Baked Ziti

My friend lead me onto this recipe about a month ago. She said she received it through a "Mom's site" email. She made the recipe and loved it. I decided one day to do some searching on Allrecipes.com to see what kind of Baked Ziti recipes they had to offer and to see if any of their recipes compared to this one she sent me. My search resulted in a recipe that had over 3,500 postitive reviews, so I pulled it up and lo and behold this was the exact same recipe she had sent me. Apparently, some "Mom's site" is emailing out Allrecipes.com recipes. With that out of the way, let me just say this was a really good dish. There's no need to go out to a fancy Italian place when you can this dish right in your own home. My only change would be to add more cheese on top before baking.

Baked Ziti

1 lb. dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. lean ground beef or sausage
2 (26 oz.) jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
6 oz. provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tbls. parmesan cheese, grated

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain.

In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Butter a 9" x 13" baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese an remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated over or until cheeses are melted.

Garlic Chicken Brats & Pesto Rotini

My son came up to me as I was making this dish and asked, "Mom, how come you don't make up your own recipes when you cook?" "Well," I said, "it just so happens that this dinner is something I made up on my own." He looked at me with his mouth wide open in amazement and said, "wow, that is so cool!" "You really are a good cook, huh?" Now how could I argue with that comment? I love my son! He always makes me feel so good.

I created this dish using some of our favorite ingredients: bratwursts, artichokes, pesto and parmesan. As far as the recipes goes, and I know I've said this before in the past, but once again this is a recipe that can be made to your liking. And in the quantities that will suit you and your family. My hubby couldn't get enough of this pasta dish that night. I think he had a full 2 plates. He kept saying, "mmm, this pasta is sooo good!" You can also substitute the chicken brats with an Italian-type sausage and use alternative vegetables such as: mushrooms or zucchini. The garlic chicken brats were freshly made by the butchers at Harmons. I just discarded the casings and used only the meat. I cooked it just like I would regular ground beef.

Garlic Chicken Brats & Pesto Rotini

1 box of rotini pasta, cooked and drained

1 pkg. Harmons brand Bob's Garlic Chicken Brats

1/3 cup Kirkland brand Basil Pesto sauce

2 jars of marinated artichokes, drained

Sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
Parmesan Cheese

Olive oil

In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large, 2" deep skillet, remove casings from bratwursts, chop and brown till longer pink. Drain pasta, toss with some olive oil to prevently it from drying. Set aside. Remove grease from brats. Return skillet to stove and add artichokes and sun dried tomatoes till thoroughly heated. Add pasta, toss, add pesto sauce, toss and heated till completely cooked. If pasta looks dry, add more olive oil or extra pesto. Add parmesan cheese to each individual plate before serving. Serve with warm bread and a side salad, if desired.

Scaldoni's Greek Pasta Salad

About 8 or 9 years ago, I attended a cooking class for Homemaking (back when it was called that) and we were fortunate enough to have the chef from a local restaurant here in town called Scaldoni's come and demonstrate this yummy pasta salad for us. For some reason, no one bothered to right down the recipe as he was demonstrating it. I was the only one. Goes to show you my true dedication to cooking was a little OCD-ish back then too. With that in mind and because I make it all the time, people seem to think that it's my recipe. I unfortunately can't take credit for this recipe as much as I want to. And believe me...I do! I think this is one pasta salad that I could never get sick of eating. The flavors of each of the ingredients blended together works perfectly. The tartness of the vinegar, the tang from the feta and the mild hot flavor from the pepperoncinis is all very delightful. So with that said, I hope you enjoy it as much as those who are lucky enough to eat this salad. I also love how healthy this recipe is. You could even use the new whole wheat versions of pasta and it would be so much more healthier.

Note: Each of the ingredients that were demonstrated that night never had exact amounts. And to this day I have never used exact amounts. You basically have to eyeball the amount and add each one to your liking. I really don't care for onions, but I know other people do, so I still add it but I slice them small so they don't affect me too much. Also, I really like the look of the bowtie pasta, but other shapes can be used too. A good rule of thumb is to cut the veggies around the same size as the pasta. Mainly the onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. Make sure you don't buy yellow banana peppers, look for the jar that says "peperoncinis". There's a difference!



