Lasagna, Cheesy Garlic Knots, Caprese Salad, Bacon-Jalapeno Cheese Ball, & Fudge Pie

Dinner by Sara

Bacon-Jalapeno Cheese Ball

Made by Lauren

Recipe from The Homesick Texan

Lasagna

• Sara's marinara sauce (see below)
• Béchamel Sauce (see below)
• lasagna noodles, cooked to package instructions
• mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. In a large baking dish layer ingredients. start with the marinara sauce, then add a layer of noodles, béchamel,  marinara, and cheese. Repeat until you have used all of your ingredients making sure that you end with cheese on the top.
3. Cover with foil and bake for 30 min
4. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 or until golden and bubbly.
5. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving

Sara's Marinara Sauce

• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 2 lbs Italian sausage
• 2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, drained but keep the liquid
• 5 8oz cans tomato sauce
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion
• white wine
• a handful of chopped basil
• Italian seasoning
• salt & pepper
• sugar

1. In a large sauce pan, brown the ground turkey and sausage together. Once fully cooked; drain & set aside.
2. Saute the onion and garlic in the same pot you cooked the meat in
3. Once the onion is translucent add the white wine to deglaze the pan
4. Once the cooks down add the meat back in and season with half of the Italian seasoning and half of the basil
5. Add the whole tomatoes and let cook together for a few minutes
6. Add the liquid from the tomatoes, the rest of the basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and sugar
7. Simmer on low for at least 30 min

Béchamel Sauce

• 2 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-pourpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Put milk in a saucepan,  turn on the heat to medium low, and bring the milk just to the verge of boiling, to the point when it begins to form a ring of small, pearly bubbles.
2. While heating the milk, put the butter in a heavy-bottomed 4-6 cup saucepan, and turn heat on low.
3. When the butter has melted completely, add the flour and stir continuously with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat before flour turns brown
4. Add the milk to the flour mixture 2 tablespoons at a time while stirring, making sure the milk is fully incorporated before adding more. Once you have added 1/2 cup of milk you can start adding the milk in 1/2 cup increments while continuously stirring.
5. once all of the milk has been fully incorporated to a smooth consistency  place pan over low heat, add the salt and stir constantly until you have reached the desired thickness. If you have any lumps use a whisk to beat the sauce in order to get a smooth texture.

Pull Apart Cheesy Garlic Knots

Recipe and picture from Comfortable Food

Caprese Salad

• tomatoes
• fresh mozzarella
• pesto
• balsamic glaze  
• fresh basil cut into chiffonade

Slice tomatoes and mozzarella. Arrange on a plate alternating layers of tomato and mozzarella. Drizzle with pesto and balsamic glaze. Sprinkle with fresh basil.

Lynden's Fudge Pie

Made by Lynden

• 3 squares unsweetened chocolate (i use baker's)
• 1 stick butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust

1. preheat oven to 350º
2. In a small sauce pan melt together the chocolate and butter. being careful to to burn the chocolate
3. Stir in the sugar
4. Add the eggs and stir until fully incorporated
5. Add corn syrup, baking soda and salt and stir until incorporated.
6. Pour into pie crust
7. Bake for 45 min or right until the top is about to break and not too jiggly