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In , , on September 30, 2015 with No Comments

Jumbo Stuffed Shells

The boys and I love anything Italian, and while I usually make lasagna when I need a recipe for lots of people, I decided to make stuffed pasta shells last night instead. The ingredients are basically the same, but it gives a fun presentation when I use the shells.

This recipe is one I just “throw together” without a recipe, so the amounts given are just an estimate. Feel free to vary the spice amounts to your family’s tastes. I ended up with 34 stuffed jumbo pasta shells. I almost didn’t get a picture of them either – the boys and their friend simply devoured them.

 

Jumbo Stuffed Shells

1 package jumbo pasta shells
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1 small container ricotta cheese or small-curd cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
One jar good marinara sauce (or use homemade)

Cook pasta shells according to package instructions. Set aside.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef and Italian sausage until no longer pink. Drain.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, eggs, chopped spinach and spices. Add the drained, browned ground meats. Stir until well combined.

Stuff the meat and cheese mixture into each pasta shell. Place in a greased 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Pour the marinara sauce evenly over the pasta shells. Bake in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for approximately 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling in the shells.

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In , , on September 13, 2015 with No Comments

Italian Pasta Salad and Watermelon Peach Salsa

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful fall day here in Iowa. The sky was a gorgeous blue, the humdity was low (finally!), and the bugs were nowhere in sight. Kevin wanted to grill some burgers, so I thought I’d whip up a couple side dishes to go along with.

The boys love my Italian Pasta Salad and tell me I need to make it more often. It’s an easy peasy recipe that’s great to take to potlucks and family reunions. I eyeballed the amount of each ingredient, so you can add more or less to your family’s taste.

I also decided to make a Watermelon Peach Salsa. We have four peach trees, the kind that has the little white peaches, and they are huge this year. I’ve already canned two lugs of peaches, so this was a great way to use up a few more. The recipe called for cilantro, but my family’s not a huge fan, so I omitted it.

 

Italian Pasta Salad

1 package rotini pasta noodles, cooked per package directions and cooled
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 a medium red onion, diced
1/2 a red bell pepper, diced
1/2 a green bell pepper, diced
1 3.8 ounce can sliced black olives
Half a package of turkey pepperoni (or regular if you prefer), sliced into strips
1 bottle zesty Italian dressing

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Set aside until cool.

In a large bowl, combine the diced onion, diced peppers, black olives and sliced pepperoni. Add the cooled pasta. Pour the Italian dressing over the pasta, and mix until well combined. Refrigerate for several hours to let the flavors meld together.

 

 

Watermelon Peach Salsa

2 cups diced watermelon
2 cups diced fresh peaches
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/2 a green bell pepper, diced
1/2 a red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
Juice of 1 lime
Fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, and mix well. Refrigerate for several hours to let the flavors marinade together.

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In , , , on April 6, 2015 with No Comments

Days of Casseroles-Day 3: Pizza Casserole

Well, we’ve made it through three whole days of the casserole experiment, and so far, no complaints. The first two casseroles were rated as ones I can make again, so that’s good news 🙂

Today’s casserole is another family favorite – Pizza Casserole. You can change out the ingredients to ones your family loves. This is what I usually make to satisfy our pizza cravings.

 

Pizza Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 16-ounce package rotini noodles
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 eggs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 16-ounce jar meatless spaghetti sauce (I use homemade canned sauce)
1 8-ounce can mushrooms (or use fresh if you prefer)
1-2 teaspoons pizza seasoning, optional (I use Wildtree’s Pizza Sauce seasoning)
1 package pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine the eggs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and melted butter in a large bowl. Set aside.

Cook rotini noodles per package instructions. Add cooked noodles to the egg and Parmesan cheese mixture. Toss noodles to coat. Set aside.

Cook ground beef with the onions until the beef is completely brown. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce and mushrooms, and cook on low for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce is well combined and slightly thickened. Add meat mixture to the cooked noodle mixture. Add pepperoni slices, reserving some to place on the top of the casserole. Mix all ingredients until well combined.

Place mixture into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Top casserole with remaining pepperoni slices and the 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake covered in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

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In , , , , on April 4, 2015 with No Comments

Days of Casseroles-Day 1: Baked Spaghetti…Plus Basic Honey White Bread

I talked to Kevin about trying to do a casserole a day for a year, and I think he’s up for the challenge. I have so many different casserole recipes, both in my personal cookbooks and notebooks of recipes I’ve found over the years and from ones I’ve found on Pinterest and the Internet. I told him I’d mix it up, and not every casserole recipe will be a main dish for dinner. There will be side dishes and breakfast casseroles too. Either way, we’ll get to try a bunch of new recipes and find some new favorites along the way. 🙂

For today’s casserole recipe, I found this tasty one on Six Sisters’ Stuff….lots of great recipes on this blog!

 

 

 

Baked Spaghetti

1 16-ounce package spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 26-ounce jar meatless spaghetti sauce (I used homemade canned sauce)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt, optional
2 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups small-curd cottage cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce and seasoned salt, if using. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese and butter. Drain the spaghetti noodles. Add noodles to the egg mixture, and toss to coat.

Place half the spaghetti mixture in a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. Top with half the cottage cheese, meat sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers. Cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until the cheese is melted.

I haven’t made homemade bread in a while, and since the loaf on the table was pretty low, I figured it was time. Travis likes plain white bread the best, despite my attempts to convert him to whole wheat, but this recipe is a tasty one, even if it is white bread! I did use my bread machine, but I’ve included instructions if you want to make it the traditional way 🙂 P.S. The top looks “wet” as I always rub a stick of butter over the bread right when it comes out of the bread machine or oven.

