Crispy Baked Ravioli

Here is another savory recipe. Hey, a woman can't live on desserts alone....even though she would like to. I made this for lunch yesterday and served it with a marinara sauce for dipping - it was yummy! I got this recipe from another one of my BakeSpace friends, Vicki (dutchmom4).

Frozen ravioli, thawed and uncooked *
Italian dressing
Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dip ravioli in Italian dressing. Coat with bread crumbs.
Bake 10 to 18 minutes, depending on the size of the ravioli.

Serve with marinara sauce, ketchup, ranch dressing, etc....

Vicki's Notes

*NOTE 1: I've, also, made this with frozen cheese rigatoni (filling - ricotta, parmesan, and romano cheese). Yum!

* NOTE 2: Some people boil the frozen pasta and let it cool for 10 minutes before dipping in dressing and coating with bread crumbs. I omitted this step with the rigatoni without a problem.

Mom's Meatloaf

In honor of Mother's Day I thought I would post Mom's meatloaf recipe. She didn't have an actual recipe written down so with the help of my fading memory and some recipes I found on the internet, I think I've come up with something simlar to what she used to make. I'm still not certain that I have the meat to cracker ratio down right, but it's very close.

I love and miss you Mom!

1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork sausage
½ -¾ cup onion, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup saltine crackers (1 sleeve) crushed
1 can tomato soup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Sauté onion in butter until soft.
Combine beef, pork sausage, onion, eggs, tomato soup and crackers. Mix well and shape into a loaf.
Bake in a 9x5 loaf pan for one hour and 20 minutes. Internal temperature should reach 160 degrees F.
Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing

Chewy Butterscotch Brownies

I got this recipe from my friend Patti T, who is a regular on the Breakfast Club forum on BakeSpace. As much as I love chocolate brownies, I could almost give them up for these.

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon vanilla

2eggs

1 2/3 cup (11oz)Pkg. butterscotch morsels, divided

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup morsels and nuts. Spread into ungreased 13x9inch pan. Sprinkle with remaining morsels. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Patti's notes:

I hope I can explain this, one time I was out of brown sugar and so hungry for these, I measured out 1 3/4 cup regular sugar into a 2 cup measuring cup slowly added maple syrup until it just came up to the top of the sugar and used it instead of the brown sugar. It turned out fantastic and that is the way I usually make them now.

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms

3 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (1-ounce)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup dried cherries , chopped
1/3 cup sugar
1 bag cherry cordial crème chocolate kiss-shaped candies (11-ounce) (60) unwrapped

Place unsweetened chocolate in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on High, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted (1 to 1 ½ minutes). Add butter; stir until butter is melted. Cool 10 minutes.

Combine melted chocolate mixture, 1 ½ cups sugar, ¾ cup flour, eggs and baking powder in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add remaining ¾ cup flour and dried cherries. Continue beating just until well mixed. Cover; refrigerate until firm (1 hour).

Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Place 1/3 cup sugar in small bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2-inches apart onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until top is cracked and set.
Immediately press 1 cherry chocolate kiss into each cookie. Remove to cooling racks. Cool completely or until chocolate is set (about 1 hour). Store between sheets of waxed paper in container with tight fitting lid for up to 5 days.

Notes:
. The dough may also be rolled in powdered sugar for a frosty white crinkled effect.
. Increase chopped dried cherries to ½ cup for extra cherry flavor.
I found that if I dipped my fingers in water before shaping each cookie, dough didn't stick to hands as much.