From Scratch Tuna Casserole

I came upon this tuna casserole recipe on BBC Good Food a while back and decided to give it a whirl.  Tuna casserole is my go to "sick food" when I have a bad cold or something.  It's just cozy, I guess!  My husband is usually the one who ends up making it and he's made this for me a few times now.

This recipe is a little different from the norm because you make an actual sauce instead of using a can of cream of blank soup, and it uses corn instead of peas.  You can definitely use peas instead, though, or go on and add 8 oz of them in addition to the corn, why not?  

My version is pretty loyal to the original, but I add garlic and cut the cheese into cubes instead of shredding it.  Shredded cheddar kind of disappears into the casserole, but cubes give you little pockets of melty cheesiness.

For the pasta, you can use pretty much anything.  I think of egg noodles as being the traditional tuna casserole pasta, and that's very good, but it's also good with macaroni, penne, fusilli, shells, or other short shapes.  I'd stay away from something long like spaghetti or very tiny like orzo, but pretty much anything else is good.  Whole wheat pasta works nicely, too.  

If you're looking for a decent whole wheat pasta option, I have tried a lot of them and the company Bionaturae makes by far the best.  Many of the other brands are pretty gross.  DeLallo makes pretty good whole wheat pasta as well, but Bionaturae tastes almost like regular white pasta.  I've taken to ordering bulk packs of 6 lbs of Bionaturae on Amazon because only one local store sells it, they only have penne, and it's $4 a pound at the store.

From Scratch Tuna Casserole

1 lb short pasta of your choice
8 oz frozen corn

4 Tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 Tbsp flour

2 1/2 C milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

10 oz cubed cheddar

1/4 C minced fresh parsley

2 cans tuna, drained

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 by 13 dish and set aside

Boil pasta in salted water and add the frozen corn when the pasta is 2 or 3 minutes from being done.  When the pasta is a little less cooked than you'd prefer (it will continue cooking in the oven), drain it.

While the noodles cook, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium and add garlic.  Saute the garlic for a minute or so, but don't let it brown.  Increase the heat to medium-high, add the flour and saute for a couple minutes longer, until you have a nice, smooth roux.  Pour in the milk 1/4 C at a time for the first cup, stirring well after each addition until the sauce is completely smooth.  After the first cup of milk has been added, you should be able to add the rest of the milk all at once.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce comes to a simmer and thickens.  Continue cooking and stirring for 2 or so minutes longer.  Remove pan from heat and add the salt and pepper.

Stir sauce into cooked noodles.  Stir in tuna, parsley, and cheese cubes.  Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Spread pasta in greased baking dish.  Bake 20-30 minutes, until hot and golden on top.

Baked Ziti

This is a really simple but delicious baked ziti recipe.  Believe me when I say I've tried a lot of ziti recipes over the years and they've all been varying degrees of tasty, but this is our favorite for sure.  I'm always looking for new recipes, but laid my baked ziti quest to rest after I first made this recipe four years ago!  It's a bit unique in that all of the cheese (except for some mozzarella sprinkled on top) gets mixed in with the pasta.  This both saves time with layering and makes sure each noodle is very cheesy!  The nutmeg also gives it a really nice, subtle, slightly unexpected flavor.  The sauce recipe itself is quite solid and is a good, basic sauce to serve over spaghetti.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot remember where the recipe came from originally, but I do know I've changed it substantially.

 

If you want to add a few minutes of prep time and make it more hearty, you can saute a pound of ground beef or turkey to start with, then add a finely diced onion and two cloves minced garlic to the browning meat in place of the onion and garlic powders, then continue making the sauce as written.  

 

Quick Note: You can use any large, tube shaped pasta.  For some reason it's really hard to find ziti around here!  I've also started using mostly whole wheat pasta and finding whole wheat ziti is impossible.  The recipe photo shows it made with whole grain penne.

 

Baked Ziti

 

sauce:

1 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp garlic powder

28 oz can whole fire roasted tomatoes, blended

6 oz tomato paste

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

 

1 lb ziti pasta

 

cheese mixture:

1 lb ricotta cheese

3 C mozzarella, divided

1/2 C grated parmesan (optional)

1 egg

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp black pepper 

1/2 tsp salt
 

Put all sauce ingredients in a pan and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat, cover with a splatter screen, and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
 
While sauce simmers, cook the ziti in salted water until just shy of al dente.  It will continue cooking in the oven and you don't want it to get too soft..  

