Rigatoni bolognese is a hearty and comforting dish I learned to make in culinary school. It’s a classic Italian dish that never fails to satisfy your taste buds.

Patience is key for this long-simmered meat sauce, but your patience will be rewarded with a depth of flavor that is worth the wait.

Today, I’m sharing tips for how to choose the best ingredients and the perfect noodle shape, as well as how to make rigatoni alla bolognese ahead of time, and refrigerate it or freeze it for future meals.

The post Rigatoni Bolognese Recipe appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

This Lasagna Recipe with Cottage Cheese has been in my family for generations!

Today, I’m sharing my family’s recipe for lasagna with cottage cheese. My mom got the recipe from her mom, and she often made this for Christmas day when I was a kid (and sometimes my birthday, too!).

First things first, let’s get this out of the way: Is this lasagna recipe with cottage cheese authentically Italian? No. Is it delicious? Absolutely.

YES, as the name makes crystal clear, this is lasagna without ricotta, and it uses cottage cheese instead. Yes, I know that ricotta is more traditional in authentic Italian food.

But hey, this recipe is from the Midwest (ope!), where cottage cheese is readily available, affordable, and delicious, and I am here. for. it.

The post Lasagna made with Cottage Cheese appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Best Lasagna Soup Recipe

This Lasagna Soup brings together all of the flavors of my family’s classic Lasagna Recipe with Cottage Cheese, but takes MUCH less time than putting together a traditional lasagna.

This will definitely hit the spot for anybody craving lasagna but pressed for time. The combination of two different types of meat, herbs and spices, and a rich tomato broth make this the best lasagna soup recipe out there.

The post Creamy Lasagna Soup (2 Ways – Stovetop or Crock Pot) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

When it comes to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a meal, those of us who don’t love corned beef (except sometimes in corned beef egg rolls) don’t have a ton of options.

My colcannon soup is always tasty. And sure, we could just drown our sorrows in a beer charcuterie board and Baileys brownies, but you need something more than just cheese and brownies, right?

While my wine and cheese board can certainly make an argument for an entire meal based on cheese and alcohol, I have another idea.

This mini shepherd’s pie recipe is made in a muffin pan, producing perfectly portable, bite-sized versions of a classic St. Patrick’s Day meal.

If you’re attending a gathering this year, these would be perfect. No serving spoon needed, just grab them and enjoy!

The post Mini Shepherd’s Pie (Individual Muffins) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Other than Italians, I have a feeling that Midwesterners eat just about the most pasta per capita. Especially in the fall and winter, when it’s cold, damp and seems to start getting dark at about 2pm.

While I definitely try to sprinkle in lighter, non-pasta dinners like almond crusted chicken, Greek chicken meatballs, and shrimp fajitas, I do admit that noodles like salmon pasta make up a significant portion of our cravings during this time of year.

And while a pack of ground beef will always be on standby for meat sauce rigatoni or fettuccine bolognese, sometimes I like to change things up.

Just as ground lamb tacos are a unique twist on taco night and lamb sliders and lamb lollipops are elegant for a holiday appetizer, this lamb bolognese recipe will have you coming back for seconds with its rich, hearty, gourmet flavor.

The post Lamb Bolognese (The Best Lamb Pasta!) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

We’re definitely deep into the “eating comfort food under a fluffy blanket” portion of winter. I’ve had creamy salmon pasta and slow cooker beef stroganoff on my menu plan on repeat for weeks.

I generally like something that is relatively quick to pull together or comes out of the slow cooker (like slow cooker chicken burrito bowls) on a weeknight.

But I have a little more time on Lazy Sunday afternoons to make something that takes a little bit longer. And one of my favorite weekend recipes is bolognese.

I’ve already shared my love for meat sauce rigatoni and today I’m back with the best fettuccine bolognese recipe. Because sometimes you just want a long, luscious noodle that you can twirl around your fork. At least I do!

The post Fettuccine Bolognese appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

The culinary school I went to focused on very classical French techniques (something like a lentil pasta sauce would be unheard of in the classical textbooks). Before dawn, the Baking students would get started on all-butter croissants.

At the same time, the students running the school’s restaurant would be roasting veal bones for stock. An hour later, the Breakfast & Pantry class would come in and begin making veggie quiche and bacon in the oven.

The Pastry students came in later and would go to the storeroom refrigerator to retrieve an ungodly amount of butter for their tasks that day. The rhythm of the school was the same, day after day, year after year.

And in the middle of all of the beef bones, sockeye salmon and eggshells, was a chef instructor who ate a vegan, raw food diet. Well, he ate that diet at home.

His job made it impossible to eat that way while he was instructing, as he had to taste all of his student’s work. But yeah, in his free time, he was a vegan.

Because of him, the students learned at least one vegan dish in those school kitchens that were usually full of roasted chicken and poached eggs.

He taught some classes how to make savory oatmeal for dinner. On my rotation, the assignment was a vegetable lasagna recipe and vegan lentil curry.

The post Vegan Lentil Curry (Lentil Vegetable Curry) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

My husband and I have a profound disagreement when it comes to how sloppy joes should be eaten.

You see, he insists on eating them with a fork and knife. Forks and knives are all well and good for say, almond crusted chicken or orange glazed chicken.

But I say that the very essence of a sloppy joe sandwich is, well, sloppy, and thus should be required to be eaten as a sandwich in all of its messy glory. Just like I’m using my hands to eat a prosciutto sandwich and wonton nachos, I’m picking up a sloppy joes, too.

What do you think? Leave a comment below to help us settle this debate!

The post Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes (Asian-Inspired) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Our basement flooded a few weeks ago. It was annoying and gross in all the ways those things are, but luckily we had already known our basement was a flood risk, so we don’t keep much down there. And what we do is all up high, off the ground.

The one exception, for some reason, was my Instant Pot. When we ran to the basement after we realized how heavy the rain was, I saw the Instant Pot sitting on the ground, and water creeping toward it.

At the last minute, I ran through the flood, scooped it up and rescued it.

The post Instant Pot Lentil Soup appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Since we moved to this city ten years ago, our favorite Chinese takeout restaurant has always been there for us. When somebody wasn’t feeling well, China Ruby’s wonton soup was there to soothe.

After a long day when nobody felt like cooking, a delicious hot meal was just a phone call away. Truth be told, we took China Ruby for granted until just recently.

(more…)

The post General Tso’s Cauliflower Tacos appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.