Italian Slab Pie

Another easy puff pastry meal filled with all your favorite Italian flavors-Italian Slab Pie.
Just fill some puff pastry with a fennel and sausage mixture, add in some marinara, dollops of ricotta with basil and bake for 20 minutes. You get an elegant, yet homey pie that makes a lovely lunch or dinner. Just add a side salad and your meal is complete. So delicious!

Recipe makes 6 pieces and was adapted from allthatsjas.com

Cooking tip: 

You can use finely diced celery instead of fennel.
Replace Italian sausage with spicy Kosher/Halal turkey sausage.
Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry (17.3 oz.), thawed
• ½ pound spicy Italian sausage (bulk or casings removed)about 2 cups cooked
• 3 cups packed fresh spinach leaves, chopped
• 1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup jarred marinara sauce
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning  
• 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 1 egg
• Optional sesame seeds
• Flour for dusting

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat one teaspoon of oil medium-high heat. 
• Add the sausage and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned. Transfer to a plate. Wipe pan clean from grease.
• Reduce the heat to low and add the remaining oil, fennel, and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Add in spinach and stir until wilted. Mix in the sausage. Italian seasoning and marinara sauce.  
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a small bowl mix dried basil with ricotta.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll each puff pastry sheet into a 10×12-inch rectangle. Transfer one sheet to a parchment-lined or silicone baking sheet. Top with sausage mixture, leaving a 1-inch border. With a tablespoon, add dollops of ricotta over meat mixture. 

• Grate 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese over the puff pastry mixture. 
• Mix the egg with 1 tsp. of water. Brush the border of the pastry with the egg wash and line up with the remaining sheet of puff pastry, pressing the edges to seal.

• Brush the top and sides of puff pastry with egg mixture and use a fork to crimp the edges. Cut 4 slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden, about 18- 20 minutes. 
  

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"Spring Cleaning"

by Susan Reiner

March bustles in on windy feet

And sweeps my doorstep and my street.

She washes and cleans with pounding rains,

Scrubbing the earth of winter stains.

She shakes the grime from carpet green

Till naught but fresh new blades are seen.

Then, house in order, all neat as a pin,

She ushers gentle springtime in.