 

While the pasta cooks, stir together ricotta, 1 1/2 C mozzarella, the egg, and seasonings.  Drain pasta and return to pot.  Stir in cheese mixture. 
 

Grease a 9 by 13 pan and spread half the pasta mixture in the pan.  Spread half the sauce on top.  Add remaining pasta, top with the rest of the sauce, then sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella on top. 
 

Bake ziti at 350 until bubbly and cheese is golden, about 45 minutes.

 

Yield:  8 servings

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

This is definitely the healthiest mac and cheese on my blog.  Whole wheat pasta, a whole can of pumpkin, and less cheese than most of my other recipes.  It's also not as decadent as my other mac and cheese recipes, but is a great everyday meal!  Who doesn't like a quick to make, creamy, cheesy pasta dish?  It also whips up in less than 20 minutes, which can't be said for that many other healthy-ish recipes.

 

The original recipe is from Paula's Plate.  I doubled it, added a little butter, changed the type of macaroni to whole wheat, and significantly cut back on the amount of nutmeg because nutmeg overwhelms dishes so easily.  I also added hot sauce and mustard to punch up the flavor a bit, plus mustard accentuates the cheesy flavor in mac and cheese.  My method is also a tiny bit different.

 

Even though this is a really quick recipe, please do try it at least the first time with freshly grated cheese.  You can easily grate it (and stick some frozen veggies in the microwave to steam) while the macaroni cooks.  The powdery stuff on pre-grated cheese may negatively affect the texture of the finished mac and cheese.

 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

 

2 1/2 C chicken broth (or veggie broth to make it vegetarian)

2 C milk

3 Tbsp butter

1 lb whole wheat macaroni 

16 oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, only ingredient should be pumpkin)

1/8th tsp nutmeg

2 tsp hot sauce (Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot, not something too over the top spicy)

1 Tbsp yellow mustard

2 C freshly grated sharp cheddar

1/2 C freshly grated parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

 

Pour broth, milk, and butter into a large nonstick skillet.  Milk burns easily, so nonstick is very helpful!  Heat over medium-high until it starts getting a little bubbly, but watch it carefully because milk boils over very quickly.  Add macaroni noodles, stir, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until macaroni is cooked through, stirring every 3 or 4 minutes.  This took about 12 minutes for my box of pasta but how long it takes will 100% depend on the brand and type of macaroni you're using.  If the liquid gets completely absorbed, add a little more milk and broth.

 

When macaroni is cooked through, stir in the can of pumpkin, nutmeg, hot sauce, and yellow mustard until nice and hot.  Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheese, then salt and pepper to taste.  It's important to remove the skillet from the burner before adding the cheese so the cheddar doesn't get too hot and become grainy!

 

Serve immediately.

 

Yield:  About 6 main dish servings

Bowtie Spinach Alfredo

Here's another great and healthier version of fettuccine alfredo!  It's also really quick and easy to make, you could have this on the table in 20 minutes.  My husband and I both really like it and think the spinach is the perfect addition.  We like the bowties, but you could use a different shape of pasta.  Also, if you prefer using fresh spinach, just leave out the frozen (obviously) and saute 6 C fresh baby spinach with the garlic while making the sauce.  You could toss in some shredded chicken at the end or saute some chopped chicken breast or shrimp before adding the garlic and spinach if you wanted, too.  Heck, even add a can of drained, chopped artichoke hearts if you want a spinach artichoke dip inspired pasta dish.  There are tons of options!
  
The inspiration for this recipe came from Budget Bytes, but it's basically a tweaked version of my Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo.  The cornstarch is necessary to thicken the sauce up a bit since it doesn't have pumpkin to help out. Like the Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo, it reheats very well, just microwave it and add a little milk if necessary to keep it from being dried out.
  
Bowtie Spinach Alfredo
  
1 lb bowtie pasta

12 oz bag frozen spinach

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

2 1/2 C milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 Tbsp milk with 2 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in it 

1 C freshly grated parmesan

 

Cook pasta in salted water until almost done, add spinach and cook another minute or two. Drain thoroughly and return to pot.  Stir in a small amount of butter if the sauce is not almost done so the pasta won't stick together.  Cover with lid and set aside

 

Make the sauce while the pasta cooks.  Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat.  Saute garlic until tender.  Add cream cheese and 1/2 C milk.  Whisk until as smooth as possible.  Add remaining milk, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a simmer.  Make a slurry with the milk and cornstarch, pour it into the simmering sauce, and stir for a minute or so until thickened. Stir in parmesan until melted

 

Pour sauce over pasta and spinach, toss to combine, and serve.

