce

1/2 cup canned corn

2 Tbsp's taco seasoning

1 tube (8oz.) refrigerated  crescent rolls

1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips, divided

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheese - Mexican blend, cheddar or monteray jack all all great cheeses to use

Directions:

1. In a large pan cook beef and onion over medium heat.....

  Cook until beef is no longer pink. Drain any fat.  Stir in tomato sauce, corn and taco seasoning....

  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

2. While meat/tomato mix is simmering prepare pie crust.  Separate crescent dough into 8 triangles.  Place triangles into 9" pie pan with points of triangles towards the middle of pan.  Seal all perforations together as you press crescent rolls onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan.

3. Sprinkle 1 cup crushed chips onto bottom of crust......

  Top with meat mixture and then layer carefully with sour cream....

  Sprinkle with grated cheese and then the remaining crushed chips....

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.....

  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with extra sour cream and a scoop of salsa. 

Enjoy!

Happy Nacho Pie Baking!

This post has been linked up to Eat at Home Cooks.

Cheesy Beef Mac

Once again my girl, Siggy has provided me with a yummy and quick week night meal for the Fam (meaning EVERYONE - young and old - loved this meal in my household). AND this recipe makes a ton! - hooray for left-overs for the next day! - OR sharing with others.

Siggy makes this recipe with ground turkey which allows it to be lower in fat but I made mine with 85% lean ground beef.  Choose your ground meat and go for it!

Cheesy Beef Mac

(recipe adapted from Siggy Spice)

Ingredients:

1 lb box elbow macaroni

4 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 large green pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 1/2 - 2 1/2 lbs ground beef (or turkey or chicken....you choose) - I used 1 1/2 lbs of 85% lean ground beef

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

2 (14.5 oz.) cans tomato sauce

1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup

1-2 tsp dried parsley

1-2 tsp dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

2-3 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Once fully cooked, drain and set aside.

2. In large skillet or dutch oven, heat 2 Tbsp EVOO.  Add ground meat and brown. Drain meat and set aside.

3. Add remaining 2 Tbsp EVOO to skillet or dutch oven, heat over medium heat.  Add in onions and green peppers.  Saute until soft.  Add in crushed garlic.  Cook all together until garlic is nice and fragrant.  Be careful not to burn the garlic!

4. Add in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and condensed cheese soup.  Stir to combine well.  Add in spices and allow to simmer over medium low heat for a good 15-20 minutes so as to allow all the yummy flavors to come together.  Taste and add in salt and pepper as needed.

5. Add in reserved browned meat to tomato sauce.

6. In a LARGE bowl combine macaroni and meat/tomato sauce.  Carefully stir to combine well.

7. Pour yummy noodles, sauce and meat into casserole dishes.  As Siggy did, I used a 9x13 and an 8x8.....yup it makes a TON!!! Top with cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese melts into a golden brown happiness and casserole is heated all the way through.

Enjoy with a nice piece of bread and a side of salad! :-)

This post has been linked to....

This Mommy Cooks

Spaghetti Pie

My mouth waters just looking at this picture....crazy I know!  BUT I just lovvvvvve this recipe for Spaghetti Pie.  Unfortunately, I fell in love with it so fast I can't even remember where I found the recipe.  I have seen a bunch of different versions out there in "blog land"/on-line recipes.  Some versions use lots of veggies (like peppers and mushrooms), other versions use cottage cheese (I used ricotta cheese) and then some versions only use 2 eggs ( I used 3)...but no matter what, you can adapt your recipe for this yummy dish to what ever your palate desires.  Veggies vs. no veggies, cottage cheese vs. ricotta cheese, more eggs vs. less eggs...it's all in what YOU want to create for a Spaghetti Pie.

Say hello to the ingredients that I used to make my S.P. - spaghetti noodles, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parm cheese, can o mushrooms (didn't have any fresh ones), 1 medium chopped onion, spaghetti sauce, garlic salt, parsley (fresh or dried is just fine), butter,  ground beef (ground chicken or turkey is yummy too) and lastly eggs.

Spaghetti Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 6oz. package of spaghetti

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

1 can of mushrooms, drained (fresh is even better)

1 small container of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

3 eggs

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp parsley, dried or fresh

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 stick of butter, melted

8 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook noodles al dante according to package directions and set aside.

2. Saute chopped onions until tender.  Add in ground beef  and cook until nice and brown.  Drain as much fat as possible from the beef/onion mixture....

.....and set aside.

3. Combine the eggs, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic salt and parsley in a large bowl....

...and mix well.

4. Add in the cooked pasta and toss to combine....

  Next gently pour in the 1/2 stick of melted butter (don't stress....it's only a 1/2 of a stick!) and toss to combine....

5. Pour pasta/cheese/egg mixture into a 9x13 lightly greased pan....

6.  Next layer the browned ground beef and onions on top of the pasta layer.....

.......and then the drained mushrooms and spaghetti sauce.....

.....and then the mozzarella cheese....

7. Place in a oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until pie is bubbly hot and lightly browned on top....

Cool for a couple minutes and then serve.  Yummy happiness from here on out! ;-)

Happy Spaghetti Pie Baking!

Mmmmmmm Homemade Sloppy Joes

That's right.....made from scratch, homemade Sloppy Joes.  Delish!  Once you make this recipe you will never again open up a can of Sloppy Joe sauce to add to your ground beef, chicken or turkey.  You will actually be ashamed of yourself if you do so.  I say this because not only is this recipe perfectly delicious, it is HEALTHY and easy peasy to make.  I promise you - you can trust me 100% on this. :-)

Here we go.....

Sloppy Joes

(recipe has been treasured from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter

2 1/2 lbs ground beef, turkey or chicken (I used 85% lean ground beef)

1/2 of a whole large onion, diced

1 whole green pepper, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup water

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp chili powder (more or less if you wish)

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes - optional

Worcestershire Sauce to taste

2 tbsp tomato paste - optional

Tabasco Sauce - optional

salt and pepper to taste

rolls or pasta

Directions:

1. Melt your 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add ground beef and cook until browned.  Drain most of fat.

2. Add into the ground beef the onions, green pepper and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes to soften veggies.

3. Add in ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard and water.  Stir to combine and simmer for a good 15 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  If desired add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco at this point.

4. Serve on buttered and toasted rolls........

or over pasta.....

 And as Ree Drummond has said, "top with a slice of cheese if it makes your skirt fly up." I just love this woman!



Happy Sloppy Joe Cooking!