Organic vegetables, cheeses and sauces to make delicious Italian meals are easy to find. Organic spices such as oregano and Italian seasoning are also readily available at most stores that sell organic foods. Try one of these Italian recipes with a side of crusty bread.
Organic Italian cannelloni
Ingredients:
1 organic onion (halved)
1 stalk organic celery (chopped)
1 bay leaf
1 cup organic milk
1 cup raw organic spinach
1 15-ounce can organic tomatoes
1 teaspoon organic oregano
16 cannelloni tubes
2 cups organic ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons organic butter
1 tablespoon flour
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place onion, celery, bay leaf and milk into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Allow to set for 10 minutes, then strain milk into a cup. Set the onion and celery to the side.
3. Cook spinach in a very small amount of water for about 3 minutes, until wilted. Drain, squeezing out excess moisture.
4. Place the onion and celery into sauce pan with tomatoes and oregano. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pour mixture into a greased 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
5. Mix spinach with ricotta cheese. Stuff the cannelloni tubes (the kind that you don’t have to pre-cook) with the cheese mixture and arrange on top of the tomato mixture in a single layer.
6. Place the butter, flour and cooled milk into a saucepan and bring to boil. Whisk constantly until thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and then pour on top of the cannelloni.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Makes 8 servings.
Meatball pasta casserole
Ingredients:
1 pound organic ground beef
1 tablespoon organic Italian seasoning
16 ounces dried ziti pasta
1 26-ounce jar tomato pasta sauce
1 15-ounce can Italian-style tomato sauce
2 cups organic ricotta cheese
1/2 cup organic grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups organic shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
2. Season ground beef with Italian seasoning. Roll into 1-inch balls and cook in a frying pan until brown. Drain.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Return to pan. Stir in meatballs, pasta sauce and tomato sauce.
4. Transfer mixture to an ungreased 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Bake (covered) for 30 minutes.
5. Combine ricotta and Parmesan cheese. Uncover the pasta, and spoon cheese mixture on top. Cover loosely and bake about 10 minutes more.
6. Add mozzarella cheese and bake, uncovered, for an additional 5 minutes. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
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