Sausage and Panko Pasta

From Rachel ray magazine and also posted on the website:

www.rachelraymag.com/recipe/sausage--panko-pasta

This was pretty good. Mr Picky was less than impressed and even Miss Vegetarian picked at hers. I don't remember leaving the table with any distinct impression other than that it was ok. Husband of Cheerios liked it but said he prefers pasta to have more of a sauce. 

Real Meatballs and Spaghetti

From the Barefoot Contessa

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/real-meatballs-and-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• 1/2 pound ground veal
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
• 1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 extra-large egg, beaten
• Vegetable oil
• Olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:

• 1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
• Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.
Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.
For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.
Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

 This was really good.  The meatballs were fabulous.  I found that there could have been more sauce though but what was there was really tasty.  Husband of Cheerios and both kids really liked it too.  We will make this again!

Turkey Manicotti with Italian Veggies

from Sandi Richard - Fixin' Dinner

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Eggs/Dairy/recipe.html?dishid=6098

Ingredients

Easy Turkey Manicotti

• 1 pound (450g) ground turkey
• 1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend seasoning
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (384ml)
• 1/4 soup can 1% milk
• Cooking spray
• 8 ounces (250g) manicotti noodles
• 1 8 ounce tub 1% cottage cheese (250g)
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (700ml)
• 1/4 cup low-fat grated Parmesan cheese
• Aluminum foil

Italian Veggies

• 2 celery stalks
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Italian seasoning
• 1 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese.
•  

• Directions

  Easy Turkey Manicotti

  1. Brown ground turkey in a large nonstick frying pan or work at medium-high.
  2. Once meat is thoroughly cooked add: spice, soup and milk to pan, in that order.
  3. Mix well to combine and then remove from heat.
  4. Spray lasagna or cake pan with cooking spray.
  5. Spoon filling unto uncooked manicotti until ¾ full. When all shells are filled and in pan, spoon cottage cheese over top, then spoon sauce over top.
  6. Sprinkle on Parmesan and cover tightly with foil, shiny side down.
  7. Bake in oven, set timer for 50 minutes.
  8. When timer rings for manicotti, uncover.
  9. Grate cheese directly over top.
  10. Return to the pan to oven and set oven to broil.
  11. Watch it carefully as it only takes a couple of minutes to bubble up.

  Italian Veggies

  1. Chop celery, pepper and cucumber.
  2. Place veggies in medium size bowl.
  3. Add carrots.
  4. Toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and spice.
  5. Let stand in fridge.

  
  I love Sandi Richard's recipes.  I laugh when I read the recipes as she tells you exactly when you can go change out of your work clothes.  The recipes ARE as easy to prepare and she promises and most of the time my family finds them as tasty as her family rates them.  This was easy to prepare.  I LOVE how you didn't have to cook the manicotti before filling them!
  

  

  
  
   These were really good!  Even Mr Picky and Miss Almost Vegetarian ate theirs without complaint.  I start to wonder though...is this because they are getting used to trying my new recipes all the time or was it as yummy as we thought it was?

Husband of Cheerios and I both loved the Italian veggies too.

We would make both of these again but next time - we would put a little sauce at the bottom of the pan so that the pasta would cook just a bit more.  It was just a tad too chewy in spots.  :)

Rigatoni Broccoli Bake

This is a recipe that I came across in my old recipe box.  I had to make it again to see if it was worthy to move to the new recipe box!

Not sure where this recipe came from originally.

Rigatoni 8oz/250g
cooking oil (optional) 1T/15ml
salt 2 tsp/10ml
Butter 1/3 cup / 75ml
flour 1/3 cup / 75 ml
milk 3 cups / 700ml
grated parm cheese 3/4 cup / 175 ml
salt 1 tsp/5ml
garlic salt 1/2 tsp / 2ml
nutmeg 1/8 tsp / 0.5ml
thyme 1/8 tsp / 0.5ml
grated sharp cheddar chese 1 1/2 cups
Fresh broccoli, cup up (or 2x10oz, 2x284g frozen) - cooked
Swiss cheese grated 3/4 cup / 175 ml

cook rigatoni in boiling water, old and salt in large uncovered saucepan until tender but firm ~12-15 min.  Meanwhile melt butter in saucepan.  Mix in flour.  Stir in milk until it boils and thickens.

