Pizza Steak Sandwiches in a Slow Cooker

Pizza Steak Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker adapted from Debbie Does Dinner
Adapted from Eat at Home
2 - 2 1/2 chuck roast, trimmed of visible fat
6 oz. pepperoni
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 - 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Provolone or mozzerella cheese slices

Directions:  Place meat in slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheese. Cook on high 5 - 6 hours or low for 7 - 8 or until meat can be shredded. Serve on buns or over potatoes if you're gluten free. Top with cheese slices.

Here's what you'll need:

Salt and pepper the roast.  Put the roast and the pepperoni in a slow cooker.

Add the herbs.

Chop up the peppers, onions, and garlic.

Add to the crockpot.

Add the diced tomatoes.

Once the meat is cooked and tender, shred it.

Make a sandwich and add the cheese.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
This dish was easy to make and only took about 5 minutes in prep time.  As it was cooking, it smelled delicious. 

The meat was very tender and the onions, pepper, and garlic gave it great flavor.

One complaint that I had is that the pepperoni, even though it was Boar's Head, made the sauce very greasy.  I actually drained a bunch of the juices out and ended up adding an extra can of tomato sauce.  Another thing with the pepperoni is that it definitely did not get that crispy pizza-like crunch that you get when you order a pepperoni pizza. 

You could make this dish with any of your favorite pizza toppings (pork, Italian sausage, chicken, etc). 

Also, I think you could you either canned pizza sauce or even spaghetti sauce instead of the diced tomatoes.  Serve it on some crusty bread.

Overall, I think this dish was a success.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Sausage Pepper Heros

Sausage and Pepper Heros adapted from Delish 
2 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing 
1 pound(s) red bell peppers, thinly sliced 
1 large red onion, thinly sliced 
2 clove(s) garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon(s) dried oregano, crumbled 
1/2 teaspoon(s) crushed red pepper 
Kosher salt 
6  chicken sausages, about 5 ounces each, preferably with roasted pepper or parsley and cheese 
3  long hero rolls, split lengthwise

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Directions:  Heat a large cast-iron or nonstick griddle (you can also use 2 cast-iron or nonstick skillets). Add the oil, bell peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, and crushed red pepper and season with salt. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are softened and just beginning to brown, 6 minutes. Push the vegetables to the back of the griddle, cover with an inverted heatproof bowl, and keep warm over low heat; stir occasionally as you cook the sausages.

Prick the sausages with a knife and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until no trace of pink remains, 10 minutes. Add the sausages to the vegetables and keep warm. Brush the rolls with oil and toast on the griddle. Fill the rolls with the sausages and peppers, cut each one in half, and serve. 

Here's what you'll need:

Slice up the peppers.

Slice up the onions.

Slice the garlic.

Put the veggies in a pot with some olive oil, salt, and oregano to soften.

Put the sausages in a non-stick skillet or wrought iron to brown.  I used 2 kinds of sausage, pork-based and chicken.

Split the bread.

Brush with olive oil.

 

Put the bread on a griddle to toast.

Here's what you'll end up with:

 Our Thoughts:

I am not a huge sausage/bratwurst, etc fan.  Scott and the kids, however, love them so I figured that these sandwiches would be a huge hit . . . and they were.  The onions, peppers, and garlic had some good carmelization that added a bit of sweetness to them.

The one thing that I didn't like about this recipe was the bread.  I don't know if it was just the bread that I chose but it was way too hard and way too bready (sorry, another made up word of mine-LOL) for our taste.  Luckily, I had hot dog buns that Scott and the kids transferred their sausages, too, but Scott said those buns were almost too soft.

Either way, they ate all of the sausage and the peppers/onions so that spells success to me!

Hope you enjoy!

April

Egg and Sausage Casserole

Egg and Sausage Casserole
8-9 eggs, whisked
5 pre-cooked turkey sausage patties
handful of cheese

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crack eggs and whisk.  Salt and pepper.  Warm up sausage patties in the microwave and then cut them up.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour the eggs into the dish.  Sprinkle the pieces of sausage throughout.  Cover with cheese.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until set.
Modifications:
-You can add any vegetables (green peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc).
-You can add bacon, ham, etc.

Review:

I forgot to take pictures when I first started to make this but remembered it at the end.  This casserole is super easy and delicious.  It is perfect for the day after a holiday, Sunday brunch or if you have a houseful of people you could make 2-3 different kinds.

We will definitely have this dish over and over again!

Hope you enjoy!