Yield: 6 servings

Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

Oh, this recipe is so good!  I'm a lifelong fettuccine alfredo lover and this is among the best.  It's thick, rich, creamy, amazingly delicious, and is less bad for you than traditional fettuccine alfredo.  It's so good that I would serve it to guests with a nice side salad and garlic bread.  This is seems like it would be geared solely towards autumn or winter, but we make it year round.  It's always a good choice for my husband to make because it's so straight forward.  If you're skeptical about the pumpkin flavor, do know that it's pretty mild.  Mostly it adds bulk to the sauce and offers just a little bit of pumpkin deliciousness.  You could add more pumpkin if you felt so inclined, and a little grating of fresh nutmeg.
 
If you have leftovers, unlike regular fettuccine that turns into a horrifying greasy mess, this pumpkin version reheats very well.  Just reheat it in the microwave and stir in a little milk so it isn't dry.  

Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves minced garlic

15 oz can pumpkin

8 oz cream cheese

2 C milk

1 C freshly grated parmesan, plus more to sprinkle on top

salt to taste

1 lb dry fettuccine noodles

Cook the fettuccine in salted water while you make the sauce.

Saute garlic in butter over low-medium until it barely gets golden, this will take 3 minutes or so.  Garlic burns quickly, so watch it carefully and have the pumpkin ready to add in right when you need it.

Add pumpkin and cream cheese, whisk until smooth.  Whisk in milk and salt.  Heat over low until well combined.  

Add to drained fettuccine, and serve!

Yield: 6 servings

Cheeseburger Pasta

This recipe isn't life changing or anything, it's just yummy and cozy and easy.  It's a modified version of one from Tasty.com.  I've made it a couple of times and we like it.  Next time I'd like to add some halved cherry tomatoes, but I'm a tomato lover.  Note that you can use a different kind of pasta, but the type of pasta definitely has an impact on how long it takes to cook!  Fusilli takes about 20 minutes in this dish, penne is closer to 30.  I personally prefer quicker so will go with the fusilli!  You can also use a diced onion and 3 cloves minced garlic instead of the onion and garlic powders, just saute the onion with the ground beef and then toss in the garlic with the seasonings.
 
Cheeseburger Pasta
  
1 lb ground beef
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

4 Tbsp ketchup

2 Tbsp yellow mustard

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

6 C beef broth

1 lb fusilli pasta

1/2 C milk

2 C grated cheddar

 

Saute ground beef until cooked through, drain if necessary.  Add seasonings, ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, and saute for another minute.  Add beef broth.  Bring to a boil, stir in fusilli, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until pasta is tender, stirring every 10 minutes or so, about 20 minutes total.  Remove from heat, add milk, then stir in cheese until melted.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Instant Pot Mac & Cheese

I'm back!  Wasn't gone for any particular reason and I was still cooking, just not adding new recipes to the blog.  Anyway!
   

Because I am me, occasionally I just google "mac and cheese."  On my most recent googling, I came upon the photo for this Instant Pot mac and cheese over at Family Fresh Meals.  It looked so good and creamy, didn't have either of the Devil's Cheeses (American cheese or Velveeta), and I love my Instant Pot, so it got slapped on the menu for Easter.  

 

Oh boy, did this mac and cheese not disappoint!  It is simply phenomenal.  Silky smooth sauce, very cheesy, very creamy, great flavor.  The spiral noodles hold onto the sauce perfectly and the garlic powder- something I had never added to mac and cheese- adds something really nice and subtle.  My beloved husband, who has been staunchly loyal to Creamy Baked Mac & Cheese, gave it 10/10 and thought it was almost as good as his favorite.  Which he says gets 11/10 because why not?

 

Make this if you have an Instant Pot and love mac and cheese!  I'm also happy to say it reheats decently.  Not the best ever and not as creamy, but it does not deconstruct into a puddle of stringy, overcooked cheese and grease.

  

Quick Note:  Please be sure to use fusilli pasta.  Different shapes of pasta have different cooking times and need different amounts of liquid to cook properly.  I have no idea how this would turn out with macaroni or some other shape of pasta.  Also, one pound of fusilli means literally a pound.  16 ounces by weight, not by volume.  I'm adding this information because a lot of people in the comments over on Family Fresh Meals experienced some confusion in regards to these two things!