Add parm cheese, 2nd amount of salt, garlic salt, nutmeg, thyme and cheddar cheese. Stir.

Drain rigatoni. Return pasta to pot. Add cheese sauce and cooked broccoli.  Mix well. Pour into greased 9x13" pan.

Sprinkle with swiss cheese.  Bake uncovered in 350F oven to melt cheese, about 20 min.  Serves 12-15.

 All 4 of us liked this.  Even Mr Picky and Miss Almost-Vegetarian ate it with gusto.   Goes well with a spinach salad.  We'll make this one again!!

Italian Sausage Lasagna

I just realized that I have over 500 photos on my camera dating back to Mid-April!!  Over the next few days? hours? weeks? I will be working to pull these photos off and will likely find a ton of recipes to try.

It's not like I have an excuse for not blogging...

Cousin Tamara's cake business is really picking up - see her stuff here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sugar-Sugar-Cakes-by-Tamara/102285353219899

Cousin Tess' business is really taking off too - see her here:
http://www.facebook.com/CreativeXpressions247

Cousin Heather has her hands full with a beautiful brand new baby.  Yet, when I stopped by to visit - she had already baked a rhubarb crisp!!  Who has time to bake with  a newborn?  If anyone would make the time - it would be Heather!!

Anyway - without further delay lets talk Lasagna.  This recipe was an ad in a magazine that I was reading.  You can see the recipe posted on the Johnsonville website here:
http://www.johnsonville.com/recipe/italian-sausage-lasagna.html

This was an easy recipe to make with clear instructions.  It smelled delicious and looked great!

Mr. Picky declared it to be the best lasagna he had ever had.

Miss Almost-Vegetarian, in a constant bid to prove herself Mr Picky's best friend, quickly agreed.

DH and I thought it was quick tasty too but quite greasy.  We would make this again but would likely cut half the meat with some ground turkey and cut down on some of the cheese.

Broccoli Pasta

This next one (and the last that I'll blog tonight - a girl needs her sleep) was from the Food Network website.

Since embarking upon Meatless March I've found that broccoli is amazingly cheap at Costco and so I spent a lot of time looking for different ways to use it.

I have to say that this recipe made a very colorful dish that looks very pretty when plated.  It was easy to make and was a very fast and simple recipe.

Unfortunately Mr Picky says it all right here.  3 of the 4 of us just found that this was tasteless and bland.  It just needed....something to give it some kick.  Maybe more pepper flakes would do it or maybe another spice.

Miss Almost Vegetarian gave it 2 thumbs up and happily ate her share.

But...with the rest of us being less than impressed we won't be making this one again.

Spinach Manicotti in Creamy Tomato Sauce

From Everyday Food - Dec 2010 issue as seen here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/326621/spinach-manicotti-in-creamy-tomato-sauce

I have spent the month of March not eating meat.  It is a thing that I am doing on another blog where I am giving something up each month - just for kicks. No meat eating isn't something I wish to continue but it's been a fun experiment and I got to try some new and unique recipes along the way.  I've been a real slacker at blogging them though so expect to see a few of them over the next few days.

In the above photo I was attempting to do what the recipe said and I diligently snipped the corner of the ziploc bag off to squeeze the filling gently into the manicotti.

10 minutes later amidst muttered curses and threats issued to the innocent looking plastic bag I tore the bag open and used a small long spoon instead.  The spoon resulted in a far more satisfactory experience.

This was good.  The kids weren't there to try this but Husband of Cheerios really loved this and I thought it was pretty good too.

Would I make it again? Hmm...probably but it wouldn't be something I would make often.  I know the kids would hate it.  :)

Italian Sausage & Pasta

From the cookbook Grand Slam Bridges

This is another recipe I have never tried from my old recipe box.

This recipe is a medley of Italian sausage, vinegar, mashed tomatoes, garlic, basil, sage, worcestershire, beef & pork sausage, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, thyme and sugar.  Since we did not end up adoring the recipe I am not going to type it out here.

