Epicurean-Chef | Copy Cat Recipes

Many people think it takes too long to cook at home, they are too busy or just do not have the time. It makes me so frustrated to hear people say this. I find time to make meals every day in my kitchen despite having a hectic life. Normally I cook the same dishes that you find at your favorite restaurants.  Restaurants need to be able to serve large numbers of people quickly. Their dishes need to be simple to make and fast to cook.  Having a dependable compendium of restaurant copy cat recipes has made it so much easier for me to cook at home.

I had always thought restaurants were a time saver, I soon realised that they were a crutch. I always loved cooking but never had the time, or so I thought. I found out about copy cat recipes totally by chance one day while searching the internet for a new way to make pizza. I happened to see a copy cat recipe for Olive Garden Pizza Bianco. I’m listing it below so you can see how simple it is to make.

Copy cat recipe: Pizza Bianco

Ingredients:
2  6″  Ready-to-serve thick pizza crusts

Cheese filling:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded fontina cheese
1/2  of a medium onion minced
1 1/2 tablespoon  2% milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

Toppings:
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup diced black olives
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil

Directions:
Combine all ingredients for the filling in a large bowl and mix well.
Split up the filling in half and spread on each crust.
Disperse olives, tomatoes and green onions over crusts.
Then the Mozzarella gets sprinkled on top.
Finally Scatter the top with oregano and basil.
Bake in a 375F oven for 8 to 10 minutes until cheese has melted.
Cut into 6 wedges.

In less then half an hour I was eating that copy cat recipe. You can easily take that long driving to the restaurant and waiting to get a table, let alone have food in front of you. Don’t forget about the bill after the meal, and the tip. Not to mention the gas to drive there and back. It not only takes up more time to eat out but it ends up costing more in the long run.

With a full cookbook of copy cat recipes you can eat restaurant food at home, and it is both quicker and less costly. With practice you can find you can cook various copy cat recipes at once with ease. I regularly make an entire meal for my wife and I including appetizers, main course and a desert in less than 1 hour. Restaurant copy cat recipes have saved me time and money by giving me a way to enjoy all my favorites easily at home.

Not registered with eBay?
Click to sign up

NIB Pampered Chef Large Round Pizza Stone w/Handles

US $29.00 (15 Bids) End Date: Saturday Jul-05-2008 20:00:00 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

15" PIZZA STONE

US $1.04 (2 Bids) End Date: Sunday Jul-06-2008 14:42:13 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

15" Pizza Stone With Accessories

US $9.99 (2 Bids) End Date: Sunday Jul-06-2008 16:55:47 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

Copy Cat Recipe: Olive garden 5 Cheese Lasagna
Its gonna take about 2 hours to make all told, half that being the
baking time. But its darn good and well worth the effort. This should
serve 8-9 but at my house its more like myself and whoever manages to
get there before I do!

Here is what you will need:

1 cup of lasagna noodles, spinach noodles are great if you can find them.
4 cups of shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup fontina cheese
2 cups Parmesan cheese (half for the filling and half to go on top
just before you cook)
Marinara sauce to taste (preggo or ragu works fine for this)

For the filling:
3 eggs
1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes (in oil)
3 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of romano cheese
1 tablespoon of garlic chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper

For the sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of milk

Ok so here’s how to put it together:

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan.
2. Add the flour and stir till well blended; cook until frothy and
light brown Tip: don’t let it brown too much or the sauce will not
thicken properly (more brown = less thickening power but more flavor)
3. Add the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk until the mixture
comes to a simmer.
4. Cook until thickened (3-4 minutes) don’t forget to stir! This will
scorch very easily.
5. Remove from heat and chill it in the fridge while we make the rest
of the dish.
6. In a large mixing bowl add the romano, ricotta and half of the
parmesan cheese
7. Drain the oil and finely chop the tomatoes.
8. Chop up the garlic.
9. Add the tomatoes and garlic to the cheese mixture.
10. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of the chilled cream sauce and mix it until well blended.
11. Put it in the fridge to chill, reserving 1/2-cup for later use.
12. Cook your lasagna noodles as the package directs you to.
13. Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350F
14. Once the lasagna has finished place a slightly overlapping layer
in a 9×13 lightly oiled baking dish make sure it is about 2 inches
deep or more.
15. Spread 1 1/2 cups cheese filling over noodles. Sprinkle with 1 cup
of mozzarella and half of the fontina cheese.
16. Add another layer of pasta and cheese then top with remaining
three lasagna noodles.
17. Spread 1/2 cup of the reserved cream sauce over the top then
sprinkle the remaining parmesan and cover lightly with foil.
18. Bake for 1 hour at 350F.
19. In the last 10 mins remove the foil so the cheese will brown up a bit.