  

 Instant Pot Mac & Cheese

 

4 C water

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3 Tbsp butter

1 lb fusilli pasta (the larger corkscrew type)

5 oz can evaporated milk

12 oz sharp cheddar, freshly grated

4 oz monterey jack, freshly grated

1 oz parmesan, freshly grated

 

In the Instant Pot, stir together water, dried mustard, salt, garlic powder, and butter.  Make sure there are no lumps of dried mustard or garlic powder.  Add pasta, stir, and press down gently with the spoon to make sure the pasta is as covered with liquid as possible- there should not be an island of fusilli above the surface of the liquid.

 

Place on Instant Pot cover, set to seal, and cook on manual for 4 minutes.  Place a dishcloth over the steam release vent, then do a quick pressure release.  There is a very good chance that starchy water will spray up out of the steam release vent, so do keep the towel on it!  

 

Since the Instant Pot is done cooking, it will have switched to Keep Warm.  Don't turn it off!  

 

When all the pressure has been released, remove the lid and stir the pasta.  There will still be some liquid in the pot, that's fine- do not drain it.  Add the can of evaporated milk, then stir in half of the cheese until completely melted.  Then add stir in the rest of the cheese and dig in!

 

Enjoy your mac and cheesy heaven!

  

Yield: 8 side dish servings or 6 main dish servings

BBQ Mac & Cheese

I've mentioned this before, but I was a very picky child.  My mom is a good cook, but ungrateful little me had very particular taste buds.  My palate expanded hugely when I was a foreign exchange student my freshman year of high school, and I returned to the US as an adventurous eater, but my parents separated while I was out of the country and my mom didn't cook much after that.  That's pretty much when I started learning to cook!

Because all of my years of being fortunate enough to have my mom cook dinner every night coincided with me being a picky eater, there aren't actually very many recipes in my "lifetime favorites from Mom" recipe category.  I've always loved her white chicken chili, 57 Meatballs, a mushroom chicken casserole recipe I haven't had since I was about 13 years old, an herbed chicken and potatoes recipe I haven't made yet, pumpkin spice cookies, and... this recipe.  (Side note: why haven't I shared any of these favorite on this blog in the 5 years I've been posting?)
  
It's not really the kind of recipe my mom would usually make and I'm not sure why she chose to make it since the ingredients are a bit odd, but make it she did.  As a mac and cheese lover from the start, even the rather strong flavors appealed to me and this was one of my favorite things my mom made when I was a kid.  The original recipe was apparently called Macaroni for Morons (mean!), but young me named it BBQ Mac & Cheese and that's how it has been known ever since.  There isn't any BBQ sauce in it, but it has a slightly similar flavor and apparently 6 year old me thought it tasted like BBQ sauce.  My mom's version actually has more butter, more cheese, and no mustard, but my husband and I like it this way :)
 
BBQ Mac & Cheese
  
1 lb macaroni
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 C chili sauce (Heinz chili sauce, not the spicy asian kind)
1/4 C Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 C grated sharp cheddar cheese
black pepper and seasoned salt to taste
  
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add macaroni.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until macaroni is tender.  Drain and return to pot.  Add butter, place pot back on burner over low, and cook until butter melts.  Add chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard, and stir to combine.  Add cheese and stir until melted and hot.  Stir in pepper and seasoned salt to taste.
  
Yield:  About 8 side dish servings.

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese

This recipe really surprised me by how good it is!  I was just looking for a quick, easy, no fuss mac and cheese to serve along with Easter dinner, and came upon this one on Recipes That Crock.  Cream of mushroom soup in mac and cheese, how odd, but I decided to give it a go because you'll never know if you don't try.  Wonder of wonders, it turned out really well.  My husband ranked it in his top 3 mac and cheese favorites and I thought it was really good, too.  This is a great choice if you're cooking a bunch of things and need a side dish that can tend to itself for a while, or if you're headed to a potluck and need something that will stay nice and hot and tasty.

 

Quick Note: You can puree the cream of mushroom soup with a food processor or immersion blended if you (or the people you're serving it to) won't like the little bits of mushroom in the finished mac and cheese.  Also, use freshly grated cheddar for this because the coating on purchased grated cheese may prevent it from melting into the sauce nicely.

