Apple and Sausage Pie.

I had been debating whether I wanted to add a cheese sauce to the apple and cheese pie I was planning on making. I figured cheese and apples go well together so I could merge some pairs transitively. I found that Elise actually has a recipe for this and hers uses ricotta (with a lot of other cheese) mixed in with egg. I skipped the feta and only topped with shredded white cheddar. With a single pie crust, it comes out fat and protein heavy which is good since I can pick a carb of my choice at breakfast.

Italian Sausage and Kale Ragu.

Saw it here.

A whole bunch of kale is way too much for only a pound of sausage, I think. Also, I used macaroni because it's what I had. AM more assertive pasta like penne would have been much better. It seems a bit too generically salty for my taste. Maybe too much sea salt, but I don't think I used that much. And maybe needs more ricotta. Or in a bechamel with the kale more finely chopped with more effort in removing the stem. As far as silly leafy greens go, I still prefer red Swiss chard.

Stuffed Shells.

Pretty straightforward. Ricotta, Italian sausage.

Meatballs with Ricotta.

Woo, gigantic meatballs.

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi.

Sourced from Elise. The spinach and ricotta sub for the potatoes in regular gnocchi. I need to work on my dough-manipulating skillz. I couldn't get them to pillow as nicely or evenly as Elise, but they still tasted pretty good. In any case, they're like noodle dumplings, don't involve much work or time (though the dough does need to chill for a bit), and cook up quickly. I have a couple baggies in the freezer, and word on the street is that they hold up nicely.