Caprese Grilled Cheese

Anything that contains the word "Caprese" in the recipe title, I'm in. I love Caprese entrees and appetizers and I love a hot off the griddle grilled cheese. When the two are combined together you get an intensely delicious sandwich that you won't easily forget. Obviously you don't have to use fresh bread as I listed in the recipe, but I figure if you are going to fill a sandwich with fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and fresh basil then you may as well keep a good thing going. Looking for a delightfully simple and quick lunch or dinner idea? Look no further because it doesn't get much easier than grilled cheese and this is grilled cheese done right. Enjoy!

 Caprese Grilled Cheese
Yields 1 serving

Ingredients:
2 slices fresh bread (I recommend sourdough or rustic white bread)
3 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced into rounds or grated*
4 - 6 Roma tomato slices
1 Tbsp chopped, fresh basil ribbons
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil or 1 Tbsp butter
1/2 clove of garlic, for rubbing bread 

Directions:
Layer Mozzarella rounds in an even layer over one slice of bread followed by an even layer of sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle basil ribbons over top and season with ground black pepper to taste, then cover with remaining slice of bread. Drizzle 1 tsp olive oil in a non-stick skillet, heat over medium-low heat and tilt back and forth to evenly coat (heat the oil long enough for it to glide easily across the pan but don't heat it to smoking point before adding sandwich or it the bread will toast before the cheese has a chance to melt. If using butter, spread 1/2 tbsp butter on both top and bottom of sandwich and heat skillet over medium heat), add sandwich, cover with lid and cook until sandwich is golden brown on bottom, about 2 minutes. Then lift sandwich out of skillet and drizzle remaining 1 tsp olive oil into skillet, tilt pan back and forth to evenly coat. Carefully flip sandwich to opposite side then return to skillet, cover with lid and continue to cook until bottom side is golden brown and cheese is melted through. Remove from skillet and lightly brush garlic clove along toasted sides of bread. Serve immediately.

*When I don't have fresh mozzarella on hand I will sometimes use low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella which is also delicious.

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup Copycat Recipe

Say hello to soup season and another restaurant copycat recipe you can make at home. Whenever we'd to go to Olive Garden I use to always get the Minestrone soup or once in a while the Zuppa Toscana. A few months ago I finally decided to step out of that comfort zone and try something new, their Pasta e Fagioli Soup. It is hearty and delicious. It is a meal of itself. I don't love everything at Olive Garden but I always like their soup and their salad (although I wish the salad had better greens in it and it wasn't so skimpy on the tomatoes and olives. And no I'm not picky =). Anyway I thought this soup would be pretty easy to recreate at home, so yesterday I went and ordered their Pasta e Fagioli Soup and brought it home to make my own and compare. They are nearly exactly the same. I didn't do the fancy matchstick cut of the carrots but feel free to do so if you'd like. 

I just served this as the main dish along with some fresh out of the oven (unbelievably simple to make) Crusty Rustic Bread and some fresh garlic butter. To make the garlic butter I just combine 1 small clove of crushed garlic with 1/4 cup softened butter then season it with salt and fresh ground black pepper. It's a simple and amazing dinner that everyone will love. Enjoy!

Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Olive Garden Copycat Recipe)
Yields about 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup ditalini pasta, uncooked
1 lb lean ground beef or mild Italian sausage (I've tried both and like either)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup diced carrots (about 2 medium, you can cut them into matchsticks if desired)
1 cup diced celery (about 3 stalks)
3/4 cup chopped yellow onion (about 1/2 of a large)
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
3 cups beef broth (chicken broth works fine too)
1 cup water
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
Romano cheese (I also like it with Italian cheese blend), for serving

Directions:
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium high heat, crumble in ground beef or sausage and cook, stirring occasionally until cooked through. Pour beef (along with fat from beef, if you want it to be healthier you can drain the fat) into a bowl, set aside. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in same large saucepan, saute carrots, celery and onion over medium high heat until tender about 4 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Reduce heat to a low, add tomato sauce, beef broth, water, canned tomatoes, sugar, basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, cooked beef along, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with lid and allow to simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until veggies are soft. Meanwhile prepare ditalini pasta according to directions on package, cooking to al dente. 
Add cooked and drained pasta to soup along with kidney beans and great northern beans and allow to cook 5 minutes longer. Serve warm with grated Romano cheese if desired.
Note: the longer the soup rests the more liquid the pasta will absorb so you can thin it with additional beef broth if desired.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta

If you love Italian food then this is a deluxe meal you will most definitely want to try! It is fancy, loaded with fresh goodness, creamy, hearty and beyond good! You get everything that's on your average Caprese Chicken and so much more, with the tender pasta, fire roasted tomato sauce, additional garlic (because I think they never put enough garlic in the store bought bottled spaghetti sauce, you could even add two cloves to the recipe), and yes of course the perfectly grilled chicken breast strips. This is a meal you are going to remember. If you wanted to really splurge you could even add in some cooked Pancetta or Bacon, yum! Sorry I didn't get many pictures (I wanted more pictures with the grilled chicken showing through it's kind of hidden in there), this was my families Sunday dinner and I couldn't resist that ooey gooey cheesy goodness long. It was calling my name. I looked over to my husband and the cheese was dripping clear from the fork near his mouth to the plate sitting in his lap (yeah we ate this fancy meal on the couch, not usual but once in a while its fun =). Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Caprese Pasta
Yields about 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 medium chicken breast halves, grilled and diced into strips*
9 oz Rigatoni or Penne pasta
2 cups fire roasted tomato pasta sauce (I used Classico)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup finely grated Romano Cheese
1 clove garlic, finely minced
red pepper flakes, to taste (optional, for added heat)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 pint grape tomatoes, diced into halves
12 oz fresh mozzarella, grated**
16 fresh Basil leaves, chopped chiffonade style (mine were fairly small)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta to al dente according to directions listed on package. While pasta is boiling, in a separate medium saucepan over medium low heat, heat tomato pasta sauce, heavy cream, Romano cheese, garlic, optional red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until cheese melts. 
Drain cooked pasta well, return pasta to pot. Add in grilled diced chicken, grape tomatoes, half of the mozzarella and half of the basil ribbons, then pour warm sauce over mixture. Toss to evenly coat. Pour mixture into a greased casserole or baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and cook pasta uncovered for about 20 - 25 minutes until cheese is golden. Serve warm.

*This was about 1 lb chicken. I placed the chicken in a ziploc bag then pounded each breast to an even thickness, then removed and sprayed each chicken breast lightly with olive oil cooking spray. I seasoned each side with salt, pepper and a light sprinkle of garlic powder. Then grilled them until cooked through, cut them in half thick wise (like cutting a bun), and diced them into fairly thin strips.
**I've heard some people say they have trouble grating fresh mozzarella, I had no problem with this but if you do you can freeze it for 20 minutes prior to grating. They don't need to be perfect shreds its really just to break it up.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from How Sweet It Is