Scaldoni's Greek Pasta Salad

12-16 oz. box of pasta: bowties, spiral, rigatoni or penne, cooked
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Greek Seasoning mix (see pic above)
1 large can of olives, sliced
1 large cucumber, seeded and cubed
1 container of feta cheese
2-3 roma tomatoes, seeded and cubed
1 jar of deli-sliced, greek peperoncinis
1 purple onion, sliced

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, prepare veggies and set aside. Drain pasta in strainer and pour back into pot to cool. DO NOT RUN COLD WATER OVER PASTA! The starch gets washed away and makes it hard for the pasta soak in the flavorings of each of the ingredients. Just keep tossing it to let out the heat. You may add a few tablespoons of olive oil to loosen the pasta so it doesn't stick. The cooling process takes a while so plan accordingly.

Once pasta has cooled, start adding enough red wine vinegar, oil and seasoning to coat the pasta lightly. Start out minimally so that it doesn't overpower the pasta at the beginning. Add in each of the veggies and season once again with the vinegar, oil and seasoning. Toss completely. Taste test the pasta to see if flavor is to your liking. It should taste tangy and somewhat peppery from the seasoning and peperoncinis. Add in feta cheese at the very end. Store in airtight container in refridgerator until ready to serve. Nostimmos! (Greek for delicious!)

Crockpot Lasagne

First off, let me just say that I have never made a lasagne in the crockpot before. Second, I didn't even have a recipe when I made this. And finally, it turned out alot better than I ever expected it to. I made it just before we left for church and it was completely cooked by the time we got home. As for the recipe I'm just going to give you the ingredients I used this time around. If you have a favorite lasagne recipe, try adapting it to use in the crock pot. Just plan to add some extra moisture: water, sauce, etc...

Crockpot Lasagne
1 pkg. Barilla brand lasagne sheets, chipped
1 1/2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 package of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 lbs. of browned, ground beef
1 lb. container of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
Any veggies (cooked): broccoli, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.

Prepare crockpot with some non-stick spray. Have ingredients ready: chip lasagne sheets (see pic) brown ground beef, open sauce jars, mix eggs into ricotta cheese and season to your liking, prepare any veggies you choose to add. And begin layering the lasagne into the crockpot. Begin with some sauce at the bottom, then add noodles, more sauce, meat, ricotta, veggies and mozzarella. Next add a generous amount of sauce and then begin layering process again until you've done about 3 layers. Top and end with more mozzarella. Cover with lid and set heat to high and cook for 3-4 hours.

"Chicken of the Sea" Casserole

The only thing I can say about this casserole, other than it's another one of those favorite comfort foods, is that this recipe is made from scratch. It's not your mother's old stinky, fishy casserole you remember as a child. For those of you who ate stinky, fishy casseroles growing up, you know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, for some you, you may still have abnormal reactions to the words...Tuna Casserole...that sends you into some kind of "ewww", "yuck" frenzy. Well, let me just tell you...besides the burnt cracker crumbs on top of this casserole, this recipe was very yummy. Another hit with the family that leaves you swimming downstream instead of up in compliments. I also added a grated white Irish cheddar cheese to the sauce instead of parmesan. Very yummy! And I know I always say this, but you can add as much or as little of the peas as you want. If you use the peas do not add them until just before you add the pasta mixture to the baking dish. It doesn't take much to cook peas. The warm water and oven heat should be enough. You can substitute the peas for broccoli or leave the peas completely out and serve with a side salad and garlic bread.

"Chicken of the Sea" Casserole

3 tbls. olive oil
3 tbls. real butter
2 tbls. flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teas. salt
1/2 teas. pepper
1 teas. garlic powder
1 tbls. lemon juice
1 c. grated parmesan or white cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup frozen green peas
2 cans of white albacore tuna, drained
14 oz. pkg. of penne pasta, cooked and drained
Butter crackers, crushed

In a large pot, boil water and cook pasta accordingly to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter and melt to combine. Once butter begins to bubble, add flour and stir using a whisk. (This is the beginning stages of a roux.) Whisk flour mixture briskly to prevent any lumps. Once it's smoothe, slowly add the milk while whisking to combine. Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice and sour cream. Add grated cheese a little at a time and continue whisking until thoroughly combined. Check for flavor at this time. Add more salt or pepper if needed. Add drained tuna to the sauce. Stir. Run frozen green peas over warm water to take away the chill. Set aside. Do not add peas at this time.

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.

After pasta has been cooked and drained, add it to the sauce mixture, toss to coat. Then add in the peas. Toss to coat again. Place pasta into a 9x13 baking dish and top with crushed crackers and bake in preheat oven for 15-20 minutes or until crackers are browned. Serve warm.