Broccoli & Chicken Open Faced Sandwiches

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Kidd grew up eating open faced subs that his dad would cook and has fond memories particularly of a chicken and broccoli sandwich. We spent time in the kitchen trying to recreate the nostalgia, and have landed on this open faced broccoli and chicken sandwich with Swiss cheese and balsamic glaze. The sandwich is packed with sneaky flavor from the spices in the sautéed broccoli. The balsamic glaze adds a tangy sweetness that ties all of the ingredients together. The result is the perfect lunch or dinner for the entire family. You can even recreate this on a baguette for a delicious appetizer.

Broccoli & Chicken Open Faced Sandwiches

  • Servings: 2 entrée servings
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An open faced sandwich recipe that reminds Kidd of his dad’s cooking growing up!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 4 tbs olive oil, divided
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups broccoli rabe
  • 1 tbs onion powder
  • 1 tsp chili flakes
  • 1 ciabatta or hogey style sandwich roll
  • 2 slices of swiss cheese
  • 2 tbs balsamic glaze

Directions

  1. Cook the chicken. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the chicken strips. In a skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2-3 minutes on one side. Add the balsamic vinegar and flip the chicken. Cook until the chicken is cooked completely through. Set aside to cool.
  2. Using the same pan (no need to clean it out) add the remaining olive oil (2 tbs). Once heated, add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes so the garlic becomes fragrant. Add the broccoli rabe and lower the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes until the broccoli wilts and becomes tender. Add the onion powder and chili flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
  3. Slice the sandwich roll or bread of choice in half lengthwise. You want to have the bread sliced thick so that it will hold up the weight of the ingredients. Toast the bread in a toaster or oven until it is lightly toasted on each side.
  4. Add a slice of swiss cheese to the bottom of each piece of bread. Melt in the oven or microwave until the cheese is nice and bubbly. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the cheese. Top the sandwich with the chicken and broccoli. Serve immediately.

Antipasto Pasta Salad

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We recently visited family in New York and were over served with delicious Italian food all week long. Our favorite kind of vacation. Kidd’s side of the family is well known for cooking up many specialty Italian dishes and we spent the week being spoiled with meal after meal of our favorite dishes. With grilling season on its way, we thought we would take some of the classic Italian ingredients we love – salami, pepperoni, and mozzarella – and combine them into a big bowl of pasta salad. This pasta salad is hearty, indulgent and everything you want in a savory side dish. It’s perfect to serve in the summer for a cookout or as a main dish for family dinner.

Antipasto Pasta Salad

  • Servings: 8 side servings
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All of our favorite classic Italian ingredients combined to make a perfect pasta salad.

Pasta Salad Ingredients

  • 1 lb bow tie pasta
  • 1 lb salami, sausage style
  • 1 lb pepperoni, sausage style
  • 1 can black olives
  • 1 can artichoke hearts
  • 16 oz fresh mozzarella
  • fresh parsley, chopped

Dressing Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tbs Italian seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the pasta salad ingredients. Chop the remaining ingredients (salami through mozzarella) into bite sized pieces. Place the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Once the pasta is finished cooking, toss the warm pasta with the pasta salad ingredients. Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Italian seasoning and mix well to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with fresh parsley. You can serve this pasta salad warm or refrigerate it if you are making it in advance. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Antipasto Pasta

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Like some of our best recipes, this pasta first came about by accident. The week before Ryan’s triathlon, we were doing lots of carbo-loading and also trying to clean out the fridge before leaving town for the big race. As you know by now, we love a good cheese board, and for the sake of having enough food we often have quite a bit of leftovers. To solve two problems in one, we made a hodgepodge pasta with all of the cheese board leftovers and called it Antipasto Pasta. It was a combination of prosciutto, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, and olive tapenade. The result was good… like really good. So many salty delicious flavors melding into one decadent pasta dish. We enjoyed it so much that we have made it a number of times since and hope to share it to your homes as well.

Antipasto Pasta

  • Servings: 4
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  Some of our favorite recipes happen by accident, and this antipasto pasta is one of our favorites. We have used all of our favorite cheese board ingredients to make a savory, delicious pasta dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of your favorite long pasta (we use bucatini or spaghetti)
  • 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp red chili flakes
  • 1 cup roasted red peppers, diced
  • 2/3 cup olive tapenade
  • 1 cup artichoke hearts, cut in half if they are large and drained of any oil or water
  • 4 oz prosciutto, thinly sliced and torn into bite sized pieces
  • 6 cups fresh spinach
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions

