Pizza Bella , Kansas City

As you can see, Christine is enjoying pizza at Pizza Bella. We took the family there after Christmas. Leonard Mirabile of Jasper's Restaurant told us about this restaurant, and his brother Jasper, Christine, and I have eaten there before. Leonard raved about it. http://www.jasperskc.com/

Pizza Bella is close to pizza from Italy. I was reading about others opinions / reviews on http://www.yelp.com/

They have different antipasta dishes. The brussel sprouts, with cranberries is over the top. This last trip they had new dish, roasted red cabbage and beet salad. It was so good, you have to try this one. I am putting it on one of my favorite dishes to cook at Casa Somerset.

The pizzas are cooked in just minutes, like in Italy. They have no stoves there, everything is done in their amazing wood-fired ovens. The taste from the red hot coals is in the food.

Pizza Bella is at 18th and Baltimore in Kansas City. http://www.pizzabellakc.com/ Google it and read the reviews, you will rush to eat at this unique pizza house in KC.

Enjoy the experience.

(Don't you just LOVE it when people take pictures of you eating....?) C.

Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna

Our friends loved it. If you want to have something different that will surprise everyone, try this recipe. Served at Casa Somerset

This is an Italian treat.

Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna

The filling:
1/4 stick of butter
1 lb of mushrooms, I like portabella
3 garlic cloves
1 lb of artichokes, use the canned
1 cup of vermouth

The sauce
4 1/2 tbls of butter
4 1/2 tbls of flour
4 1/2 cups of milk
2 1/2 cups of parmesan 8 oz.
Ground nutmeg
lasagna noodles
2 lbs of mozzarella cheese

for filling
Melt butter in large skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic, saute until mushrooms release juices and begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add artichokes and vermouth. Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. About 11 minutes.

Sauce
Melt butter in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour, stir 1 minute to make roux. Gradually add milk, whisking. Reduce to medium and simmer until sauce thickens. Stir occasionally. This will be about 20 minutes. Stir in parmesan. Season with nutmeg.

Spread 2/3 cup sauce over bottom of 13x 9 x2 pan. Top with noodles to cover bottom. Spread 1/4 of artichoke mix over Noodles. Spread 2/3 cup of sauce over this and top with mozarella. Top with enough noodles to cover. repeat 3 more times. finishing with layer of noodles,then remaining sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake lasagna covered with foil 1 hour. Remove foil. Increase temp to 450 degrees. Bake until golden brown on top, about 10 minutes.

makes 8 servings. This came from Bon Appetit.

Feline Friends

Christmas is over, but for Figero and Raphael it is still going on. They took residence in a Christmas wreath as we were trying to take them down.

We believe they are allowing us to stay at Casa Somerset with them. They run the house and greet all that come hoping they are bringing food to them. Raphael loves cheese.... in case you are coming over!