Rustic Mama Mia Stromboli

It's Saturday night and my teenage daughter has a friend over for the night. Kids love to help in the kitchen!  Even teenage ones. These two are actually stellar cooks so I was glad to have their help with this. It was so fun showing them something new to make and have them share in my recipe creation. =). You can use any topping you like on your pizza. These are the ones we like. 

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:

2 cans refrigerated pizza crust

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened 

2 Tbsp Rustic Herb Seasoning

1 pkg sliced pepperoni

2 cans sliced mushrooms

1 c prepared Mama Mia Marinara Sauce

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

2 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 

In a bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and the Rustic Herb Seasoning. Set aside. 

On a greased cookie sheet spread out your pizza dough long ways.  

Turn the pan so that the long side is in front of you. Spread 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture on half of the dough. 

Add your toppings. 

Spread 1/2 a cup of the Mama Mia Marinara Sauce on top of the toppings. 

Doesn't this look amazing??!!  Ok, now time for the mozzarella cheese. 

Fold the dough over and roll the edges from the bottom crust to the top to seal. 

Repeat with your second pizza crust and the other half of the ingredients. 

Cut slits in the top to vent and bake for 15 minutes. Take the Stromboli out of the oven and brush with melted butter. Gorgeous!!!

Return to the oven for 7 more minutes. Pull out f the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. 

Slice and serve. 

Tip:  make it a meal with a fresh salad with Spinach & Herb Dressing and a cool refreshing Mango Margarita Blender Drink. 

Serves 4-5. 

Mama Mia Lasagna

We hosted my dad at our house for his birthday in November.  I love cooking for my family and he specially requested my lasagna.  Well, I spiced it up a bit by using Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix to make the sauce.  Oh goodness it was fabulous.  He raved about it and still mentions it every once in awhile.  :)  I hope you like it too.

 

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground beef or ground turkey
1 TBSP Onion Onion
1/2 cup Mama Mia Marinara Mix
2 28 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
1 24 oz container Small Curd Cottage Cheese
1 egg
2 TBSP Grated Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
16 oz Shredded Mozzarella
Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles

Preheat Oven to 350°

Brown the ground beef with the Onion Onion until no longer pink, drain and set aside. Prepare the Mama Mia Marinara according to the instructions on the container (this can be done ahead of time if you want). In a bowl beat the egg, add the cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and black pepper.

Now for assembly. In a 13x9 inch baking dish place 1 1/2 cups of marinara and spread to coat the bottom of the pan. Add 4 lasagna noodles. Layer cottage cheese mixture, ground beef, sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat another layer like this one. Lastly, place 4 more lasagna noodles on the top, the rest of the sauce and the rest of the mozzarella cheese. Your pan should be full and slightly liquidy. If it is too dry, add a little water around the edges to make sure there is enough moisture for the noodles. Bake for 60-75 minutes until noodles are cooked through, the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted and brown.

Serves 6 or so with left overs for the next day!

Bountiful Pepperoni Bites

I made these for a party and they were oh so good.  They have a great pizza flavor and I made a batch of the Mama Mia Marinara to use as a dipping sauce.

Ingredients:
1 package Bountiful Beer Bread Mix
12 oz. beer (your choice, we used Miller Lite)
1 packet of Warm Pizza Dip Mix
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni (add more if you desire)
2 Tbsp. melted butter
Grated parmesan cheese

Dipping Sauce:
2 Tbsp. Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix
1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together first 4 ingredients until combined. Drop batter with a teaspoon (I used 2) into greased mini muffin tins. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve with Mama Mia Marinara Dipping Sauce or your favorite sauce.

Makes approximately 48 mini muffins