Don't get me wrong - it WAS good.  It just wasn't good enough.  My husband has his own awesome recipe for a baked spaghetti with italian sausage and eating this version just made me think of his.  I should really make him write his down one day.  :)

The kids thought this version was great!!
We will NOT make this one again and this recipe will not make it into my new recipe box.

Lasagna Primavera

Up until now I have only ever made a traditional lasagna. I'm not sure why that is though. Maybe it is how time consuming lasagnas are?

Seeing this one in an Everyday Food magazine prompted me to make the leap and try a new kind of lasagna. Am I ever glad I did!!!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/340876/freeze-ahead-lasagna-primavera

I made 2 smaller lasagnas, 1 to eat and one to freeze. I like double duty dishes, it means one day's meal plan that I don't have to think so hard about ; )

RATINGS:

Heather - 10 - "Deliciously green and creamy"

Brad - 9.5 - "Sooooooo gooooooood"

Baked Spaghetti and Meatballs

So I was going to blog about this new recipe we tried and I even took a picture:

I then logged into Blogger and started to type Baked Spaghetti into the title.  Up came a pop up window filling in the rest of the title for me. 

Sigh.

Sure enough, I made this back in Feb as seen here.  Strangely (or not) both kids felt the same way they did when I made this back in Feb.  So much for being unique!

Rachel Ray's Pimiento Mac 'N' Cheese

From the book Rachel Ray's Look & Cook....

and seen online here

Ingredients

• 1 pound cavatappi pasta, hollow, fat corkscrew shaped pasta or pasta elbow pasta
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika, plus additional for garnish
• Salt and black pepper
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 3 cups sharp yellow cheddar, grated
• 2 4-ounce jars of pimientos, drained
• 1/4 cup flat or curly parsley, finely chopped 

Preparation

Preheat broiler to high or oven to 400°F.

Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring it up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once at a boil, add pasta and salt the water, cook to just shy of al dente.
Heat a large pot over medium heat with EVOO and butter. When butter melts, add the onions, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stir in paprika. Add the flour and cook a minute more. Whisk in milk and hot sauce, and bring up to a bubble, thicken a minute or 2. Turn off the heat, and stir in half of the cheese in a figure-eight motion until melted.

When the pasta is done, drain it well and add it to the pot with the cheese sauce. Toss to combine. Fold in the drained pimentos, pour into into baking dish and top with the remaining cheese, brown under the broiler.
Garnish with the chopped parsley and a generous sprinkle of sweet paprika.

The generous sprinkle of paprika doesn't come through here.  :)

I should start off by confessing 2 things: 1. I love Mac n Cheese.  In fact, I love Kraft Mac n Cheese too - something that causes many adults I know to shiver in horror.  I was going to link to another Mac N Cheese recipe that I had made but then remembered that I didn't blog it because it tasted THAT bad (not Rachel Ray).

This Mac n Cheese was...ok.

The kids ate it quite happily.  

I found that it tasted fine.  My favorite part was the nifty shaped pasta. 

I guess my second confession would be useful here.  I didn't put in pimientos.  I wish I could say it was because I didn't like them.  Unfortunately the truth is far more pitiful.  I have never eaten a pimiento.  I would also be hard pressed to identify a pimiento in a food line up.  There was just some part of my brain that balked at the very idea of putting a food named pimiento into something as wonderful as Mac N Cheese.  I do muse now (don't we all have the best thoughts AFTER the fact?) that maybe pimientos would have taken the mac n cheese from merely fine to stupendous.  I suppose I will never know because I didn't love it enough to make it again.  

I did take the leftovers to work.  I put them in the fridge labeled with a post-it note saying "Eat me".  I then wrote out a note inviting people to taste free, unknown, mystery food.  It took a couple of hours but finally Mr. Click-Click took the challenge.  His take?  While edible, it needs tomato sauce and sausage.  The funny thing is...Mr Cheerios said the same thing.  Why would anyone put sausage in Mac N Cheese?  I don't get boys...