  

 

Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese

 

12 oz macaroni (cavatappi is pictured because the store was out of macaroni)

10.25 oz can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 C milk

2 tsp yellow mustard

1/2 tsp seasoned salt (or more to taste)

1/4 tsp black pepper 

12-16 oz freshly grated cheddar cheese, divided

 

Cook macaroni in salted water until partly softened, but still underdone.  Drain and return to pot.  Add cream of mushroom soup, milk, seasoned salt, and pepper, then stir in 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 C grated cheddar (I used 3).  Taste and add more salt if needed.  Grease the crock of a small slow cooker and add mac and cheese.  

 

Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours, or high for about an hour and a half- exact amount of time will depend on your slow cooker.  You can stir halfway through to make sure it cooks evenly, but don't stir after that or the mac and cheese won't have a baked consistency to it.

 

Remove lid, sprinkle with an extra 1/2 to 1 C grated cheddar, and continue to cook until cheese has melted.

 

Yield: 10 side dish servings

SRC: Summer Spaghetti

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the blog Dancing Veggies.  Is that a cute name or what?  Dancing Veggies is written by a mom named Amanda who is a vegetarian and enjoys looking for and thinking up recipes that are delicious and not too hard on the wallet.

This was one of those months where I made my SRC recipe really quickly, within a couple days of receiving the assignment.  There were lots of tasty looking options on the blog, and I actually made the delicious Peach Dutch Baby, too, but decided I would share Summer Spaghetti because we loved it so much.  This is a very flavorful dish, but it's not super saucy.  It isn't spaghetti with marinara sauce, it's more like spaghetti in chopped up tomato heaven.  I used a combination of smallish on the vine tomatoes and yellow cherry tomatoes.

Thanks for the recipe, Amanda, my husband and I were crazy about it!

Quick Note:  The original recipe called for 1/4 C minced fresh basil.  The store didn't have any, so I purchased fresh oregano.  I used it and thought it was delicious, but will probably use dried in the future unless I happen to be growing some.  We didn't notice a big flavor difference between fresh and dried of this particular herb, and that little bundle of oregano cost like $3.  Fresh basil is a different story, though, and would definitely be good in this!

Also, to reheat the leftovers, I put the pasta in a large nonstick skillet with a little chicken broth (you could use veggie broth) and heated it over low until the pasta was tender again.  It was almost as good as the first night, which definitely would not have been the case had I heated it in the microwave!  We would have been eating a giant clump of noodles that way.

Summer Spaghetti

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 vidalia onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 lbs tomatoes, stems removed and chopped coarsely

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp dried oregano or 1/4 C minced fresh basil

12 oz angel hair pasta, cooked until just before it reaches al dente

salt to taste

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-low heat.  Add onion and saute until completely softened, about 15 minutes.  It's okay if the onions turn a little brown, but that's not the goal.  Add the garlic and saute for another couple of minutes.  Add tomatoes, red pepper flakes, oregano (add later if you use fresh basil), and salt to taste.  Turn to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.  You want the sauce to be at a gentle simmer.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil while the tomatoes simmer.  Add angel hair and cook until it's a little firmer than you want, then drain and add to the skillet with the sauce.  Cook and stir for a couple of minutes, until pasta is completely coated in sauce and tender.   Add the fresh basil if you're using it, and serve.

An InLinkz Link-up

SRC: Cheesy Rigatoni Bake

I think this month's Secret Recipe Club was just about my quickest turnaround between getting my blog assignment and making the recipe!  I was assigned the blog Crazed Mom, which is written by a mom of 5 (and grandma of 1!) named Nicole.  Nicole is a very prolific blogger and has a ton of recipes to pick from.  I'll probably make more of her recipes this month (specifically looking at Ranch Mac & Cheese, Weeknight Philly Cheesesteaks, Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes, and the very intriguing Buffalo Chicken Spring Rolls), but the first one I made turned out so well, that I'm choosing it for SRC.

 

The recipe I made is Cheesy Rigatoni Bake.  I chose it because my husband and I love cheesy tomato noodle type casseroles, and I hadn't made one in months and months.  This one looked interesting because it has two types of sauces, neither of which are stirred into the rigatoni, and I liked that it didn't have nearly as much cheese as most similar recipes.  My husband loves cheese, but can't have a ton of it.

 

The casserole was really good.  As expected, the sauces did seep down into the rigatoni some (in a very delicious way!), but the two types didn't completely blend together.  Between the white sauce and the cheese, the top got perfectly bubbly and golden and irresistible.  The casserole cut into pieces better than most because of the eggs that help bind the pasta together.  I added pepperoni to the top of half of the casserole since there's no meat in the recipe and the layering kind of reminded me of pizza anyway.  We thought the pepperoni was really nice and I'll probably top the entire thing with pepperoni next time.  This is a definite repeat recipe!

