Breadsticks

1 loaf frozen bread dough
cooking oil
1/4 pound butter
1 tablespoon rock salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
.
Thaw bread dough at room temperature in a greased bowl. When it is soft
enough to knead, coat your hands with oil and knead until you can shape it
into sticks. You should get about 8 to 10 pieces. Place these on a lightly
greased cookie sheet and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size
(about 90 minutes). When dough is ready, put the butter, salt, garlic
powder and oregano into a microwaveable bowl and microwave until butter is
melted. Brush breadsticks with the butter mixture and bake at 375 F. for
about 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a rack before serving.

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Fontina Sauce

1 lb butter
1lb 8oz of rue
48oz hot water
3quarts heavy cream
1 gallon milk
1 tsp pepper
2lbs 8oz fontina cheese

Cut butter into 8 pieces. Melt butter in steam kettle on medium high. Whisk in rue. Dissolve mushroom stock in hot water and add to kettle. Whisk in heavy cream, milk, and pepper. Heat to 185ºF whisking frequently. Turn off heat and whisk in fontina cheese.

Simmer for 3 mins, whisking frequently until smooth. Makes 2.6 gallons.

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Fried Mozzarella

1 pound block of mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup corn starch

Slice the block of cheese lengthwise into about 1/2 inch sections. Cut each section in half.

Beat the eggs with water and set aside. Mix the bread crumbs, garlic, oregano, and basil and set aside. Blend the flour with corn starch and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil for deep frying to 350F. Dip cheese in flour then in egg wash and then coat with bread crumbs. Place carefully in hot oil and fry until golden brown. This should only take a matter of seconds, so you need to watch them closely.

Drain on brown paper bags and serve with your favorite pasta sauce that has been warmed.

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Lasagna

Alfredo Sauce:
1/2 lb. sweet or salted butter
12 oz. heavy cream
Fresh ground white pepper
1 1/2 cups fresh Parmesan, grated

Ricotta Cheese Mix:
1 pint Ricotta cheese
2 oz. Romano, grated
3 oz. Mozzarella, shredded
2 tbls. green onions, sliced
2 teas. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teas. salt
1/8 teas. black pepper
1/4 teas. dried basil
1/4 teas. dried oregano
1 1/4 cups Alfredo sauce, cooled

Vegetable Mix:
4 cups broccoli florets
2 cups carrots, sliced 1/4"
4 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced 1/4"
2 cups red bell peppers, diced
1 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 cup yellow onion, diced
2 cups zucchini, sliced

Lasagna noodles:
18 slices Mozzarella cheese, 1/2 oz. each

Lay out enough dry lasagna strips in a 9x13 pan to ensure you have enough to make 3 full layers, with very little overlap on each layer. Remove the dry strips and cook according to package instructions until barely "al dente" and drain.

ALFREDO SAUCE: Heat water to a boil in the bottom of a double boiler. Add butter, cream and pepper to the top pot and heat until butter is completely melted, then stir in Parmesan until melted and blended.

Remove top pot and set aside to cool. Divide the sauce into 2 equal portions. Refrigerate 1 portion for use later.

RICOTTA CHEESE MIX: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend thoroughly with a rubber spatula. Set aside at room temp.

VEGETABLES: Combine all veggies and mix well.

ASSEMBLY: Coat the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable spray. Lay out cooked lasagna strips (about 4) to cover entire bottom.

Spread 1-1/4 c of the Ricotta mix evenly over the strips. Top with 8 c of veggie mix and spread out evenly. Lay out 9 of the mozzarella slices to cover the veggie layer. Repeat this layering. Top the second layer of mozzarella slices with lasagna strips and spread them evenly with 1-1/4 c ricotta cheese mix to finish.

COOKING: Spray a sheet of foil with vegetable spray and cover the baking dish tightly with the foil, sprayed side down. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about an hour or until the internal temp is 165F. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes, covered, before cutting and serving. Immediately prior to serving, heat the reserved portion of Alfredo Sauce and ladle the hot sauce over each slice of lasagna as it is served.

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Pasta e Fagioli

It's amazing how many lousy clones for this delicious chili-like soup from Olive Garden are floating around on the Web. Some are shared on message boards, others are displayed on sites in a collection of "actual restaurant recipes" (yeah, right!). But they all leave out obvious ingredients you can see, like the carrots, ground beef, or two kinds of beans. Others don't get the pasta right -- it's obviously digital pasta. If you want the taste of Pasta e Fagioli at home, this is the only recipe that will fool in a side-by-side taste test. Accept no other imitation imitation!

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans (with liquid)
1 15-ounce can great northern beans (with liquid)
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 12-ounce can V-8 juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound (1/2 pkg.) ditali pasta

1. Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Drain off most of the fat.

2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.

4. About 50 minutes into simmer time, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just until pasta is al dente, or slightly tough. Drain.

5. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and serve.

Serves 8.

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Seafood Portifino

Portofino Sauce:
4 oz Butter
4 oz Yellow onion, 1/4" dice
4 oz rue
16 fl oz milk
1 pint heavy cream
2 oz shrimp stock
1/2 fl oz old bay seasoning
16 fl oz white cooking wine
1 1/2 oz of Garlic puree

makes 1/2 gallon

Seafood portofino:

1/2 fl oz olive oil
2 oz of mushrooms
3 oz of portofino sauce (cold)
Linguine precooked (hot)
sprinkle fresh parsley
shrimp 4 oz, crawfish 2 oz, scallops 2 oz and 6 mussels

Heat oil in saute pan over medium flame. Put mushrooms in cook 30 seconds. Add mussels and cook 30 seconds. Add seafood. Cook 30 seconds. Flip cook 15 seconds more. Add portofino sauce cook until bubbling throughout. Move mushrooms and seafood to one side of pan. Add linguine to other side.
Using tongs,coat pasta with sauce. (mussels should be open).

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