April

"World's Best" Lasagna

"World's Best" Lasagna adapted Big Oven
1 pound Sweet Italian Sausage
1/2 cup Onion; minced
4 cloves Garlic; crushed
28 ounce Tomatoes; crushed
13 ounce Tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Sugar; white
1 1/2 teaspoons Basil leaves; fresh and chopped
1/2 teaspoon Fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 tablespoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper; ground
12 noodles Lasagna Noodles
60 ounces Ricotta cheese
4 ounces Mushrooms; sliced
4 EGGS
1 1/2 pounds Mozzarella; sliced
3 ounces Mozzarella; shredded, optional
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese; grated

Directions:  1. In a Dutch oven, cook onion, garlic and mushrooms over medium heat until well browned.
2. Once the onions, garlic and mushrooms are browned, mix in and cook the sausage until browned.
3. Stir in crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Season with 1 tablespoon sugar, 1.5 teaspoons freshly chopped basil, .5 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, .5 tablespoon salt, .25 teaspoon black pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley (optional). Simmer covered, for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. (or cook using hot water in a pan, which is much easier)
5. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with eggs, remaining parsley (optional), and .5 teaspoon salt.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
7. To assemble, spread 1.5 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices.
8. Spoon 1.5 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with .25 cup Parmesan cheese.
9. Add remaining 6 lasagna noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Cover with remainder of ricotta cheese mixture, one third of mozzarella cheese slices, then the remainder of the meat sauce, and then top with remaining one third mozzarella cheese slices and Parmesan cheese. Add extra shredded mozzarella cheese to put this dish way over the top.
10. Cover with foil. To prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
11. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 20 minutes (don't overheat!).
12. Cool for 15 minutes before pigging out!

Modifications:
-I used Sweet Italian Turkey sausage.
-I used shredded mozzarella cheese.
-The recipe called for 60oz of Ricotta cheese but I used 15oz of Ricotta and 15oz of Light cottage cheese and it worked out just fine.  I actually think that it would have been too runny with 60oz of cheese.
-I used whole grain lasagna noodles.
-I didn't use fennel seeds.

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1  I sliced up some mushrooms, diced an onion and smashed up 4 garlic cloves.

#3 They went into a dutch oven with some olive oil to brown up.

#4 While the onions, garlic and mushroome were cooking.  I took the Italian sausage and removed it from the casings.

#5 Once the onions were browned, the sausage went in.

#6 After the sausage was browned, the crushed tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, fresh parsley, fresh basil, salt, pepper and sugar went in.  Covered and simmered on low for about 45 minutes.

#7 After the sauce had simmered for about 45 minutes to an hour, I preheated the oven to 375 and put some lasagna noodles on to boil.  Once finished, I drained them and rinsed them off with cold water.

#8  I mixed 1 15oz container of Ricotta cheese and 1 15oz container of Light cottage cheese with 4 eggs.

#9 Next came the layering.  I sprayed the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and spread out the meat mixture, noodles, cheese mixture and shredded mozzarella cheese.  After the final layer, Parmesan cheese went on the top.

#10 I covered with tin foil and it went into the oven for 25 minutes and then the tin foil came off for another 20 minutes.

The Finished Product

Review:

This was fantastic; however, it was very labor intensive.  I have a horrible habit of not reading the recipes, other than the ingredients, until it is time to actually make the dish.  I didn't see that the sauce was supposed to cook for 1 1/2 hours!  I just let it simmer for 45 minutes and it still tasted great.  I would say that it would be acceptable to use jarred marinara sauce but I really think you need to keep the onions, garlic, mushrooms, basil and parsley.  

The Sweet Italian sausage tasted good but Scott said that he couldn't tell that it was turkey so you could probably get away with any kind of ground meat (turkey, sausage, pork or beef).

Hope you enjoy!

April

Beer and Kraut Brats

Beer and Kraut Brats by Campbell's Kitchen
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, diced

1 pound bratwurst, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 can (12 fluid ounces) beer
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed French Onion Soup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 package (16 ounces) fresh sauerkraut, drained (about 3 cups)
Hot mashed potatoes or egg noodles

Directions:  Cook bacon in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until the bacon is crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Pour off drippings.  Add the bratwurst and cook until it's well browned.  Add the beer, soup, brown sugar, sauerkraut and bacon. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low.  Cook for 15 minutes or until the bratwurst reaches an internal temperature of 160°F. stirring the mixture a few times while it's cooking. Serve over potatoes or noodles.

Modifications:
-I used beef sausage instead of bratwurst.
-I used turkey bacon instead of pork bacon.
-I used instant mashed potatoes instead of "real" potatoes
-I cut the bacon into little pieces and added them to the mashed potatoes.

Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I cooked a few pieces of turkey bacon in some olive oil until it was crispy.

#2 Once finished, I pulled the bacon and put the cut up pieces of sausages in the same grease.

#3 I put the bacon on paper towels to drain.

#4 I added the French onion soup, saurkraut, beer and brown sugar.

#5 While the mixture was cooking down, I cut up the bacon into little pieces.

#6 I made the instant mashed potatoes according to directions and added the cut up pieces of bacon bits into them.

The Finished Product:

Review:

This dish was so good.  Polish sausage and saurkraut is one of my family's meals anyway but this sausage with the kraut added with the mashed potatoes made it feel more authentic.

The recipe called for a beer to be added but then said to only cook for about 15 minutes.  I let this simmer for about 25 minutes because the beer flavor was still too strong after 15 minutes and hadn't cooked off enough.  The French onion soup, though, was a nice surprise and I will definitely use it again.

This dish was supposed to be in honor of Germany making it into the final game of the World Cup and even though that didn't happen, I decided to make it anyway.  LOL

Hope you enjoy!

April

*****(5 Stars)--This dish was fantastic!