Turkey and Rougette Crescent Sandwich

Juicy turkey breast and warm creamy buttery Rougette cheese on a tender Crescent Roll.

I don't know a lot about cheese, but I know I love it.  I don't think I've tried any kind of cheese I don't like.  From simple American processed cheese slices to parmesan and brie I love it all.  I think it has a lot to do with my love of bread.  Many Friday nights my indulgence is a good crusty baguette and cheese for dinner (often my husband works late or goes out for drinks after work and I get most of the bread and cheese to myself).  I've been known to put away an entire baguette and at least 1/4 pound of cheese all by myself (probably not the healthiest but I do try not to do it too often).

I don't know a lot about cheese, but I know I love it.  [Tweet this]

Rougette is a new cheese for me.  It's smooth and creamy with a rind similar to brie in appearance, but the rind has a reddish orange color to it.  The flavor is mild and buttery.  It's like eating butter in smooth creamy cheese form.  As soon as I tried it I knew it would taste great melted on one of my buttery Easy Crescent Rolls.

Rougette's like butter in cheese form.  [Tweet this]

So the next day I made this sandwich.  Turkey is a perfect compliment to this cheese because it doesn't have a strong flavor that would overpower the cheese.  I kept the sandwich simple because this is all about the cheese for me.

I kept the sandwich simple b/c it's all about the cheese.  [Tweet this]

Turkey and Rougette Crescent Sandwich

Ingredients:

Crescent rolls
Turkey breast slices
Rougette cheese

Cut a large crescent roll in half lengthwise (toast or grill the cut sides of the roll if desired).

Place a thick slice of turkey breast (or more) on one-half of the roll and top with a thick slice of Rougette.

Broil the cheesy sandwich half for a few minutes until the cheese begins to melt then top with the remaining half of the roll.

Serve immediately with a salad, vegetables, or chips.

If you have it, this sandwich would be even better spread with a little pesto.

Enjoy.

This sandwich wouldn't be the same without Easy Crescent Rolls:

Easy Crescent Rolls

For more cheese recipes check out:

Cranberry Pecan  Baked  Brie

Warm Blue Cheese Spinach Dip

Blue  Cheese Dip/Dressing

Blue Cheese Buffalo Chicken Dip

For more sandwich recipes check out:

Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

Cucumber  Finger  Sandwiches

Mushroom  and Swiss  Patty Melt

Turkey  Bacon  Avocado Sub

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How to Make Potato Gnocchi

A simple tutorial and recipe for how to make potato gnocchi (potato dumplings).

Update:  3/20/16 pin-able image and minor editing

Gnocchi are delicious soft dumplings made of flour, eggs, and potatoes.  I'm focusing on potato gnocchi in this post but apparently they can also be made with ricotta, butternut squash, or other similar ingredients.

Gnocchi are delicious soft dumplings made of flour, eggs, and potatoes. [Tweet this]

Everything I know about potato gnocchi I learned from Italian Food Forever's How to make Potato Gnocchi.  It's a great step by step tutorial all about how to make gnocchi.  The main points I took away from this post were:  it's easier than most people think, bake instead of boil your potatoes, and don't use too much flour.  With these tips, I made potato gnocchi.  I loved it and so did my husband it was simple, inexpensive, and delicious.  There are many variations of gnocchi but for my first time, I kept it simple.  It turned out great so I'll definitely experiment with adding herbs and spices in the future and maybe even other main ingredients.  I want to try ricotta gnocchi some time too, but I think it's a good idea to start basic and get this recipe down before I start to experiment.

It's easier than you think, bake don't boil potatoes, & easy on the flour. [Tweet this]

Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:

4 russet potatoes (about 2 cups of potato insides)
1 egg
1-1 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Start with baked potatoes and scrape out the insides.  Keep the potato skins for Loaded Baked Potato Skins.  You want about 2 cups of potato insides.

Squeeze the potato through your fingers, use a potato ricer, a fork, or a masher to break up the potato as finely as you can get it.

Place the potato mash in a medium bowl, add the salt, egg, and 1 cup of flour.  Stir briefly to combine then turn out onto a lightly floured surface.

Knead gently by hand adding the rest of the flour as needed until ingredients just come together and you have a smooth dough.  Don't overwork the dough and don't add too much flour.

