Minestrone and Blackforest Ham Panini

Since the weather is starting to cool down some, I was in the mood for some soup. I love the Minestrone at Olive Garden, so I thought I'd give it a try....I found several "copycat" recipes of the Olive Garden version....funny thing, they were ALL different. So I just took a little from them all and came up with my own. Soup didn't seem like enough, so I decided to make some paninis. The soup makes A LOT!

Ingredients for the Minestrone:

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 small yellow onion - chopped
• 1 small zucchini - chopped
• 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 1/2 cup frozen cut Italian green beans
• 1 stalk celery - chopped
• 4 cups Vegetable Broth
• 1 can kidney beans - drained
• 1 can Great Northern Beans - drained
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 2 tbsp. minced parsley
• 1 tsp. Oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 1.5 cups hot water
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup pasta (I used rotini) but most recipes call for the shell pasta

Ingredients for Panini's

• Black Forest Ham
• Fontina Cheese - shredded
• Italian Bread
• Dijon Mustard

Steps for Minestrone:

• Heat Olive oil in stock pot on Medium High heat

• Add in onion, garlic, celery, zucchini, and green beans....saute for about 5 min

• Add in broth, tomatoes, beans, and hot water

• Next add in the carrots and spices

• Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes

• Add in pasta and spinach, and let simmer for another 20 minutes (or longer)

Steps for Paninis:

• Turn on panini grill or in my case - the George Foreman
• Spread mustard onto 1 side of the bread for each sandwich you are making

• Top with Black Forest Ham (1-2 pieces or more if you like)

• Top with some of the fontina cheese

• Then top with your bread
• I sprayed each side of the sandwich with a small amount of olive oil
• Spray the foreman with a small amount of oil on each place
• Place sandwiches on the grill, and shut the lid, but do not push it down on the sandwich.

• Cook for about 5 minutes, once cheese is melted and bread is toasted to your liking

• Slice in half and serve alongside the soup....Enjoy!

Easy Dinner: Chicken Sausage with Tomato, basil and mozzarella ravioli

I didn't really put much thought into this, everything was pre-packaged, but sometimes that's easier! Jeremy loves sausage, and I am not really a huge fan, but when I saw Chicken Sausage, I figured I'd give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Al Fresco Chicken Sausage
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 package Monterrey Ravioli (Tomato, Basil, Mozarella)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 Jar Tomato Sauce
• Caesar Salad
• Garlic bread

Steps:

• Follow the directions on the packages!
• I put the sausage on a skillet, medium heat, with a tbsp olive oil for about 8-10 minutes until the sides were golden brown

• For the ravioli, I boiled water in a large pot, but barely boiling the water, I added in the ravioli for 5 minutes, drained, and topped with tomato sauce.

The food was delicious, I definitely recommend trying the chicken sausage. And dinner took me about 15 minutes to prepare and cook.