Crock-Pot Spinach and Pesto Lasagna

2 c marinara sauce, plus extra for serving
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 c pesto
2 c ricotta cheese
12 oz bag baby spinach, washed and dried
1 c grated Parmesan cheese
2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup water

Place approximately 1/4 c pasta sauce in bottom of large 4 quart Crock-pot slow cooker. Add one layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, breaking them apart to cover sauce. Spread 1/2 c ricotta cheese and 2 T pesto on pasta. Add 1/4 of the spinach and sprinkle heavily withParmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Repeat layers twice or until all ingredients are used. Put 1/4 c water into empty sauce jar and pour over top of lasagna.

Place cover on Crock-pot and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Lasagna is done when pasta is tender. Uncover and let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

Chef's Note: This dish was delicious and much easier to prepare than a traditional lasagna with precooked pasta. I would recommend using fresh mozzarella rather than pre-shredded cheese as the anti-caking ingredients make the cheese rubbery.

Spicy Sausage Soup with Kale

This recipe is very similar to my Toscana Soup in the main ingredients, however the taste is completely different. This soup is spicy and flavorful, tasting like it has been cooked for hours but the good news is it's ready in about 30 minutes (especially if you have a sous chef to chop all your veg!)




1-1/2 T olive oil
1 lb hot Italian sausage
1/4 one yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1-1/2 t fresh rosemary, minced
2 T tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart chicken broth
Two 15-oz cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
6 oz kale, center ribs removed, leaves chopped (approx. 4 c)
1-1/2 t cider vinegar
fresh grated Parmesan (optional)

Heat olive oil in 5-quart dutch oven or heavy bottom stock pot over medium high heat. Add sausage (casing removed) and crumble while cooking until browned, about 8 minutes. Add onion, carrot, celery, and rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes.

Add tomato paste and garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add broth, beans, and kale and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Uncover, raise heat to medium low and cook 5 minutes more to meld flavors. Remove from heat, stir in vinegar and garnish with fresh parmesan, if desired. Serves 4.

Chef's Note: Do not omit the vinegar. It may sound strange, but it adds a wonderful depth of flavor to the spicy sausage.

Maple Upside-down Cake

1 c grade A maple syrup
3 T sugar
1 T butter
1 egg
1/2 c milk, room temperature
1 c sifted all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt


Preheat oven to 400°. In a small saucepan, bring maple syrup to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour the syrup into a greased 8-x-8-inch baking pan and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the sugar, butter, and egg until well blended. Add warm milk and stir well.

With mixer off, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat into the creamed mixture until thoroughly combined. Spoon batter into the syrup filled pan and, using a spatula, spread the batter to the pan edges. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden.

Immediately invert cake onto serving plate taking care to loosen cake from pan if needed. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Fall is here, hooray hooray! Of course, fall in Phoenix means it only heats up to 99° during the day. But the nights are wonderfully cool and I love thinking it's fall. Humor me, it's the best I can do living where I live.

Fall baking to me means all things pumpkin. I try to cram as much pumpkin into my baking between late September to the end of November as I possibly can without making myself sick. Well, I guess I am trying to make myself sick of pumpkin until next year.




Pumpkin Cupcakes
1 Duncan Hines Yellow cake mix
1 c solid pack pumpkin
4 eggs
1/3 c oil
1/2 c milk
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners. Combine all ingredients in standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment and mix on medium high for 3 minutes. Divide evenly between cupcake pans.

Bake approximately 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Rotate pans half way through cooking time, if necessary. Remove cupcakes from pans to wire racks and cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
2 lb powdered sugar
1 T vanilla extract

Whip all ingredients until very smooth.

Cookies and Creme Cupcakes

I made these this past weekend for DL White's birthday (hi DL!) These are so chocolatey and moist, they are a must have in every chocoholics recipe file.




Recipe ever so slightly adapted from Bakerella.

for the Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 c sugar
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 t vanilla
3/4 c milk
3/4 c hot water
1 package Oreo cookies (not double-stuffed)

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners and place one whole Oreo in each.

In a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt on low. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and milk and mix well until thoroughly combined. Add the hot water and mix on medium high speed for several minutes. Batter will be very liquid.

Transfer batter to a large measuring cup and then pour batter into each cupcake liner cup so that it is no more than three quarters full. Cookies will most likely float to the top but it's okay if they don't.

Bake in center of oven for 16-18 minutes. Rotate baking racks half-way through if needed. Let cool completely before frosting.

Yeild approximately 18-24 cupcakes.

for the Frosting:
2 c shortening
2 lb powdered sugar
2 t vanilla
1/4 c milk
20 Oreo cookies, filling removed and crushed

In stand mixer with whisk attached, beat the shortening until smooth. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Add powdered sugar and milk in three additions, scraping down the sides after each.

Place crushed cookies in a shallow bowl. Mound frosting on each cupcake and roll top in crushed cookies until all frosting is covered.






Chef's Note: Bakerella suggested placing broken cookie bits in the bottom of the cupcakes but I really like the "wow" factor of biting into a cupcake and finding a whole Oreo.