Cut the dough in half (or more) and roll each half into a thick rope about the thickness of a thumb.  Thicker is fine you'll just have bigger gnocchi and if you get too thin the rope will break (so you will easily know if you are getting too thin).  Short ropes are easier to roll than long ropes but roll however you're comfortable.

Cut the rope into segments about the same size as the thickness of the rope.  The gnocchi are fine like this, but you can also indent them with your thumb against the tines of a fork to dimple and give them texture (great for holding sauce).

At this point, you can refrigerate the gnocchi until ready to cook, or I find it easier to freeze them (so they are more solid).  I use the gnocchi the same day I make them so I don't know how well they keep.

Drop the prepared gnocchi into boiling, lightly salted water and boil until they float.  Remove from the water and sauce as desired.  A simple garlic butter sauce is what I made (I'll post this next time) but a simple (tomato based) pasta sauce would be great, or a pesto, or a white wine sauce.

Makes about 2 servings (maybe more if you scrape out more potato insides or have really big potatoes)

Experiment and enjoy.

Other recipes mentioned in this post:

How to Make a Great Baked Potato	Loaded Baked Potato Skins	Simple Pasta Sauce  -----------------
White Wine Sauce and Shrimp Scampi	Spinach Pistachio Pesto

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Green Lasagna

A meatless lasagna layered with green vegetables, cheese, chickpeas, and pesto.

I had a craving for lasagna.  I also wanted to try a pesto lasagna.  Since pesto is green I decided to go with a green theme and this made me want to make it meatless.  To add extra nutrients and fiber I also added spinach to the pesto.  To make a non-meat layer of protein, fiber, and vegetables I decided to chop up some chickpeas with shredded zucchini and ricotta.  Of course, I still used plenty of mozzarella and plain wheat lasagna noodles.  The results were fantastic.  It was full of flavor and absolutely delicious.  I made this when my husband was out of town and I was happy to eat this all week long.

Green Lasagna: #vegetarian #pesto lasagna  [Tweet this]

Green Lasagna

Prep time:  30 minutes

Cook time:  45 minutes

Servings:  6-8

Ingredients:

Spinach Pistachio Pesto

Prep/cook time:  15 minutes
Servings:  3 cups

1/2 cup pistachios
5 cloves garlic
1/4-1/2 cup parmesan
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and excess moisture squeezed out
5 cups basil leaves
1/2-1 cup olive oil

Place all but olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend while slowly adding the olive oil until smooth and creamy.  This makes a lot of pesto and extra freezes well.  Makes about 3 cups of pesto.

Lasagna

2 cups chickpeas, cooked or canned
3 small zucchini, shredded
1-2 cups ricotta
1 egg
2 Tbsp granulated garlic
2 Tbsp dried minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
Lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
1-2 cups Spinach Pistachio Pesto (or your favorite)
Mozzarella, shredded

Roughly chop the chickpeas and mix (in a large bowl) with the shredded zucchini, ricotta, egg, garlic, onion, and salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Spread a thin layer of pesto on the bottom of a lasagna pan and cover with a layer of noodles.

Spread another thin layer of pesto on top of the noodles then top with chickpea mixture, mozzarella, and another layer of noodles.  Continue in this fashion until the chickpea mixture is all used and the pan is full.

Finish by topping the last layer of noodles with pesto and mozzarella.  You can cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until ready to bake (up to 1 day).

Bake lasagna at 350 degrees F for 30-45 minutes, uncovered, until well browned and bubbly.

Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.  Makes 6-8 servings.

Enjoy.

For more vegetarian/meatless recipes check out:

Garlic Butter  Gnocchi

Hoisin Baked Tofu Vermicelli

Very Veggie  Pasta

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Lentil Caprese Salad

A lentil salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette. It's great as a side or a light lunch.

I got the idea for this salad from Pinterest.  The recipe I saw was for a Caprese Pasta Salad from Simply Scratch.  It looked amazing and she used little mini mozzarella pearls and orecchiette pasta.  I wanted more fiber in my salad so I decided to try using lentils and I didn't have the mozzarella pearls but I always have string cheese in the fridge so I used that instead.  I loved the salad I stored it in the fridge and had it for lunch all week.  It looks the best when it's freshly made as the basil wilts over time but it still tastes great.

