Baked Pasta

You know how I feel about pasta, and consequently how Thomas feels....  However, I'm going to keep plugging away until I can find something we can compromise on.  I think I'm getting closer with this week's Crusty Tomato-Basil Rigatoni.  Okay, time out.  Crusty?  I think there's too much of a negative connotation to call something crusty, but I get it, there's a crust.  How about Basil Crusted Tomato Rigatoni?  Doesn't that sound more posh?  Posh?!  Just kidding...

Here's where I tweaked the recipe.  #1 - I added meat to my pasta sauce.  When I told Thomas that, he said, "Tweaked it?  I'd call that "fixed" it!"  True story.  We'd make sucky vegetarians.

Basically, I made my pasta and sauce the way I normally would.  I used a jar of Prego Chunky Garden sauce, a pound of ground beef (have I pushed the Mix n Chop yet?  Still love it!), my
whole wheat blend pasta, some garlic, Italian seasoning, etc, etc...

Here's where the recipe actually started working for me.  I tossed the sauce and pasta together (something I NEVER DO), and then put it in a Pyrex dish.  I figured this would give me the depth I needed to bake the pasta, and my stoneware really shouldn't be placed under the broiler, so better safe than sorry!  I bought an 8 ounce ball of "fresh" mozzarella and chopped it up.  (Hello to my 5" utility knife - super love it!)  I then spread that over the pasta as evenly as possible.  In retrospect, I probably should have tossed some shredded cheese in the pasta as well, but the point is like a cow's opinion: it's moo.  (Is it bad that I still quote Joey?)

Here's my favorite part - making the pasta crusty!  I used some Parmesan sourdough bread, about two cups, coated in butter, and spread it out before throwing the Pyrex into the oven.  This is more bread than the recipe calls for, but I adore a good crust.  (Hmm.  I'm very love-ing this blog today.  Sorry for all the love, but it is a really good recipe!)  Pop that puppy in the broiler for about 5 minutes to toast the crust and melt the butter.  I turned the broiler off and left the dish in the oven for just another minute or two to make sure everything was completely melted without burning the bread.

Finally, top it off with some freshly cut basil.  Is it just me, or does fresh basil smell like being a child in the summer, playing outside?  I don't really connect the smell of basil with herbs, more with weeds, but it's always such a lovely addition!

Ahhhhhhmazing!  Bon Appetit!

"Spicy" Sausage and Pepper Penne

Hey, remember that one time I claimed that we could never be an Italian food blog?  Okay, well that still holds true, however that doesn't mean that once (or so) a month I won't be cooking a nice red sauced Italian dish.  I may be all about marital compromise, but that doesn't mean I have to be a pushover.

That being said, I do choose strategic days for the type of foods I like.  Days where there may have been a company party, or a big lunch, or any other number of reasons where I'm more hungry than he.  Days like last Tuesday: a perfect day for pasta!


I chose the penne recipe because it looked cheap, easy, and tasty.  Fortunately, I was correct on all of the above - AND it even contained a meat that started out raw that I had to cook by myself.

Since the meal wasn't that complicated, I decided to buy some quality ingredients from the local farm stand, or from my own garden.  I also used whole wheat penne, mostly out of personal preference.  I used two cans of tomatoes (one fire roasted, and one with garlic and onion), an extra clove of garlic, and almost 6 oz of an Italian cheese blend, instead of just Parmesan.  Oh, and I used a sweet Italian sausage instead of a spicy turkey sausage.

Okay, maybe the recipe was just a suggestion, but my tweaks were amazing.  There were second servings all around, and there was still enough for four hearty lunch portions to be made.  I also baked up an Albertsons fresh garlic bread with mozzarella on top for the side.  I probably should have made a side salad, but the dinner played well just as it was.  Seriously, amazing.  I might have to add this to my standard rotation of meals that I like to make.  I know I choose recipes that sound like they will be good, but I'm always surprised when the meal actually exceeds expectations.

Differing Opinions, or why this would never be an Italian Food blog…

I’ve been meaning to make this “lasagna” recipe for a while.  In fact, I made a similar one about a year ago, with spinach, but it wasn’t as nice because I didn’t know what I was doing.  However, I found a great Pampered Chef recipe that dropped the spinach, and I was sold.

Thomas is not a fan of marinara sauce, whereas I LOVE red sauce dishes.  It’s hard to make Italian in our house because of the Northern Italy vs. Southern Italy mentality.
Usually, I’m able to connive Thomas to eat some form of Bolognese, with its hearty meat and red wine taste.  I usually start with a chunky garden vegetable sauce from a jar, add two cans of diced, roasted tomatoes, 2 lbs of browned ground beef, two bell peppers, and whatever various spices/garlic/onions/red wine that I can find in the house.  It all starts with the meat (and my beloved PC Mix and Chop) and ends in a lot of simmering, if I have a good hour or two to spare.

It’s not fancy, but by the time I’m done, there’s relatively little marinara flavor, or even sauce, left in the gravy, and Thomas can stomach it.
Now, my mother has a phenomenal recipe for lasagna, and if I had the patience, I would type it up for you.  However, A) I’m trying to only link recipes here since nothing comes from my own head, and B) only my mother can make that recipe.  No one else is allowed (unless related, of course)!    ;) 
Lasagna takes a lot of work.  While my mother has the patience to make up one or two lasagnas at a time, freeze them, and enjoy them at will, I can barely stretch my patience long enough to watch an hour of TV.  (Seriously, how did I ever watch TV without a phone or internet linked device in my hand?)

Lasagna roll ups, however, are a different story.  You can use whatever sauce you’d like, you make up your noodles and the filling, then distribute.  

 Roll them up, place them in 1/2 of your sauce.

Bake, make some cheesy garlic bread, salad, or whatever sides you’d like, and enjoy within the hour.

They’re pockets of yummy goodness.  Thomas liked them, and they made four really hearty leftover lunches. 

On a scale of apples to unicorns, I’d rate them as awesome!  I may never be able to convince Thomas that we should eat more red sauce, but I’ll take the little wins whenever I can.