Appetizers for Parties!

With the holidays and football going on around here, I have been preparing many appetizers.  Here are a couple of our favorites:

Artichoke Bread

1/3 cup butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
4 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup sour cream
1 French bread loaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichoke hearts, Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and sour cream. Stir to blend. Remove from the heat and cool. Slice the bread lengthwise and scoop out some of the center. Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly into the bread shell and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Place each half on a baking sheet and cover lightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese melts completely. Cut into slices and serve warm.

Stuffed Jalapeños

15 Jalapeños

1 large block cream cheese

15 slices Bacon  (cut slices in half to make 30)

Slice peppers in half the long way and remove seeds.   Spread cream cheese on jalapenos.  Wrap in bacon.   Cook on cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes at 350.

Sausage Wonton Stars

1 pkg. wonton wrappers

1 pound pork sausage

2 cups shredded Colby cheese

½ medium green pepper, chopped

½ medium sweet red pepper, chopped

2 bunches green onions, sliced

½ cup ranch salad dressing

Lightly press wonton wrappers onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased miniature muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for 5 minutes or until edges are browned.  In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no long pink; drain.  Stir in the cheese, peppers, onions, and salad dressing.  Spoon a rounded tablespoonful into each wonton cup.  Bake for 6-7 minutes or until heated through. 

Makes about 4 dozen.

 

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan
Makes 4 large stuffed green peppers.

1 C long-grain brown rice
4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
2 links (about 8 ounces) turkey Sweet Italian Sausage (or other sausage of your choice.
1/2 tsp. ground fennel
1/2 tsp. dried Greek or Turkish oregano
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Cook rice according to package directions.

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner.

Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors. Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.

Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Italian Sausage and Peppers

This too is a meal I grew up with. 

5 Italian sausage links (we prefer mild)
buns (we are using hot dog ones today)
jar of roasted red peppers, sliced up (keep the juice)

Grill the Italian sausage on the grill.  Grill on medium/low for about 15-20 minutes. While grilling, place the roasted red peppers on the stove with the juice it they came in.  Cook on low-medium.  Once sausage is grilled.  Place in bun and top with peppers. 

This is the easy way to do the peppers.  My grandmother doctors them up and makes them even better.  I will share that recipe the next time we make this meal!

We had this with cooked broccoli and cheese rice and clementines. 

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie

2 jars spaghetti sauce 

1 pkg. spaghetti

1 lb ground beef

1 lb Italian sausage

1 c sliced olives  (optional)

Cheese Layer:

1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese

1 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp milk

4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

A couple of dashes of garlic powder to taste

Topping:

2 c Mozzarella cheese

Brown ground beef and sausage and cook spaghetti.  Add 1 ½ jars of spaghetti sauce and olives to meat mixture.  Pour spaghetti into sauce and mix.  Put ½ of spaghetti mixture in 9x13 inch pan.  Spread cheese mixture over spaghetti.  Put remaining spaghetti mixture over cheese layer and top with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over top.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

I usually split this recipe in half because it makes too much the four of us.  However, you could freeze the other half and have it another night!

Tonight I am serving it with green beans and garlic bread.  When I serve green beans, I like to use fresh, but tonight I am doing can.  I rinse the green beans and heat them.  Then I sprinkle a little garlic powder and spray butter on them.  (My husband keeps his blood pressure under control with diet and this is why I rinse and use only garlic powder and spray)

I use whole grain pasta and I use Hunts Garlic and Herb pasta sauce in a can.  We have family who work for Conagra, therefore we try to support them as often as we can.  You can aways use fat free cheeses while making this. 

Enjoy!