Mushroom and Sausage Ragu

Winter is certainly here. In central Illinois we have wind chills below zero already. I bundle up to head outside in a puffy coat, scarf, hat, and mittens and I am still cold. The wind... the wind gets me every time.

With the weather chilling our bodies, it is essential that we eat good warm comfort food. Something like the lasagna soup I showed you earlier this week. Or let's be honest, any kind of soup will do. Maybe you aren't feeling soup, so please try this quick and easy mushroom and sausage ragu. I served it atop some creamy cheesy polenta in order to make it complete comfort. It'll warm your soul. I promise.

Mushroom and Sausage Ragu with Polenta (adapted from Cooking Light The New Way To Cook Light)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces Italian sausage (I used hot but pick your spice level)
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 lb button mushrooms, sliced
1 large garlic cloves
1/2 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth (homemade or low sodium store-bought)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked polenta
1/4 cup Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned, about 3 minutes, stirring to crumble. Remove sausage to a plate.

Heat another 2 tsp of oil in the skillet. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 1 minute while constantly stirring. Return the sausage to the pan and mix in the tomatoes. Season with a dash of salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

Bring the broth and water to a boil in a saucepan. Whisk in the polenta. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 20 minutes until thick, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cheese and butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the polenta topped with the ragu.

Serves 2.

Lasagna Soup

Oh hey there fancy pants!

I have been wearing my fancy pants for almost all of November and fancy pants apparently do not allow for blog posting. Actually, I kid, it is the job interviewing and flying all over the country that does not allow for blog posting. I do [almost] officially have a job as a professor starting Fall 2014. I'll tell you details at a later point once I dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

For now I'll just share with you a comforting fall or winter soup. I love lasagna but with an always busy schedule I rarely have the time to assemble and bake the whole casserole. This soup completely lives up to the flavors of tomato, cheese, and pasta that I crave but without the time commitment. I filled it with a little bit of ground beef and a ton of mushrooms because that is how I prefer my lasagna, but feel free to do your thing.

Lasagna Soup (adapted from Paula Deen)
Ingredients:
1/3 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 cups chicken stock (homemade or low sodium store-bought)
2 cups water
28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
15 oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt (+ more to taste)
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups broken lasagna noodles
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese, about 2 cups

Directions:
In a Dutch oven, cook the ground beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic over medium-high heat for about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is browned. Drain. Stir in the mushrooms, thyme, brown sugar, stock, water, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the broken noodles and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese.

Preheat the broiler. Ladle whatever soup you are going to eat into ovenproof crocks/bowls. Sprinkle each with about 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Broil about 6-inches from the heat for about 3-4 minutes until melted, browned and bubbly.

Serves 6-8.

Trashy Portobello Mushroom Burger

You win some and you lose some.

That happens in the lab when you are trying to synthesize molecules or express plasmids or purify proteins. Sometimes things work like you plan, sometimes they don't.

Same thing happens when you are in the kitchen... especially when you are dreaming up a recipe yourself. Last week I made the grilled veggies and hummus wrap using portobello mushrooms. Since I had purchased a pack of 5 mushrooms, I had a few to play around with. I planned out two dishes -- stuffed portobellos and portobello burgers.

I was thinking I would saute up some sweet potato and peppers, throw in a little seasoning and then stuff that into my mushrooms. But then I ran into a problem, the sweet potato in my pantry had gone bad :( So I searched around my kitchen and found some frozen veggies, frozen northern beans and homemade pasta sauce. I figured I could make up a little concoction of those things, stuff it into the mushrooms and top with a little cheese as a play on a pasta-less pasta primavera. I made that last night but I really wasn't sold; it was okay but not blog-worthy.

Mushroom 1. Julie 0.

 

The second planned dish (which actually happened before the first planned one) was the portobello burgers. I did a twist on a barbecue bacon burger topping them with caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, and, of course, BACON. I'm calling it a trashy burger because here I am taking a traditionally meatless meal and trashing it up with bacon. You don't have to do it, but I would recommend it. This one is certainly a win.

If you are keeping score, that's Mushroom 1. Julie 1. It's a draw. We will have a rematch Mr. Portobello, you can count on it.

Trashy Portobello Mushroom Burger
Ingredients:
2 portobello mushrooms, stems twisted out
3 tsp extra virgin olive oil, separated
salt and pepper
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
3 tbsp barbecue sauce (your favorite kind)
2 slices sharp cheddar cheese
3 pieces of bacon, cooked to your desired likeness, each cut in half, optional
2 hamburger buns

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Drizzle 1 tsp of oil on the top of each and rub in. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cap up on a baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes, flipping over halfway throug, until the mushrooms are cooked. Turn on broiler.

Meanwhile, heat the other 1 tsp of oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the onion slices and stir to coat. Decrease the heat to medium and cook the onions until caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 10-12 minutes. 

Once the mushrooms are cooked, slather 1 tbsp of barbecue sauce on top of each. Top with cheese slices. Broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted completely.

Assemble the burger by spreading another 1/2 tbsp barbecue sauce on the bottom bun, topping with 3 half slices of bacon, layering the mushroom and half the caramelized onions and then the top bun.

Grab yourself a napkin because it is guaranteed to be messy!

Serves 2.