Lasagna Soup

I always hesitate to try more then one new recipe in a week in fear of having to many “iffy” meals. My boys are becoming quite the food critics, in a good way, sort of.  So when I’m exploring my cookbooks or looking on Pinterest for new recipes to try, I try to keep to one new one a week. BUT this week I tried two. The first one was a twist to a recipe that I have made before and it was a fantastic turn out. So much so that my husband called to tell me It was fantastic. (We had different schedules that prevented us eating together last night) My kids even said “This is the best!” So having such success on one new recipe I was hesitant to try a new one. Because honestly in the past, I get excited and maybe prideful that a recipe turned out so well, and the next evening we end up eating grilled cheese because the recipe failed. Hahaha. But this week has been so flavorful, I just had to share this recipe.

I have actually had this recipe for a few years. My mom and another friend sent me this with each having a slight variation to it. I just never have tried it until today. It was one of those days I forgot to take out meat from the freezer, then homeschool mixed with public school band, and then Keith and I ended up spending the afternoon tapping our maple trees. We anticipate the weather to warm up above 32° and the sap to start flowing good tomorrow, so my afternoon was spent out in the 9° with a wind chill of -2°. Did I say I am looking forward to the warmer weather tomorrow? After a afternoon out in that wind chill, soup sounded really good. So I dug through my books looking for recipes using burger meat. I saw this one and had most of all the ingredients so I figured I would try it. Good thing I did, because my boys said this was a HOME RUN, the kind that they’d would run home for! SCORE!! With fresh bread this was the perfect soup to warm up to.
 
Lasagna Soup
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 pounds of Italian sausage (now I didn’t have this, I used burger seasoned with 1 tsp Italian seasoning and 1 tsp Adobo)
3 chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano (I used 2 drops of oregano essential oil)
1/2 cup tomato sauce, half a can
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes with chilies
2 bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock
8 oz Mafalda or fusilli pasta ( I actually didn’t have this so I used a box of lasagna noodles that I did have, I just broke them into little pieces)
Salt and pepper to taste

For topping:
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
2 cups mozzarella cheese.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage or burger and brown. If using burger, add the Italian seasoning while browning. When brown add onions and cook till softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and oregano. Cook one minute. Add tomato sauce. Stir well to incorporate. Cook about 3 minute. Stir in diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta and cook till al dente. Do not over cook or the pasta will soak up all the liquid. If you want, cook the pasta separate and pour in your bowl an drink top it with your soup. That way the pasta won’t absorb all the liquid.

Mix together the ricotta, Parmesan and salt.

Serve up your bowl with pasta and  soup. Top with ricotta mixture and mozzarella. Stir well and enjoy with fresh bread. Delicious!

Cranberry Orange Cake

Cranberries. They were a round firm berry that we would string on the Christmas tree and that was ALL that I knew what to do with them. In Alaska I made very tart muffins with them. I didn't really like them but I used them because that is what we had.  I never really appreciated this tart berry and the potential that it could have. ..... That is till we moved to Maine where Cranberries are home grown in the bogs and beds around. You wouldn't even know you are driving by them unless you know what you are looking at. Back in college, when I was living with my Meema, we always talked about road tripping it up to New England to see how they grew cranberries. Visiting a Cranberry bog, It was like a thought out of a Hallmark movie. Fast forward to present day, where we live near and are friends with Cranberry farm owners. I have learned TONS about these cool berries, but since this is a recipe blog I will not give you all the information that I now know and just share recipes I have tried

Unlike the small, delicate berries we had in Alaska, Maine's berries are big and usually pretty firm and since living here, I have looked for and tried many new recipes for these berries. Besides scones, this one is one of my favorite ways to use them. I am not sure why I always make this at Christmas time, but it turns out to be such a flavorful cake and you can really decorate it pretty. It sets a mood for a Christmas cake. It might take a little more effort but the result is so worth it! Here is the recipe for the cake, the frosting, and the sugared berries. The sugared berries were so delicious that I made extra just so we could snack on them. They are the perfect combination of sweet and tart! Trust me, Make extra!

This recipe fills a 8 cup bundt pan, which is a small bundt pan, but I doubled the recipe and filled two 8 in round pans to make the round cake. So if you want to make it just like my picture double it and spray two round 8 inch pans. Or is you want to fill a big bundt pan, double the recipe. If you make this in a bundt cake, you may want to make a orange glaze instead of a cream cheese icing.

Cranberry Cake(I double this recipe for 2 round pans)
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 TBSP orange zest
Juice of 1 orange ( I use the one i got the zest from)
1/2 cup butter
2 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 cup chopped cranberries

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spray bundt pan or 8 inch round pan and then coat with a dusting of flour.
Cream together butter and sugar. 4-5 minutes till light and fluffy. add eggs one ate a time. Mix well. add orange juice and zest and sour cream. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and stir well. add to cream mixture. add chopped cranberries and stir in. Pour into pan. Bake 50-55 minutes. Rest 5 minutes then invert out of pan. Let cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick butter
2 block cream cheese(softened)
3-4 cups powder sugar
1 Tbsp Orange Zest
 Cream together butter and Cream cheese. Add powder sugar and Zest. Whip till spreading consistency.  Spread on cake.

Sugared Cranberries
2 cups sugar (divided 1 cup each)
1 cup water
12 oz Cranberries(I actually doubled the amount of berries because there was plenty of syrup to cover them)
In a sauce pan over medium high heat. Heat water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to boil and boil 10-15 minutes till it thickens. Cool 15 minutes. Line a cookie sheet (with edges) with parchment paper, Place cookie rack over the pan. toss the cranberries in batches in the syrup. Place on rack to dry 45 minutes. Then toss in 1 cup of Sugar. let dry a little longer. decorate cake with berries.