  1. Heat a large pot of water over high heat. Bring the water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.
  2. While the water is heating, heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and red chili flakes to the pan and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the roasted red peppers, olive tapenade, artichoke hearts, and proscuitto to the pan. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, gently stirring so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Add the spinach to the pan and cover for another 5 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted. Give everything a good stir to combine all of the ingredients.
  3. When the pasta has finished cooking, remove 1 cup of pasta water from the pot before draining the pasta. Add the pasta to the saute pan (or back into the pasta pot if you are running out of room). Toss all of the ingredients together well to combine, adding pasta water as necessary to make sure that the pasta is not dry. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in big bowls with lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Cheesy Baked Penne

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We love a good comfort food recipe and are particularly fond of this cheesy baked penne. We recently had a friend who was ill, and to lend a helping hand, we prepared this recipe to send to his house. In the days of social distancing, dinner on the doorstep is an easy gesture for someone that could use some TLC. We love this dish because it has a little bit of everything including sausage and loads of cheese. You can make it and bake it all in one batch as the recipe describes below, or you can refrigerate it before baking and either deliver it to a friend or save it for yourself for later. It appeals to even the pickiest of eaters, so it’s great if you are looking for a kid friendly meal to add to your recipe rotation!

Cheesy Baked Penne

  • Servings: 6
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Our version of comfort food! We love making this penne on cold nights or to leave for a friend to bake later.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb penne pasta
  • 1 lb Italian sausage, removed from the casing (spice level is up to you)
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup tomato paste
  • 15 oz can whole, peeled tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbs dried basil
  • 1 tbs dried oregano
  • 15 oz ricotta cheese
  • 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • fresh basil for garnish, optional

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Bring a large stock pot full of salted water to a boil. When the water is rapidly boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente. Strain the pasta and place the pasta back in the pot you cooked it in.
  3. Heat a large Dutch oven pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook to brown, about 5 minutes. Use your spatula to break the sausage up into bite sized pieces. When the sausage has browned (it doesn’t have to be cooked through), remove it from the pan into a bowl for later use. You want to leave about 2 tbs of fat from the sausage in the pot, if there is any. If there isn’t add the 2 tbs olive oil and let it get warm.
  4. Add the onion to the pot; sauté for 4 minutes, or until the onions start to become translucent. Add the garlic and sauté another 2 minutes.
  5. Add the tomato paste to the pan and sauté for another 3-4 minutes- this helps caramelize and bring out the sweetness of the tomato paste.
  6. Add the next 4 ingredients (whole tomatoes – dried oregano) to the pot. Give everything a good stir and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes to let the flavors develop. Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce into an even consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  7. Add the sausage back to the sauce. Remove 1 cup of the sauce and 1 cup of the ricotta and toss it with the pasta. It’s okay if the pasta is at room temperature at this point, as it is all going in the oven.
  8. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Layer the pasta in the baking dish. Use a spoon to put dollops of the remaining ricotta cheese throughout the pasta. Top the pasta with the tomato sauce, shaking the pan or using a spatula to dig the sauce into all the crevices of the pasta. Top the sauce with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and cover the baking dish.**
  9. Bake the penne for 20 minutes covered and another 10 minutes uncovered. Top with fresh basil, if desired. Let the pasta rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

    10. ** At this point, you can refrigerate the penne and bake at a later time. If you are cooking the penne from a refrigerated temperature, bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes; 30 minutes covered and 10-15 minutes uncovered so that the cheese is melted and bubbly. Rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.


Tortellini Minestrone

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This recipe for minestrone soup has been in our winter rotation for almost a decade. Minestrone is something that we usually wouldn’t order at a restaurant because quite frankly, we are busy eating pasta and other Italian dishes we crave. We love to make this soup at home because we can pack it with vegetables and rich herby flavors. If we are watching our food choices, we usually make this soup with butternut squash. But to make it a little more kid friendly (and frankly more crowd pleasing for everyone) we have chosen to add tortellini. Who can say no to cheesy pasta being added to everything? The tortellini adds richness and decadence to the soup and makes it a favorite for everyone in the family.

Tortellini Minestrone

  • Servings: 4-6
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Our favorite recipe for minestrone, made kid friendly with cheesy tortellini!

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 small white onion, small dice
  • 2 stalks celery, small dice
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and small dice
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 15 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 24 oz chicken stock
  • 3 cups spinach, roughly chopped
  • 1 package pre-made cheese tortellini (about 16 oz)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
  • sliced basil, for garnish

Directions

  1. Heat a large Dutch oven soup pot over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic to the pot; saute for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions become translucent and fragrant. Add the rosemary, thyme, and cannellini beans; sauté another 3-4 minutes or until the rosemary and thyme are fragrant.
  2. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock to the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil and add the tortellini. Cover and bring to a low simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the tortellini is cooked through. Uncover and add the spinach to the pot. Stir it around and cook a few minutes for it to wilt.
  3. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in large bowls with a bit of grated parmesan cheese and some fresh basil.

