Yesterday morning as I was paroosing through Facebook a friend posted about a savory breakfast pie that was filled with all things I love.  I had all the ingredients, but didn't want to wait as long as it would take to make, so I improvised, and I am so glad I did.  I'm also glad I made extra as I am about to eat one for breakfast this morning too.  :o) 

This was super easy and came together rather quickly.

Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed and rub the bottom with olive oil (this to prevent sticking on the grill - I also sit them on a sheet of foil on the grill.)  
Fill with a layer of spinach
Add a layer of sliced tomatoes - good, fresh, in season red juicy plump tomatoes!
Toss some crumbled (& cooked) breakfast sausage on next (I used homemade - so much better for you and I promise to post the recipe soon...I'm so bad sometimes.  I know I've been promising for a long time.  THIS WEEK I tell you, THIS WEEK!)
Grill for about 10-15 minutes

Next up scramble up some eggs.
**Toss in some Feta. I like the tomato/basil feta - it is my favorite! 

Next...I tried to pour it directly on top of the mushrooms, but I realized very quickly that would not work and I would have a GIANT mess in my grill SO I cooked the eggs just a little on the stove top - just enough to where they hold a little form and would not slip off the mushroom.  This worked beautifully. 

I filled those mushrooms and continued the cooking process on the grill for another 10 minutes or so until the egg was thoroughly cooked.

HEAVEN.
I loved it.
Hubby enjoyed it.
The kids turned their noses up.
They don't know what they are missing.
It doesn't matter -
MORE FOR ME! 

**To make this recipe Whole 30 compliant leave out the feta.
You could also make this in the oven if you don't have a grill.
Cooking at a temperature of 400.

Since living here I have not made curry.  We love all kinds of curry around here, but mostly we love Thai style curries.  One would think that finding curry paste while living in Asia would be a simple task -right?  WRONG.  I have yet to find curry paste in Korea.  Sure I know I can make it, but really I'm just far too busy (lazy) to do that.  Plus there is no shortage of good Thai food here.  HOWEVER being on the Whole 30 has made me rethink eating out - first I can't read the menu and second Korean's don't like to tell you no (cultural thing) so I never really know if what I am hearing is the gospel or just them being nice and me not reading between the lines, SO I finally broke down and ordered some Mae Ploy Curry pastes (in all flavors!) from Amazon as I know the Mae Ploy brand is 'clean' and so I was finally I was able to kick our craving for curry without worrying that there might be some palm sugar lurking somewhere behind the kaffir leaves in our curry.....

So without further ado, here is my first attempt at a clean version of Green Curry.

What you need:
2 1/2 TBL Mae Ploy Green Curry Paste. (I have to order it on Amazon.)
1 can coconut milk
1 1/2 - 3 cups chicken broth
2.5 lbs thinly sliced pork (and of course you can be creative and use chicken, shrimp or just veggies!)
1 -2 tsp fish sauce
3-4 Kaffir lime leaves - if you can find them!
2 Japanese eggplants
1 1/2 cups snap peas
1 -2 cups of mushrooms - I have NO IDEA what type I used.  (See picture.)

To get this done:
Pour coconut milk in a large dutch oven
Add the green curry (more or less to your liking) mix well.
Add 1 1/2 cup of chicken broth cooking till nice and fragrant (almost a boil).
Add pork cook for about 3-5 minutes .
Add peas and eggplant. 
Cook till all pork is cooked through.
Add more chicken broth (as needed).
Add mushrooms & kaffir lime leaves.
Add fish sauce to taste.
Simmer for 10 -15 minutes.

I served this with mashed cauliflower.  :o)

By now you know that trying new recipes for us is as natural as the air you breath.  It's the norm.  Sometimes I get inspiration from restaurants, most of the time from friends and sometimes just walking through the grocery store.  Last week I was shopping at the commissary when I happened upon the "DeLallo" brand pastas & sauces.  I'm always looking for a good pasta sauce since they don't carry my FAVORITE pasta sauce of all times here in Korea.  Rao's.  If you see Rao's Pasta Sauce BUY IT.  I promise you will LOVE IT!!  You might not love the price tag, but you will LOVE the sauce.  It ROCKS.    Sorry...I'm off track.  Back to DeLallo - anyway, as I was checking out the sauce I noticed pasta - or vice versa - whichever way it happened I ended up buying a package of Rigatoni and saw this recipe on the package and thought "what the heck....we love pasta, sausage and peppers, let's give it a whirl!"    I'm so glad we did.  Everyone LOVED this recipe and ask that it be put into our regular rotation (which means they might get it two or three times a year - possibly more since it was SO SIMPLE!).  So here it is, going into our regular rotation & hopefully yours.  Here is a link to the original recipe.  I adapted just a tad.

