Instructions:

• 1 pkg. MamaMancini’s™ Sunday Sauce and Large Beef Meatballs (6 Meatballs, 20 oz.)
• 1 large firm eggplant
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 6 oz. fresh mozzarella (room temperature), sliced
• Fresh basil
• Grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Coat a rectangular 3-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

3. Wash eggplant and slice off ends. Then cut the eggplant into ½-inch to ¾-inch slices.

4. Brush or pour a healthy amount of olive oil on both sides of eggplant slices.

5. Place slices on preheated grill pan or plain frying pan.

6. Grill should be fairly hot. Grill the eggplant slices on both sides for approximately 5 minutes each.

7. Place eggplant slices into a baking dish.

8. Crush MamaMancini’s Meatballs and mix in Sunday Sauce.

9. Spread spoonfuls of the sauce and meatball mixture onto eggplant slices.

10. Cover each piece of eggplant with a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese.

11. Add an extra spoonful of sauce and meatball mixture on top of cheese.

12. Bake, uncovered, 5–10 minutes or until heated through.

13. ENJOY!

My grandmother would have made me wait incredibly LONG, felt like an eternity, 10 minutes for it to rest. Whenever I make my Grandmothers “square A-pizz” as it was named growing up, my home fills with such a “scented memory”.  A “scented memory” of a Saturday evening growing up in my Grandmothers home. This was her signature pizza and it was only created on Saturday evenings.

Trust me this is outrageous.

You will need 2 lbs of pizza dough, 1 lb of a nice quality mozzarella, 1 can 28 ounce crushed Italian plum tomatoes, olive oil, heated romano cheese, a package of MamaMancinis Meatballs, and a baking sheet.

Start with 2 lbs of pizza dough. You can make it or buy it. Place the dough in a olive oil greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap, leave in a warm spot in your kitchen for an hour to rise.  When the hour is up generously grease a baking sheet with olive oil and run it all around with your fingers covering the entire pan, sides and all. Spread the dough evenly to all sides. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place in your kitchen and let it rise for  1 hour until it doubles in size.

I use a fresh mozzarella and about a pound will do. Leave it out for an hour to come to room temperature, it will melt much easier.

The pizza sauce, this is easy. Take one can 28 ounces of crushed plum tomatoes (use a good quality and not one with puree). Pour the tomatoes in a pot and bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 min to thicken.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. When the dough has doubled in size place the dough in the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove the dough from the oven and layer with thin slices of the mozzarella cheese to cover the whole pizza and then top with the sauce and preheated meatballs. I love a lot of sauce. Sprinkle a generous amount of romano cheese all over the sauced pizza. I know you are used to putting the sauce down first then the cheese but trust me this  is gonna be amazing.

Place back in the oven and cook for 10 min and turn and cook another 10 min or until done to your taste. You can lift a corner up with the tip of a knife to check if it is done. You will see it start to brown on the bottom.  I make mine a little well done.

Now here is the hard part, you need to let it rest for 10 min before cutting. You can remove it from the pan and place on a cutting a board or just cut it in the pan.

I hope you enjoy my “square A-pizz”.

MamaMancini’s Sliders! Get ready because this is SO easy and equally delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of MamaMancini’s Meatballs.
• Small Buns – look for the buns in the supermarket bakery.
• 1 Small Fresh Mozzarella cheese (Optional)
• Fresh Basil Leaves (Optional)

Heat meatballs and sauce as per heating instructions.

To make the kid friendly slider, slice each hot meatball in half and place the slate side down onto a slice of mozzarella cheese (the hot meatball will melt the cheese). Place meatball and cheese on the bottom half of the bun, top with sauce, cover with top of bun. Optional, finish with a sprinkle of either Parmigian or Romano cheese and a whole basil leaf if desired. Make 12 sliders.

Perfect for a quick, healthy lunch or dinner or the upcoming Superbowl!

Email me a recipe using MamaMancini’s products and we’ll send you $6 worth of coupons!

The MamaMancini’s Team would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving FAQs

What should I do to the turkey before I roast it?

1) Brine it. We love a brined bird; it’s more moist, tender, and evenly seasoned.

2) After brining, pat the bird dry before cooking.

3) Scent it by putting wonderful aromatics in the cavity, like roughly chopped onion, celery and carrots, big bunches of herbs like thyme, parsley and a few bay leaves and an orange or a lemon, cut in half.

4) Ideally, let it come to room temperature before cooking; it will decrease the time in the oven, and the meat will cook more evenly.

5) Rub the skin (and under the skin) with tons of butter.

6) Roast away!