Butternut Squash Linguini

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It is officially fall which means it is pasta galore in our kitchens. We have no shame posting two pasta recipes in one week, and you shouldn’t feel bad about cooking both of these recipes during a chilly week either! There is something so satisfying about a creamy, hot bowl of noodles on a cold evening. That being said, just because a dish is hearty does not mean that it has to pack on the calories. The sauce for this Butternut Squash Linguini is pretty much just that, pureed butternut squash. We add some decadence to the dish by mixing sautéed pancetta and fried sage, but those ingredients act like garnishes versus heavy handed ingredients. For those of you with kids at home, this is a great way to sneak in extra veggies during this winter.

Butternut Squash Linguini

Makes: 4 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb linguini
  • 4 oz cubed pancetta
  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 8 (approx) sage leaves
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, diced
  • 12 oz cubed butternut squash (thawed if using frozen)
  • 3 sprigs thyme
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • grated Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Cook the pasta. Heat a large stock pot full of water. Add about 2 tbs salt and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook to al dente according to package directions, about 12 minutes. When the pasta is ready, remove 1 cup of pasta water and drain the noodles.
  2. Make the butternut squash sauce. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta to the pan and fry for about 3 minutes, or until the pancetta is crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pancetta and set it aside. In the same olive oil, fry the sage leaves until crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and again, keep the fat in the pan.
  3. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions start to become translucent. Add the butternut squash and cook another 3 minutes to lightly sauté. Season with salt and pepper. Add the thyme (keep the stems intact) and the vegetable stock. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the butternut squash is fork tender.
  4. When the butternut squash is fork tender, remove the pan from the heat and remove the thyme leaves from the pan. Place the rest of the butternut squash mix into a blender and blend until smooth. You can add the pasta water in 1/4 cup increments as necessary to get the sauce to a smooth consistency. The sauce should be a little thinner than a butternut squash bisque. Reserve any extra pasta water.
  5. Add the sauce, pasta, and pancetta back to the pot and toss to coat. Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary. If the pasta is starting to slurp up the sauce and it looks too thick, add more pasta water 1/4 cup at a time. If you don’t have any pasta water leftover you can use vegetable stock until you have the texture you are looking for. If you have added liquid back to the pasta, taste and season again. Serve the pasta in four bowls with the fried sage leaves (chopped) and a hearty serving of shaved Parmesan cheese.

Pesto & Ricotta Stuffed Shells

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As the weather starts turning cooler, we find that we start craving warm and hearty meals. One of our favorite family meals is stuffed shells. There are so many different ways to customize a stuffed shells recipe; you can incorporate the protein of your choice or add vegetables to get your greens in. For this version, we have chosen to incorporate ground beef, pesto and ricotta. We love the flavor combination of pesto and ricotta. The pesto brings in an herby freshness and the ricotta adds creaminess and unctuousness to the dish. This recipe can be prepared in advance and baked just as your family or friends come over for dinner. Serve this with our Kale Salad: Autumn Edition and you have balanced, full dinner.

Pesto and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
Makes: 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients for the Sauce:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup parsley, minced
  • 2, 28oz cans tomato sauce
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 tbs salt

Ingredients for the Shells:

  • 1 package jumbo pasta shells
  • 3 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup pesto
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup basil, minced
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions:

  1. Make the sauce. In a large pot, sauté the ground beef until it is cooked through. Set aside in a bowl but do not drain the fat. Add the garlic and parsley and saute in the beef fat for a few minutes. Add the tomato sauce, water and salt and bring to a simmer. Add the beef back into the sauce and keep on simmer, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes.
  2. While the sauce is simmering, cook your shells according to package directions. When the shells are cooked to al dente, rinse them with cold water. You will want them to be cooled before stuff them.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350.
  4. Create the filling. Combine the ricotta, pesto, egg, basil and Parmesan cheese in a bowl and mix to thoroughly combine. Season with salt and pepper. Put the mixture in a large Ziploc bag and cut the tip off the corner of the bag. Use the bag to pipe the mixture into each shell.
  5. Coat the bottom of a large baking dish with a layer of the sauce. Add the stuffed shells on top of the sauce in an even layer. Fill the rest of the dish with the sauce and top with the mozzarella. Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is fully melted and bubbly.

Eggplant Caprese Salad

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It has been a labor of love, but we are finally getting eggplant to grow in our garden! We love to cook this seasonal veggie by lightly seasoning it and grilling it. This version of eggplant is served in a caprese salad and pairs perfectly with the tomato and mozzarella cheese. This is an easy and delicious way to mix up a classic and makes for a hearty salad recipe. You can serve for the salad for lunch, as an appetizer, or a side dish for an Italian-inspired dinner. 