My pictures are of the salad after it sat in the fridge for a day.  The basil is not as vibrant green as it started but I made this on a rainy day so I had very little natural light in my apartment.  I don't have any fancy photo lights just some lamps and overhead lights that don't look good in pictures so I waited and took my pictures the next day when I had sunlight.

Lentil Caprese Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup dried lentils
1 1/2 - 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 cup fresh basil, cut julienne
2-3 mozzarella string cheeses, sliced
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse lentils and pick through to remove any rocks or debris.  Bring lentils to a simmer, in a saucepan, with 2 cups of water or broth (you can add a clove of garlic to the water if you like).  Let simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until soft.  Drain lentils and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare all of your other ingredients and then just toss everything together.  Serve immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Makes 6 servings.

A little pesto would taste great tossed into this salad.

Enjoy as a side dish or a light lunch.

Linked to:  Two Cup, Lou Lou Girls, Teach Me, Tasty Tues, Tickle my Tastebuds, Whimsy Wed, Wonderful Wed, Yuck Stops Here, Cook, Craft, Share, Full Plate, Plant based potluck, Eat Create, Freedom Fri, Foodie Friends, Best of the Weekend, Pretty Pintastic, Sat Night Fever, Share it Sun, Merry Mon, See Ya in the Gumbo


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Pesto Pasta

A simple and quick pasta dish made with an easy basil pesto sauce.

Updated:  3/20/16 new pics, pin-able image, minor editing, tweet-ables, similar recipes links

Pesto is traditionally made with basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil.  The combination of those simple flavors makes an amazing sauce.  It's a great addition to just about everything from pasta and pizzas to sandwiches and soups.  A little pesto adds big flavor.

A little #pesto adds big flavor | Pesto Pasta  [Tweet this]

Often I find that store-bought pesto sauce can be kind of expensive.  It's so simple to make and so delicious fresh that it's worth the time and effort to make your own.  Sometimes, it can be difficult to find fresh basil and pine nuts at smaller grocery stores and they can be pricey.  The great news is you can make a pesto sauce with any green herb or vegetable and any nut.  The flavor will be different, obviously, but it will still be fresh and delicious.  The trick is to use green herbs or vegetables with a strong flavor that you enjoy such as arugula, kale, parsley, chives, garlic scapes; I've even seen a recipe for broccoli pesto.  Just use what you have and be creative.

Pesto is very versatile | Pesto Pasta  [Tweet this]

For this pesto, I used basil and a little parsley.  I grow both in small pots out on my lanai and as long as I keep them watered they grow well year round (they make great indoor plants too if you live in a cold climate).  I didn't have quite enough basil for a full recipe of pesto so I added the parsley.  I didn't have pine nuts on hand but I always have pecans so I used those.  They don't add the flavor that pine nuts do but they add a very nice mild nutty flavor.  Parmesan is always a staple in my kitchen, and the same goes for garlic and olive oil.  Since I had everything on hand, the pesto whipped up in no time (thanks to my food processor), was incredibly fresh, inexpensive, and absolutely delicious.

Pesto Pasta is a quick, fresh, and tasty meal.  [Tweet this]

Basil and Parsley Pesto

Cook and prep time:  15 minutes
Servings:  4-6

Ingredients:

2 cups basil and parsley, chopped and packed in any combination
2-3 cloves garlic
1 handful pecans
1/4 cup parmesan
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil

Place all of the ingredients, except the oil, in the bowl of a food processor.  With the chopping blade, pulse until the ingredients are well chopped and mixed.  Wipe down the sides with a spatula.

Then, turn the processor on and slowly stream in the olive oil until everything is well mixed and creamy.

Remove the pesto to a small covered bowl and let rest for at least 1 hour for the flavors to meld.  I've kept fresh pesto in the fridge for up to a week and even frozen it with fine results.  Allow the pesto to come to room temperature before tossing it with warm pasta.

Top with fresh cracked pepper and parmesan.

Pesto is great tossed with pasta but it's also great as a spread on sandwiches, pizza, or garlic bread. Try it in salad dressings and soups. Pesto adds a big punch of flavor to any recipe.

Enjoy.

For more recipes to use pesto in or with check out:

Gnocchi           -

Green Lasagna       -

Turkey & Rougette Crescent Sandwiches

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