A Favorite Brine Recipe
(a la Taste editor Whitney Chen)

Ingredients

• 3 cups apple juice or apple cider
• 2 gallons cold water
• 4 stems of fresh rosemary
• 10 stems of fresh thyme
• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1½ cups Kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 3 tablespoons peppercorns
• 5 whole bay leaves
• Peels from 2 oranges

Preparation Instructions

1) Combine all ingredients in a large pot over high heat. Stir until salt and sugar dissolve. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and cover.

2) Allow to cool completely, then pour into a large cooler. Place your uncooked turkey in brine for 16 to 24 hours. If the turkey isn’t fully submerged, you can add water or ice to raise the water level.

3) When ready to roast turkey, remove turkey from brine and rinse it well in cold water in your sink. Pat the turkey dry, and cook.

How long should I cook my turkey?

Cooking times will vary, but the following suggestions are a good gauge to use when cooking a room-temperature (take your turkey out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking), unstuffed, Broad-Breasted White turkey at or around 350 °F. If you’re cooking a heritage breed turkey, we recommend decreasing the temperature to 325° F and adding at least a half hour of cooking time.

• 12 to 14 pounds, unstuffed – 2.5 to 3.5 hours
• 16 to 18 pounds, unstuffed – 3.5 to 4.25 hours
• 18 to 24 pounds, unstuffed – 4.25 to 4.75 hours
• 24 pounds and up, unstuffed – 4.75 to 6.0 hours

What kind of wine goes with turkey?

• Any sparkling wine!

If you like white wine:

• White Burgundy or Unoaked Chardonnay—to go with apples and nutty flavors

• Riesling—for meals that have lots of spice

If you like red wine:

• Red Burgundy or Pinot Noir—best with cooked berries and dessert spices

A very easy chicken and pasta dish that will have your family raving.

Ingredients:

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 cups Italian salad dressing
• 1 (16 ounce) package uncooked rigatoni pasta
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley

Preparation:

1. Place chicken breasts in a large resealable plastic bag, and pour in the Italian dressing. Seal bag, and marinate chicken 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Drain, discarding dressing, and dice.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rigatoni and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain, transfer to a large bowl, and toss with diced tomatoes.
3. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet, and season with red pepper. Cook and stir 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over the pasta. Top with Parmesan cheese, and garnish with parsley flakes.

As the fall season is quickly approaching,  enjoy this quick, easy, and creamy side dish that goes well with roast chicken, turkey or pork chops!

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped shallots
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 1/2 cups frozen yellow corn kernels, thawed
• 5 cups (or more) water

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup quick-cooking grits
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Preparation:

1. Heat vegetable oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.

2. Add chopped shallots and dried thyme and sauté until shallots are tender and golden, about 6 minutes.

3. Add 1 1/2 cups thawed yellow corn and sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Purée remaining 1 cup corn and 1/2 cup water in processor.

4. Bring 4 1/2 cups water and salt to boil in heavy large saucepan. Gradually whisk in grits.

5. Reduce heat to medium and cook until grits boil and thicken, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes.

6. Add shallot mixture, puréed corn mixture, green onions and hot pepper sauce and stir until well blended and heated through, adding more water if mixture is too thick, about 4 minutes.

7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

8. Serve and enjoy!

Only requiring a few minutes in a hot pan, and it comes out bright green and perfectly tender. Scallops, of course, are always a great addition, and its sweetness really plays well with the vegetables. Scallops are sautéed in oil, a little pat of butter is placed on top of each while the first side cooks. When they are flipped, all that butter helps give the scallops a truly rich flavor. They also come out of the pan perfectly golden brown on both sides.

INGREDIENTS

• For the Herb Garden Vinaigrette
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
• Salt and pepper

For the Scallops, Asparagus, and Sugar Snap Peas

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• ½ pound sugar snap peas
• ½ pound thin asparagus, tough ends removed, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 pound sea scallops (about 12)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
• Salt and black pepper

PROCEDURE

1. For the Herb Garden Vinaigrette: Pour vinegar into a medium-sized bowl. Slowly put in the olive and canola oils. Stir in the chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper.

2. For the Scallops, Asparagus, and Sugar Snap Peas: Add two tablespoons of the olive oil to a large sauté pan and turn heat to medium-high. When shimmering, add the sugar snap peas and asparagus. Cook, stirring often, until tender and bright green, three to four minutes. Transfer to a second medium-sized bowl. Toss with about half of the vinaigrette and taste. Add more of the vinaigrette if needed.

3. Dry the scallops with paper towels, and then season each with salt and pepper on both sides. Pour the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil into a large nonstick skillet. Turn heat to medium-high. When shimmering, add the scallops to the pan. Top each scallop with a piece of butter. Let them cook undisturbed until golden brown on the bottom, about three minutes. Flip them and cook until golden brown on the other side, about two minutes. Transfer scallops to a plate.