Meals Made Easier

Thank you for bearing with me while our office went through their busy time. It's finally slowed down enough for me to get back in the saddle. With that in mind I've pulled my favorite "no fuss" easy dinners and put those together for a months worth of meals. The holiday season is on us and our lives will go zipping by at lightening speed. With Fall decorating, Halloween parties, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas, you won't want to be spending a whole lot of time in the kitchen. Or if you happen to be my friend Elizabeth you think Kitchen is synonymous Drudgery (I don't know if that's an actual word but I'm claiming it!), so in honor of the impending holidays and for people like my friend Elizabeth the next few weeks blogs are going to be all about saving time and whipping up easy, yummy, meals.

Week One:

Tortellini with Butternut Squash, Mushrooms, and Fontina

Hands on time: 10 minutes
Total time: 40 Minutes

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and halved if large.

1/4 cup fresh sage leaves. (If you don't have fresh sage leaves you can use dried sage leaves just be sure to cut the amount down by half).

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

1 pound fresh or frozen tortellini

2 ozs. Fontina or Gruyere, grated (1/2 cup), plus more for serving.

Heat oven to 450 degrees f.  on 2 rimmed baking sheets (or a pizza stone if you have one), toss the squash and mushrooms with the sage, oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

While that's roasting you want to start cooking the tortellini according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water; drain the tortellini and return to the pot. Add the vegetables, Fontina, 1/4 cup of the cooking water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with Fontina.

IF that's still too much cooking for you here's another fall evening favorite in our house.

Tomato soup with Roast Beef, Cheddar, and Horseradish Panini.

Hands on time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

1 large family size can of tomato soup

2 large onions, chopped (optional)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

sandwich bread (whichever kind you feel like using)

8 ozs thinly sliced roast beef

8 ozs sharp white cheddar, sliced

Ok remember how I said the onions and garlic were optional? Well that's because I like to "doctor" my tomato soup with them. If you'd like to try your soup my way it's super simple, just chop the onions and garlic and throw them in with the canned tomato soup and let it all simmer on the stove top together. Tomato soup is so versatile you can throw just about anything you like in there and it's gonna be good. So that's it for the soup. I do have a homemade tomato soup recipe and just for fun I'll post that for my slow cooked Sunday dinner post.

While the soup is heating up and cooking it's time to assemble the sandwiches. Remember when I posted that improvised panini post? Well same thing applies here if you don't have a panini press don't worry about it you can improvise with other things. A panini is really just a fancy grilled sandwich anyway. Your going to to need a small bowl and a whisk. Stir together the sour cream and horseradish. Form sandwiches with the bread, roast beef, cheddar, and half the horseradish mixture.
Side note: if you happen to have some arugula on hand (a peppery type of lettuce) it's awesome on these sandwiches.

Heat a lightly oiled grill pan over medium heat and cook the sandwiches until the cheese is melted, about 5 to 6 minutes per side. Top the soup with the remaining horseradish mixture and serve with the sandwiches.