 

Pardon the especially bad photo, my camera broke and I had to use my iPad.
 

  

Cheesy Rigatoni Bake

 

1 lb rigatoni pasta

4 eggs

1 tsp salt, divided

16 oz can Four Cheese Hunt's spaghetti sauce (or another flavor)

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp flour

2 1/4 C milk

2 C grated mozzarella

sliced pepperoni (optional)

1/3 C grated fresh parmesan 

 

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9 by 13 baking dish.

 

Cook the rigatoni in lightly salted water until al dente.  You want it to be a little less cooked than you'd prefer because it will cook longer in the oven and the noodles will get softer.  Drain noodles and set aside to cool for a few minutes so the eggs won't cook on contact.

 

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat and whisk in flour.  Whisk constantly for about a minute, then whisk in about 1/4 C milk until completely smooth.  Add milk in 1/4 C additions, being sure to whisk between additions until the sauce is completely smooth.  Once all the milk has been added, bring sauce to a simmer while whisking constantly, and cook for about a minute.  Stir in 1/2 tsp salt.  Remove from heat and set aside.

 

Whisk eggs in a small bowl, then add to rigatoni with 1/2 tsp salt.  Stir until pasta is coated, then pour into prepared baking dish.  Spread spaghetti sauce evenly over top.  Sprinkle with mozzarella.  Spread white sauce over the cheese, then top with the pepperoni, if you're using it.  Sprinkle with the parmesan.  

 

Bake casserole until bubbly all over and the top is golden, about 40 minutes.  Let sit for 15 minutes before serving so it can set up some.

  

Yield: 8 servings

An InLinkz Link-up

Bess Truman's Mac & Cheese

I can't even remember how I came upon this recipe, but I found it on the American Table website .  It's apparently the mac and cheese recipe of Bess Truman, Harry S Truman's wife.  It's one of the simplest mac and cheese I've seen, and I'm always happy to try a new mac and cheese recipe, so gave it a go.  The results were interesting.  There's no sauce to speak of, but the mac and cheese is pretty moist (in a good way) from the milk.  It has a surprising amount of flavor, considering how few ingredients there are.  My husband wasn't fond of this recipe because he prefers saucy mac and cheese, plus he's just generally particular about mac and cheese.  I really enjoyed it, though, and would happily both make and eat it again.

 

I wanted to stay true to the original recipe, so the only thing I changed was to sprinkle salt on the noodles.

 

Bess Truman's Mac & Cheese

 

1/2 lb macaroni noodles

salt to taste

2 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 egg

2 C whole milk

1/2 stick salted butter, cut into pats

 

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8 by 8 baking dish.

 

Cook 1/2 lb macaroni in lightly salted water.  Spoon half of it into the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle on a little salt.  Sprinkle on half of the cheddar.  Top with the rest of the noodles, a little more salt, and the rest of the cheese.  Beat the egg, then stir in the milk.  Pour evenly over the mac and cheese.  Arrange pats of butter evenly on top.

 

Bake mac and cheese for about 45 minutes, until golden and bubbly and the interior temperature reaches 160 degrees.  I covered mine with foil 35 minutes in so the cheese wouldn't brown too much.  Let mac and cheese sit for 10 minutes before serving so it can set a bit.

 

Yield: 8 side dish servings

Monster Mac

This recipe is a Cheese with Noodles creation.  I added components of several different recipes, along with some different things I wanted to try, then a couple more changes born of necessity.  My husband and I call it Monster Mac because it features muenster cheese and we've always called it monster cheese.  I tried thinking up a fancier, more descriptive name, but Monster Mac (like Monster Mash!) stuck. 
  

As implied by the name of my blog, I LOVE mac and cheese.  I'm basically always open to trying a new recipe, but am also really particular.  This time around, I was looking for a mac and cheese that was very saucy, velvety, and smooth, and made entirely on the stove.  It's unfortunate or me that by far my favorite cheese for mac and cheese (and pretty much everything else) is sharp cheddar, because it gets kind of grainy when melted.  I also hate Velveeta and American cheese with the burning fury of 1,000 suns, so adding that to help make a silky smooth sauce wasn't an option.  To combat the graininess, I decided to use cornstarch instead of flour (cornstarch makes for a smoother sauce), and used Muenster cheese for part of the cheese since it melts really nicely.  I also made sure to remove the pot from the stove before adding the cheddar because excess heat + chedder = grainy city.
  