 

 

Basic Honey White Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups bread flour**
2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons honey (I used local honey, unpasteurized)
1 1/4 cups warm water

If using a bread machine, add ingredients as directed by the machine manual. Select the basic/white setting, 2-pound setting. **When the bread is mixing, watch to make sure you don’t need to add more flour. I did, as the dough was really wanting to stick to the sides of the machine. Add flour by tablespoons until it pulls away from the sides and kneads as it should.

Conventional Instructions:

Add all ingredients to the bowl of a large stand mixer. Using a dough hook, mix and knead dough for 5 to 8 minutes.

Put a little olive oil in a large bowl, and add the dough, turning once to coat the dough with oil. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm place to double in size for about one hour.

Punch down the dough, and shape into a loaf. Place dough in a well-greased 9 x 5 x 4-inch loaf pan. Cover the pan, and place it in a warm place to allow the dough to double, which should take about 30 minutes.

Bake in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown in color.

Yield:  One loaf

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In , , , on July 17, 2014 with No Comments

Buffalo Chicken and Pasta Bake

I got my Wildtree Blazin’ Buffalo Blend yesterday, and, of course, I had to come up with a recipe to try it in. I had chicken. I had rotini pasta. I had cheese. A casserole was born!

This was really super simple to make, and it was delicious. Both Travis and Kevin loved it and said I could make it again. The recipe is actually formulated from the dip recipe that is on the side label of the blend bottle, but I just changed it up to make a sauce for my casserole.

 

 

Buffalo Chicken and Pasta Bake

1 package chicken tenders, cubed or shredded (your choice), cooked
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese, divided
1/4 cup Parmesan Romano cheese
2 Tablespoons Wildtree Blazin’ Buffalo Blend
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (enough to make a creamy sauce)
1 16-ounce package rotini pasta

Cook pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, combine 1 cup of the shredded cheese (reserving 1 cup) with all other ingredients. Add milk to the mixture until it reaches a sauce/soup consistency.

Drain the pasta when al dente and combine pasta with the sauce ingredients.

Place mixture into a greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 20 minutes. Top the casserole with the reserved 1 cup of shredded cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melted.

Yield:  Approximately 6 to 8 servings

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In , on June 4, 2014 with No Comments

Making Homemade Pasta

I’ve always wanted to make homemade pasta. Any kind. My mother-in-law made homemade noodles. My sister-in-law makes homemade noodles. Our oldest son learned to make homemade noodles from my sister-in-law Eileen, and he makes pretty darn good ones. For Christmas one year, she and I each gave him a pasta roller machine (great minds think alike!), and I got myself the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. That was over 5 years ago, and my attachment has been sitting on a shelf ever since. I’d let everyone else make the pasta, and I just enjoyed it.

Yesterday I decided the box had collected enough dust, so I dusted it off and tried my hand at making homemade spaghetti. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I didn’t realize that these probably aren’t the noodles to try on your first attempt at pasta making 🙂 But Kevin jumped in to help in the end, and all in all, it turned out edible. Travis, our youngest son, said it was actually pretty good, so I must have done something right!

I used Bob’s Red Mill basic pasta recipe using semolina flour. Really is an easy recipe to make, in my opinion anyway.

 

homemade-pasta

BOB’S BASIC PASTA RECIPE

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water
2 eggs, or 3 egg whites, beaten
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/2 cups semolina pasta flour

Directions

Combine semolina and salt, add beaten eggs (or egg whites), water and oil. Mix to make a stiff dough. Knead 10 minutes or until dough is elastic. Wrap dough in towel or place in plastic bag and let rest for 20 minutes. On a lightly floured surface roll out to desired thickness and cut as desired.

To top of the homemade pasta, the sauce was definitely a shoot-from-the-hip recipe using what was hand in the cupboard plus some fresh spinach and herbs from the garden. I think it turned out yummy, and I’ll be making it again soon. While I’m listing a recipe for this sauce, please know that I generally cook as my grandmothers did: Add this and that, taste, and adjust until it is how you like it. Measurements and amounts really are approximate, as I didn’t measure anything exactly. Use your tastebuds and adjust the sauce to your liking…and if you make adjustments or additions, let me know what you did and how it turned out 🙂

Creamy Tomato Sauce For Pasta

1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 quart home-canned tomatoes (drained of liquid)
1/8 cup dry red wine
1 small can mushrooms, chopped
Chopped fresh baby spinach, approximately 1/2 cup
Fresh basil, chopped, approximately 3 tablespoons
Fresh oregano, approximately 2 tablespoons
Fresh thyme, approximately 1 tablespoon
Heavy cream, approximately 1/4 cup
Parmesan cheese, approximately 1/4 cup
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add in tomatoes, red wine, and mushrooms. Lower heat and let sauce reduce while you work on the pasta, stirring occasionally.

When you start cooking your fresh pasta, add in the chopped spinach and fresh herbs. Add salt and pepper, adjusting to taste. When spinach and herbs have nicely wilted, add in cream and Parmesan cheese. Continue to simmer to keep warm, but don’t let sauce boil. Be sure to taste and adjust any seasonings if needed. Serve hot over fresh pasta.

Overall the meal was tasty. There are some things I will do differently the next time I make homemade pasta, like make really big noodles or ravoli so that I don’t have to mess with tiny spaghetti noodles (at least until I get the hang of it!), but it was fun, and I’ll definitely do this again.

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