Eggplant Caprese Salad
Makes: 8 servings 
Prep Time: 15 minutes     Total Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients For The Salad:

  • 1 eggplant slices in 1/4 inch rounds
  • 2 tbs olive oil 
  • 3 beefsteak tomatoes cut in 1/4 inch rounds 
  • 1 log of fresh mozzarella or buffalo mozzarella cut into 1/4 inch rounds
  • basil
  • salt 

Ingredients For The Dressing:

  • 1/2 balsamic vinaigrette 
  • 1/4 cup olive oil 
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper 

Directions 

  1. After slicing the eggplant, sprinkle salt on both sides of the pieces and set on paper towel for 15 minutes. This will help remove some of the excess moisture from the eggplant before you grill. 
  2. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat, about 450 degrees. 
  3. Drizzle olive oil over both sides of the eggplant and grill the slices on high for 2-3 minutes on each side so that the pieces are lightly charred and cooked through. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. Prepare the dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in a bowl. 
  5. Assemble the caprese by layering the eggplant, tomato and mozzarella across a long serving dish. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with fresh basil. Serve immediately. 

Italian Sandwiches

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Making almost 21 meals a week for four adults has its upsides, like lots of blogging content, but can get exhausting day after day. We often find that we are craving our favorite restaurants, but due to proximity and restaurant closures a lot of places aren’t feasible during the workweek for lunch. To keep ourselves inspired (and full!) we have started creating our favorite takeout recipes at home. Tate’s dad loves himself a good Italian sub, so we recreated our version at home one day for lunch last week. The homemade vinaigrette is a great addition to pre-made ingredients and the spinach adds a necessary dose of vegetables to balance out all of that meaty decadence. 

Italian Sandwiches
Makes: 4 sandwiches 
Prep Time: 10 minutes   Total Time: 20 minutes

Vinaigrette Ingredients: 

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 1 tbs oregano
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste 

Sandwich Ingredients:

  • 1 Italian or French baguette or 4 brioche buns (as pictured) 
  • 1 lb pepperoni, sandwich slices
  • 1 lb salami, sandwich slices
  • 1 lb turkey, sandwich slices
  • 1 lb provolone cheese
  • 1/2 cup giardeniera
  • 1 package of spinach (6 oz) 

Directions: 

  1. Heat your oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Make the vinaigrette. Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together. We pour this into a pan and cook it for a few minutes so that the shallot can break down and the oil can absorb all of those great flavors. 
  3. Assemble the sandwich. Cut the baguette or rolls in half and place both halves on a piece of tin foil. Using a brush, generously brush the vinaigrette on both sides of the bread. Continue until you use all of the vinaigrette. Layer all of the sandwich ingredients, except spinach, evenly across the bottom half of the baguette or each of the rolls. You can go in pretty much any order, but we assembled ours according to the ingredient list with pepperoni on the bottom. 
  4. Put the top on the sandwich and wrap the entire sandwich in tin foil. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes so the cheese gets melted and sandwich is toasty. Take the sandwich out of the oven, add the spinach and slice into quarters. Serve warm.

Penne a la Vodka

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Keeping things simple in quarantine does not mean that the food we make has to lack flavor. This penne a la vodka has just a few ingredients, most of them pantry ingredients, and is a much more exciting dinner than regular old spaghetti. Not to mention we could all use a little extra dash of vodka these days! Our recipe is different from other vodka sauce recipes because we cook the vodka down separately before adding the tomatoes. This helps smooth out the vodka taste so that there’s just a hint of it compared to other bolder tasting variations. We love to serve this creamy pasta as it is, but also bulk it up with slices of chicken or chicken sausage for a complete meal. 

Penne a la Vodka 
Makes: 4 servings 
Prep Time: 15 minutes   Total Time: 25 minutes 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 lb penne pasta (we used Trader Joe’s brown rice penne) 
  • 1 tbs butter
  • 1 tbs olive oil 
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced 
  • 1 shallot, minced 
  • 1/2 cup vodka 
  • 1- 28 oz can tomato puree 
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream 
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
  • 4 basil leaves, chiffonade 
  • salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions: 

  1. Heat a large soup pot over high heat to bring to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions, about 8 minutes depending on the pasta you have chosen. When the pasta has finished cooking, remove 1/2 cup of pasta water with a measuring cup and drain the pasta in your sink. Set aside. 
  2. While the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking, heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. 
  3. Add the butter and olive oil to the pan, letting the pan get hot and until the butter starts to bubble. Add the garlic and shallots to the pan and saute for 3-4 minutes, or until the garlic becomes fragrant. 
  4. Add the vodka to the pan. Cook for 3 minutes to burn off most of the alcohol.
  5. Add the tomato puree to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook another 7 minutes.
  6. Add the heavy cream and 1/2 cup of the cheese to the tomato sauce. Stir and keep over medium heat until the cheese is melted. 
  7. Add the pasta water and pasta to the pan. Stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the pasta is well coated with the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  8. Serve hot with chopped basil and the remaining 1/4 cup cheese, for garnish.