The mac and cheese turned out quite well.  Lots of flavor, mellow and buttery from the Muenster but still with adequate bite from the cheddar, and definitely lots of creamy sauce.  The spiral pasta held all the sauce wonderfully and was definitely a good choice.  The sauce wasn't as perfectly silky smooth as I hoped, but definitely smoother than many cheddar based sauces.  I think it's just not possible to make a completely smooth cheddar based sauce.  Luckily, this one comes decently close!
  

Quick Note:  I actually think this would make a great cheesy pasta side dish (or maybe add diced ham to make a main dish?) if you only add 1/2 C milk near the end and completely leave out the cheddar.  The muenster also makes the pasta hilariously stringy as it melts- like, over the top, looks like you're making cotton candy.  As it melts and add the extra milk and sour cream, the stringiness from the muenster goes completely away, but if that appeals to you, there's no reason why you couldn't pull it off the heat and serve it before that happens.
  

  
Monster Mac

  

1/2 lb spiral pasta

1 3/4 C milk, divided

1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)

2 tsp mustard

pinch cayenne

4 oz muenster cheese (mine was in slices already, I just tore it into pieces)

1/2 C sour cream

1/2 lb freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese

salt to taste (I used 1/2 tsp)
  

Cook macaroni in salted water.  While it cooks, whisk together 3/4 C of the milk, cornstarch, egg, hot sauce, mustard, and cayenne.
  

Drain pasta, add egg mixture, and return to low heat.  Stir constantly until sauce thickens.  Add muenster cheese and cook until melted.  Add sour cream and remaining 1 C milk and cook, stirring frequently, until hot.  Remove pot from heat and stir in cheddar until melted.  Add salt to taste, then serve immediately.

 

Yield: 4 main dish servings, 6-8 side dish servings

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman.  I didn't mess with it too much, except to use greek yogurt instead of sour cream because sour cream upsets my husband's stomach.  Greek yogurt is also undoubtedly healthier and has more protein.  This was a really easy, quick casserole and it turned out pretty well.  Very simple, homey, and comforting.  My husband adored it and gave it a rating of 10 out of 10.  We'll make it again for sure.  I served it with Stir Fried Lemony Green Beans (also from the Pioneer Woman!) and it was a nice dinner.

   

  

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

  

1 lb ground beef

3 cloves minced garlic

15 oz can tomato sauce

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz egg noodles

1 1/4 C cottage cheese

5 oz container plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)

1/4 C sliced green onions

1 C grated cheddar

  

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 2 quart baking dish.  Set aside.

  

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high and add ground beef.  Break up with a spoon and cook, stirring frequently.  When it's about half cooked, add the minced garlic.  Continue to cook and stir until beef is cooked through.  Drain off any excess fat, then add the tomato sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set pan aside.

  

While you make the sauce, cook the egg noodles just until al dente in a large pot of salted water.  Drain and set aside.

  

Stir together cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and green onions, then add salt to taste.  Add mixture to noodles and stir to combine.

  

Pour noodle mixture in prepared baking dish and top evenly with ground beef mixture.  Sprinkle evenly with grated cheddar.  Bake until cheese is melted and dish is hot, 15-20 minutes.

  

Yield: 6 servings

Spaghetti and Meatballs

This recipe for meatballs and sauce comes from Serious Eats.  It was actually the first recipe I made from Serious Eats, the description about the author's Friday Night Meatball tradition intrigued me.  I first made it a year ago and absolutely loved it.  The sauce is perfectly savory and flavorful, even though it doesn't have many ingredients, and the meatballs are among the best I've ever had.  I'm particular about tomato sauce and meatballs, so you know these are good!  The meatballs are great served over raw spinach, roasted veggies, or as meatball subs, too.  This recipe is simple, but takes at least two hours to get on the table, so plan accordingly!
  

Quick Note:  I've changed this recipe a little.  The biggest thing is that I use a lot less salt.  I also put the entire 1/2 C parsley into the meatballs.  Didn't realize until I'd made it a couple times that half the parsley was supposed to go in the sauce, but it doesn't hurt the meatballs at all!  Also, this most recent time I served the sauce and meatballs over whole wheat penne.  The plan had been to use spaghetti, but the box I thought was in the pantry had been used up!  Turns out the sturdiness of the penne really held up well to the sauce, I may do it this way in the future occasionally.
  

