Chicken Lasagna with Spinach and Fresh Cheese Recipe

Don’t get scared by amount of ingredients: it isn’t that complicated to cook chicken lasagna with spinach and fresh cheese at home, especially if you have noodles which doesn’t require boiling.

Of course it will take some time too cook stuffing as well white sauce, but at the end you will get whole baking pan of tasty creamy lasagna.

I used fresh spinach, but frozen will work good too, just thaw it before cooking and drain liquid before mixing with cooked chicken. Tvorog (fresh cow cheese) can be replaced with ricotta of the same weight as well.

Serve lasagna 10-15 mins after you take it from the oven; leftovers can be stored in fridge and re-heated in microwave.

Veal Stew with Chanterelles and Peas

Chanterelles are mushrooms which I simply can’t pass in the shop, even though they are seasonal or maybe because of that.

It is my shame, but I don’t know any way to prepare them other than this stew with veal and peas, but it sure tastes great!

You can substitute beef for veal, just increase cooking time to ensure meat is soft enough. You can also substitute white dry wine for water, if you feel like this.

Duck Meat Stewed with Apples

Duck meat does go great with apples; usually stuffing a whole duck with apples and then roasting it in the oven is a way to go. But first - it can take quite some time, and then - it bears hassle of dealing with bones when serving and eating.

All of that is gone if boneless duck breasts are sliced and stewed with apples in a deep skillet like in this recipe. It also makes it easier to serve exact amount of meat for each portion.

Any apples will do good for this recipe, however sour ones are better.

Beef Stroganoff with Mushrooms and Cream

This recipe features a small modification to the beef stroganoff recipe I posted earlier, but a good one: a cup of cream and cremini mushrooms give this dish a very rich taste.

Field mushrooms will also work good in this recipe, but cremini are the best.

As usual, I suggest serving beef stroganoff with a side of boiled buckwheat, it tastes great with mushrooms and cream and, of course, beef.

Salmon Roast in Foil

For me the best tasting salmon - is boiled salmon, and with this recipe I get taste of boiled salmon without actually boiling it. The same as boiled salmon this one tastes great garnished with mayo; a glass of white wine is good accompaniment as well.

This salmon roast can be cooked on the grill as well, just pack each fish piece into separate piece of foil and then cook without pan until ready.

Onions here are optional, they give a bit of taste to the dish but they also make sure that fish doesn’t touch the foil.

Pork Loin Roll with Prunes and Carrots

Ingredients in this recipe for most part are the same as in meat stew with prunes and carrots, however for this one I suggest using pork loin - it is tender and much easier to slit flat to be able to roll it with stuffing.

Prunes are go great with pork meat. If you have dry prunes with pits - soak them in boiled water for 15-20 mins to soften and then remove pits before continue with recipe.

Boiled potatoes are great side dish for this entree, whatever you decide to go with mashed potatoes, baked potatoes or simple boiled potatoes, it will work good.

Minced Cutlets Stuffed with Mushrooms

This is a tasty tweak to original minced beef cutlets recipe. The mince is prepared exactly the same way and mushrooms and onions stuffing gives ground meat juiciness and extraordinary taste.

A bit of agility is required to put stuffing inside of minced meat cutlets, but once you get it - it seems easy: meat is sticky, so if you get some holes, they can be easily patched by adding a layer of mince on top of the hole.

To prevent meat from sticking to hands - rinse hands with cold water from time to time while assembling minced cutlets.

Pork Roast with Garlic, Mayo and Spices

Yet another pork roast - and it is spicy one. Slow cooking turns meat in this roast tender and juicy and it makes great dinner.

To save some time on preparation you can marinate meat in advance and then just put it to the oven 3 hours before it needs to hit the table.

Juices produced while meat was cooking make great addition when poured over the meat or its side dish of potatoes served with it.

Whole Chicken Roast with Oranges

This roast chicken was a first real food we cooked in our new home since the move (yep, we got a house!). So it was kind of the "celebration of new home" meal :).

If you are looking for some easy recipe for some special event - search no more: whole chicken roast stuffed with oranges is very-very juicy and has a bit unusual sweet taste.

It goes good with mashed potatoes or plain boiled rice as a side dish.

If you don’t like taste of orange zest - peel oranges before stuffing, that will smooth taste a bit.

Veal Roast with Mustard and Garlic

This veal roast is a good choice for romantic or family dinner. Meat can be prepared for cooking in advance, like a night before, and then roast day after. That will make meat even better marinated.

I think veal is the best for this recipe, but since veal is hard to get and can be quite pricey - beef can be used as well. If you choose to cook beef – increase roasting time a bit.

Veal roast can be served warm straight from the oven, as one piece or spiced into portions. It also tastes good cooled down.

Stuffed Pork Rolls with Mushrooms (Kruchenyky)

Kruchenyky or zavyvantsi – meat rolls prepared with pork (less often with beef) and stuffed with various mixes. This is very popular dish of traditional ukrainian cuisine.

Stuffings for kruchenyky, as well as sauces, vary from region to region and, actually, from cook to cook.

