The Italian Kitchen: Baked Feta and Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Italian Sausage

I've seen this recipe around and thought I would finally try it. I, of course, made some changes. Next time, I would like to try the Boursin version. It was good a bit unexpected. It was a bit tangier than expected, I believe from the Feta.

The Ingredients

2 pints of cherry tomatoes

1 block Feta cheese

1/2 C olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

Salt 

Pepper

Pasta of choice

Ground Italian sausage

Oregano

Basil

Pizza party seasoning

The Recipe

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In baking dish layer the  cherry tomatoes and top with half of olive oil and seasonings. 

Add the Feta block in the middle of the baking dish and top with remainder of olive oil and seasonings.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the tomatoes break up and Feta melts. Mash to combine. I also used an immersion blender to really combine it well. 

While the Feta is cooking, cook your meat and pasta. Once the Feta is done, add the pasta and meat to the sauce. 

Garnish with parmesan, basil, or oregano. 

You could also add some veggies like broccoli or spinach if desired. 

The Soup Kitchen: Nacho Soup with Chochoyotes

The soup of the week is Nacho Soup with chochoyotes aka Mexican dumplings. All the flavors of nachos in a soup. The first step is to cook your ground beef. My favorite meat to use is actually ground beefalo. I also add the diced onions and diced green peppers at this step. Then you will add this to your slow cooker.

The Ingredients:

1lb been ground cooked and drained

1 C green bell pepper diced

1 C onion diced

3 cloves minced garlic

1 jalapeño seeds removed 

10-12 oz frozen corn

15 oz black beans drained and rinsed

1 can rotel

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

3 1/2 C beef broth

8oz shredded cheese- cheddar, pepperjack, or monterrey jack

1 C heavy cream

3-4 TBSP flour or masa harina

The Recipe:

Add all ingredients up to the broth to the slow cooker and cook on Hi for 4 hours or low for 8. This is also when I added the frozen chochoyotes.

Once done add cheese, and make a slurry with the flour and heavy cream and add.  Cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Chochoyotes recipe:

For the chochoyotes, you will need 1 c masa harina, 1 tbsp oil, seasoning of choice I used cilantro 1 TBSP, and 3/4 - 1 C of warm water. Mix all together until the consistency of play dough. Spoon small bits up and form into balls and push thumb to make an indention. You can put right in soup or you can freeze in a flat layer to be used later. Once frozen can transfer to ziploc bag. Tip: I used a spaghetti spoon to spoon up a melon baller would work to I think.

Note: don't add the dumplings until the last 10 min. Otherwise, they basically break down and become a thickener. It will still taste good but there will be no dumpling.

Garnish with cheese, peppers, onions, cilantro, or tortilla chips.