  
Sauce:
  

2 Tbsp butter

7 cloves garlic, freshly minced

6 oz can tomato paste

2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, crushed with hands

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper
  

Meatballs:

4 slices bread in crumbs

1/2 C minced parsley

1 1/2 Tbsp Goya seasoning

2 T dried minced onion

3/4 tsp black pepper

2 eggs

2 lb ground beef

2 Tbsp olive oil

grated parmesan to serve

cooked pasta
  

Heat butter/oil in a large pot over medium.  Add garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add tomato paste and stir constantly for 1 more minute.  Add crushed tomatoes, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a simmer, cover pot, and reduce heat to low while you make the meatballs.
  

Stir together bread crumbs, parsley, Goya seasoning, onion, pepper, and eggs.  Add ground beef and mix gently just until well combined (don't over mix).  Form meat into 1 1/2-2 inch balls and place on a foil lined baking sheet.
 
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium and add a single layer of meatballs.  Brown meatballs on all sides, turning gently with tongs.  Place meatballs into simmering sauce and brown the rest of the meatballs.
 
When all the meatballs are browned, stir them gently in the sauce making sure not to break them up, and simmer over low heat, uncovered (but use a spatter screen!), for 1 hour 15 minutes (you can go as long as 2 hours), stirring occasionally.  You'll have to stir more frequently as the sauce cooks down.  Serve sauce and meatballs over cooked pasta, sprinkled with parmesan.
  
Yield:  About 8 servings

Honey Lemon Pepper Chicken & Pasta

This is a recipe I found on the Averie Cooks blog, and had to make it right away because it looked so unique.  For some reason I haven't seen honey feature prominently in many pasta dishes.  I made a few tweaks, like usual, and the main one was that I cut back on the honey significantly.  It was a good call, because we thought it had the perfect amount of sweetness.  This is a great recipe if you need something really quick and yummy for dinner!

 

 

Honey Lemon Pepper Chicken & Pasta

 

2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into 6 cutlets

lemon pepper to sprinkle

3 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1/3 C honey

1/2 C lemon juice

1 Tbsp lemon pepper (I used Lawry's)

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1/2 tsp dried thyme

13 oz box whole grain angel hair pasta (I used Barilla)
 

Cook the pasta in salted water while you cook the chicken, then strain and set aside.

 

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Sprinkle chicken generously with lemon pepper on both sides, then place in skillet. Brown on both sides.
 

While chicken browns, make the sauce.  Stir together 1 Tbsp olive oil, the honey, lemon juice, 1 Tbsp lemon pepper, rice vinegar, and dried thyme in a small bowl.  When chicken has browned, reduce heat to medium and pour in sauce.  Cook until it has thickened slightly and chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.  The sauce will only thicken a small amount and will remain fairly runny, so don't worry!
 

Remove chicken to a plate and add the cooked pasta.  Mix thoroughly and heat through, then serve on plates next to the chicken.
 

Yield:  6 servings

Ravioli Lasagna

I came up on this recipe at the blog Peaceful Parents, Confident Kids and made it that night, it just looked so good and easy!  You don't even have to cook the ravioli first.  Best of all, it turned out REALLY well.  My lasagna loving husband said he liked it better than regular lasagna, which is saying a lot.  I was worried it may end up a little watery from all the raw spinach, but the ravioli absorbs all the excess liquid very nicely and the entire thing is just divine.

 

 

 Ravioli Lasagna

 

1 lb ground beef

1 26 oz jar/can prepared spaghetti sauce (it doesn't have to be fancy, I used Hunt's Four Cheese)

about 20 oz uncooked, refrigerated cheese ravioli

3 C grated mozzarella

1/3 C grated parmesan

4 oz raw baby spinach

Grease 9 by 13 dish and preheat oven to 350.
 
Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium high, and then stir in spaghetti sauce.
 
To assemble the lasagna, spread a small amount of the meat sauce in the baking dish, then make a single layer of ravioli, half of the spinach, 2 Tbsp of the parmesan, 1 C of the mozzarella, half of the remaining sauce, the rest of the ravioli, the rest of the spinach, 2 Tbsp of the parmesan, and the rest of the sauce.  Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes.  Remove the foil, top with the remaining 2 C mozzarella and the remaining parmesan.  Bake 20 minutes longer or until it's bubbly throughout and the cheese is browned.  Let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes before serving.
 
Yield: 6-8 servings