I like kruchenyky prepared from pork loin and stuffed with mushrooms or mushroom mix with some other ingredients, fried and then baked under cream sauce. Just like in this recipe.

It may seem like lot of hassle to cook these stuffed pork rolls, but it is really not as hard as it looks; and is really tasty :)

Meatballs with Carrot-Tomato Sauce

Russian meatballs (or “tefteli” how they are called in Russia) are prepared from ground beef and rice mix and cooked under some kind of sauce. They usually have big size (1 or 2 meatballs is enough for a serving).

This is a recipe for “tefteli” my mom uses: big meatballs, dipped into flour, then fried over in some oil and cooked with vegetable sauce (carrots, tomatoes, onions and dill) until ready.

I've modified recipe a bit to use freshly pureed tomatoes instead of tomato paste. However, if you don't have fresh tomatoes under your hands, you can use canned tomatoes or tomato paste diluted with water.

Boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes are usually the first choice of side dish for tefteli for me, boiled buckwheat or pasta work good too.

French Onion Soup

I absolutely love this tender onion and cheese soup with a light hint of spices and dry white wine. It is very good choice for home dinner party or romantic dinner just for you two.

You can prepare most of the steps in advance (from step 1 to step 9), then pour soup to the bowls, add bread and cheese and put them to the oven right before serving. That will save you a bit of time and ensure every meal comes fresh and warm at the right time.

My advice would be to use home prepared broth, cooked with good quality beef, carrots, onions, parsley and celery for this soup. If you need some hints on how to prepare beef broth, follow these instructions.

Pork Roast with Garlic Recipe

Pork roast by this recipe usually turns out juicy and flavored. It is nice dinner dish, can be served warm or cooled down; leftovers are good for sandwiches.

It takes about an hour to cook from beginning till end. It is very easy to prepare recipe. Apart of main ingredients, which are mainly pork and garlic, you will also need a sheet of cooking foil.

Tastes good accompanied by dry red or rose wine.

Soup Puree with Broccoli and Chicken

This bright green colored soup-purée (or cream soup) made of chicken, broccoli and some other vegies is probably the quickest to prepare soup I know.

It is also nutritious: loaded with healthy vegetables and white chicken meat, which are boiled, pureed and blended together for tasty creamy texture.

All that makes this soup very good choice not only for kids, but also for people who prefer soft food.

Beef Roast under Cheese and Onion

That is probably one of my favorite dinner recipes: slices of beef roast under mayonnaise, shredded mozzarella and onions, and it is very easy to cook.

You can make steps 1-7 some time in advance, then put meat into the fridge and continue later; just get meat to the preheated oven about 1 hour before you are going to serve it. That comes extremely handy when you need to get a lot of other things taken care of right before the dinner.

Some dry red wine is a nice addition to this dish, especially if the dinner is going to get romantic.

Stewed Beef with Onions

It felt like a time for some nice beef stew recipe, so here it goes: beef stewed with onions is a dish my mom was always cooking, when I was little. Well, maybe she didn't put a wine, but besides of that – that is the dish I am used to from my childhood.

It is very easy to do, probably the easiest stew recipe I know, and doesn't take much time to cook. Wine adds a nice hint to the taste, but it is completely optional: just replace it with a cup of water if you don't have a cup of dry red wine.

This dish goes good with mashed potatoes or boiled buckwheat as a side dish.

Salmon under Capers and Dill Sauce

Capers and dill, butter, wine and shallots – those are ingredients of very good sauce for fish. Personally I pick salmon, because it is especially good when boiled or even simmered like in this recipe. However I think it will work with other kind of fish without any problem.

Should I also remind you what fish is an important part of the healthy diet?

Got a romantic dinner coming up and want to surprise your date with something special? I recommend this tender salmon dish, especially if after preparing of it you still have a few sips of Chardonnay left to accompany it with.

Baked Spicy Chicken

It is chicken time! And I think, one of the easiest ways to prepare various parts of chicken (or even chicken in a whole!) is to bake them with some spices.

Baked Spicy Chicken dish is great for the dinner: its cooking doesn't require much of attention, which gives you time to take care of other important things :). However you will need to start cooking it in advance to let chicken soak in the sauce.

So let's mix up some spices, garlic, mayonnaise, pour it over the chicken and bake it all together.

Potato Cakes in Tomato-Mushroom Sauce

Potato, mushrooms and onions are almost all you need to make potato cakes in tomato-mushroom sauce.

Original vegetables only (no-meat) main dish recipe which doesn't require a side dish.

Stewed Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

Chicken and field mushrooms are very nice combination for any dish, as well as mushrooms and sour cream, as well as sour cream and dill.

So let's mix them all and enjoy the result: Stewed Chicken in Mushroom Sauce! Best to be served with Potato Puree (Mashed Potatoes).

Russian Fish Soup (Uha)

Eating fish at least once a week is one of a rules you follow to stay healthy. At my home we like to eat a russian fish soup, called uha in russian, to keep brain working better.

Uha can be prepared of pretty much any kind fresh fish you can find in your shop. I prefer to make it with atlantinc salmon. Try it?