Spinach Salad With Italian Sausage Food

EASY ITALIAN SPINACH SALAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, garlic and Italian seasoning; set aside., Divide spinach among 10 salad plates; top with tomatoes and onions. Drizzle with vinaigrette; sprinkle with cheese and croutons.

BIG ITALIAN SALAD

Steps:

• Make the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a food processor and blitz to blend.
• Place all of the salad ingredients except for the cheese in a large bowl. Right before serving, add about half of the dressing and toss well. Add more dressing little by little as necessary; be sure to dress greens very generously, otherwise salad will be bland. Toss in the cheese, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Note: Ricotta salata is an Italian sheep's milk cheese that has a salty, slightly tangy flavor, almost like a dry Italian feta. It is not the same as the wet ricotta in the tub. You can find it at Whole Foods, gourmet grocers or specialty cheese shops.
• Note: Nutritional information was calculated assuming ½ cup of ricotta salata and all of the dressing was used.

SAUSAGE SPINACH SALAD

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium heat. Add sausage and onion; cook and stir until sausage is lightly browned and onion is crisp-tender., Place spinach in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk vinegar, mustard and remaining oil. Drizzle over spinach; toss to coat. Add sausage mixture; serve immediately.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, SPINACH, AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until fragrant and translucent. Add the Italian sausage meat, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon and brown it until no longer pink, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the excess fat from the sausage meat, and set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl stir together the drained and squeeze-dried spinach, ricotta, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, eggs, cooled Italian sausage and onion mixture, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the fresh pasta rectangles for 1 minute and remove with a slotted spatula. Set aside. In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups tomato sauce. Working with 1 pasta rectangle at a time, spread 6 tablespoons filling along one edge and roll the pasta sheet up tightly, leaving the ends open. Repeat until you have 8 cannelloni. Arrange the prepared cannelloni, seam-side down, in a single layer in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining 2 cups tomato sauce evenly over the cannelloni. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup grated Parmesan over top. Bake the cannelloni for 20 minutes and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the cannelloni with extra tomato sauce from the baking dish and garnish with fresh basil.
• To make fresh pasta dough: Mound the flour on a clean work surface. Hollow out the center making a well in the middle of the flour with steep sides. Break the eggs into the well. Add the salt, and olive oil to the hollow center and gently mix together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour by pulling in the flour from the sides of the well. As you incorporate more of the flour, the dough will start to take shape. With your hands or a bench scraper continue working the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet or sticky, add a little flour. Begin kneading the dough and keep kneading until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this point, set the dough aside, cover it with plastic, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out. Divide the pasta dough into 4 even sections. Keep each section covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel while you work with each one. Flour the dough, the rollers of a pasta roller (or your rolling pin), your hands, and the work surface. If using a pasta machine: Flatten 1 of the of the dough pieces between your hands or with a floured rolling pin until it forms a thick oval disk. Dust the disk, the roller, and your hands with additional flour. Flour a baking sheet to hold the rolled out finished pasta. With the roller on the widest setting, pass the pasta through the machine's rollers a few times until it is smooth. Fold the dough over into 1/3, and continue to pass through a few more times until the pasta is smooth again. Begin adjusting the pasta machine settings to become thinner, passing the dough through a few times at each setting. If rolling the pasta by hand: Flatten a dough piece into a thick oval disk with your hands. Flour a baking sheet for the rolled out finished pasta. Place the oval dough disk on a floured work surface, and sprinkle with additional flour. Begin rolling out the dough with a floured rolling pin working from the center of the dough outwards, constantly moving the dough and lifting it to make sure it's not sticking.
• To make Simple Tomato Sauce: In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the basil and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. With a potato masher, break up the tomatoes to achieve a sauce-like consistency. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve. Cook's Note: Tomato sauce will last 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.

SPINACH SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE AND WALNUTS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt, and pepper. Gradually whisk in the oil to make a creamy dressing.
• Put all but a large handful of the spinach in a large bowl. Toss with most of the dressing. Add remaining spinach and continue tossing until well coated.
• Serve immediately topped with goat cheese and walnuts.

SPINACH SALAD WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Place the spinach in a large bowl. Heat 1 teaspoons of the olive oil in heavy, large skillet over medium heat. Add sausages and cooked until browned and cooked through.
• Transfer sausages to paper towels, using slotted spoon. Drain sausages and then slice 1/2 inch thick.
• Heat drippings in skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and stir one minute. Add vinegar and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Mix in 1 tablespoons oil and mustard. Add sausage and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over spinach and toss.
• Adjust seasoning.

LASAGNA WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Rinse cooked lasagna noodles and set aside. Be sure that you don't use more than 12 oz. or the lasagna will be too dry.
• Meanwhile, in a dutch oven or other large vessel, put the oil, onion and green bell pepper. Saute over medium heat until the onion is tender.
• Add the sausage and garlic and stir-fry until well browned, chopping up the meat as you stir, to make sure all of the pieces are small.
• Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil and 1 teaspoons salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, press out the water from the thawed spinach so that it is very dry. Put the spinach into a medium-size mixing bowl.
• Add the cottage cheese, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoons salt and black pepper to the spinach. Stir until well mixed.
• In another medium-size bowl put the grated Mozzarella cheese.
• In a lasagna pan that you have oiled, put down 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce.
• Cover with 1/2 of the lasagna noodles.
• Top with 1/2 of the spinach-cottage cheese filling.
• Top with half of the mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat using 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce, remaining noodles, remaining spinach filling and mozzarella cheese.
• Top with the remaining 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce and sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over the very top.
• Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes.
• You might wonder whether or not there is enough tomato sauce, but once the lasagna heats up and the cheese gets gooey, there is enough sauce. I don't like a a lasagna with lots of runny heavy tomato sauce that covers the taste of everything else in the lasagna. If you feel like you need a bit more, add an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce to the tomato-meat sauce.

WARM SPINACH AND SAUSAGE SALAD

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until crumbly and crisp, about 10 minutes.
• Remove the sausage to a bowl with a slotted spoon and return the skillet to the stove.
• Add the olive oil, zest and juice to the pan and, over medium-high heat, stir the mixture with a wooden spoon, scraping up any brown bits, for about 1 minute.
• Remove pan from the heat.
• Add the spinach and use tongs to coat the leaves with the dressing.
• Sprinkle the salad generously with salt and pepper.
• Divide the spinach evenly among 4 bowls and top with the crumbled sausage.
• Wipe the nonstick skillet clean with a paper towel and fry each egg over easy.
• Top each salad with a fried egg and serve.