1 package sweet Italian sausage - casings removed and cut into bite size pieces
2-3 TBL olive oil
1 small yellow onion - diced
2-3 cloves garlic - minced
1 red pepper - seeded and sliced lengthwise
1 yellow pepper - seeded and sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes (use San Marzano tomatoes if you can find them - they are totally worth it!)
1 pound of rigatoni pasta
Freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese, or parmesan
Red pepper flakes

Cook pasta according to package.

Drizzle 2  tablespoons olive oil in large Dutch oven- sauté onions, garlic for 2-3 minutes, add sausage.     

After cooking sausage onion combo for 5 minutes add peppers.   Continue to stir and cook until sausage and
peppers beging to brown.   Add red pepper flakes - a few if you don't like it very spicy, a lot if you like the spice!  

Pour a glass of wine for you and your love, and then add a 1/2 of cup of the same wine to you sausage/pepper combo.
Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Add whole tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon.   Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer - covered for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the hot pasta to your pan - toss some Pecorino Romano in- drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil.....

Serve with a salad and some (homemade) crusty bread.

Simple goodness.

No one tells you that once you hit 40 your once more than perfect eye sight starts to go.  So when I pulled this recipe card out of my recipe box (yes, I still have one of those) and it looked like this:

I knew it was time to update it. 
I'll save this card and pass it on to my children.  They can throw it away when they choose to, but I think it is important to pass on handwritten recipes  AND when they get to this card they will remember how well loved this recipe was....so much so they might just frame it, stains and all.  :o)

When Hubby took a bite of lasagna last night you could see him melt in his chair a little and said "This is the best lasagna EVER.  Kids, you don't know how good you have it with your mom's cooking.  When you move out and you have lasagna someplace other than home you are going to compare it to your moms lasagna and there will be no comparison.  This is the best lasagna ever."

I love it when Hubby raves about my cooking.  It just makes me feel all warm and tingly all over. 

I'm hoping that when our children are grown and married that my cooking is one of the things that will bring our kids home every Sunday afternoon for linner - yes, linner.  (A girl can dream....)  

Sausage & Prosciutto Lasagna

9 lasagna noodles cooked al dente

Cheese filling:
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella diced (divided 1 cup - 1/2 cup) 
1 1/4 cup smoked gouda cheese (divided 1 cup - 1/4 cup) 
1 egg

The Sauce:
A drizzle or two of olive oil
1 16 oz package of Italian sausage (sweet, mild or hot...you choose, it is good with all, I used mild)
4 oz sliced and diced prosciutto
1 medium onion
1 cup mushrooms, sliced and diced
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp dried oregano
a few sprinkles of crushed red pepper
2 TBL tomato paste
1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes (San Marzano are the best)
16 fresh basil leaves chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste

The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can make the sauce a day or two in advance.  AND the sauce is good even if you are not making lasagna.

For the sauce: 
Drizzle olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add sausage and sauté until browned - add chopped prosciutto.

Transfer sausage mixture to a bowl.  Using the same pan add another drizzle of olive oil to pan, toss in chopped onions, mushrooms, garlic, oregano & crushed red pepper.  Sauté for about 5 minutes or until tender.  Add tomato paste, tomatoes & basil.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  

Add sausage mixture to the sauce.  Season with salt & pepper.

For cheese filling:
Mix together ricotta, egg 1 cup of diced mozzarella, 1 cup smoked gouda.
Season with salt & pepper.

For the lasagna:
Preheat oven to 350
Using a 9x13 glass dish
Layer:
1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
3 lasagna noodles
1/2 cheese mixture
1/2 the remaining tomato sauce
3 lasagna noodles
remainder of cheese mixture
remainder of tomato sauce mixture
3 lasagna noodle
top with 1/2 cup of mozzarella & 1/4 cup of gouda.

Bake covered for about 30 minutes, uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes.  
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. 

Devour.