Spaghetti Casserole

Ugh...I've been sick for the last few days and I don't want to do anything. But, with the TAKS test (Texas' standardized test) next week, I can't miss a day of work. I wasn't able to cook dinner tonight, because I was sleeping. So, its a good thing I made a huge casserole on Tuesday night to hold us over. I found this recipe awhile ago and my husband really likes it. Plus, it makes enough to freeze leftovers.

Spaghetti Casserole

1 - 16 oz. package angel hair pasta

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 - 26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce

2 - 8oz cans tomato sauce

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

2 cups shredded colby-monterey jack cheese

Cook pasta according to directions. In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until done; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Remove from heat. Drain pasta. Combine soup and sour cream. In two, 8 inch square baking dishes, layer half of the meat sauce, pasta, soup mixture and cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until cheese is melted.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in fridge overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking, then bake as directed.

Notes: I think that I will use an extra 16 oz of spaghetti sauce vs. the 2 cans of tomato sauce next time. Also, instead of making 2 casseroles with this recipe, I just made one 9x13 casserole this time. I froze individual portions of the leftovers for my husband to take for lunches.

Spiral Pepperoni Pizza Bake

I've been pretty busy lately. We recently bought a new house, which happens to be about an hour away from where we currently live. So, we've been spending some of our weekends at the new place, and we'll move there permanently next June. Hopefully, I'll have some pics to post soon. Anyway, I haven't had much time for posting or cooking. This is a recipe I made on Monday.

Spiral Pepperoni Pizza Bake

1-16oz package spiral pasta
2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2-15oz cans of pizza sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1-3 1/2 oz package of sliced pepperoni

Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, in a large pot, cook beef, onion, salt and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the pizza sauce, garlic salt, and italian seasoning; remove from heat and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and Parmesan. Drain pasta; toss with egg mixture. Transfer to a greased 3qt. casserole dish. Top with beef mixture, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until golden brown.

Notes: You could use spaghetti sauce instead of pizza sauce. Definately salt the pasta while its boiling. I didn't do this, and the pasta layer in the casserole was bland. I used grated Parmesan instead of shredded and the dish came out fine. Lastly, I only used about 3 cups of mozzarella. Four cups just seemed overwhelming.

The Best Pasta Carbonara

I made the best pasta carbonara last week. The recipe is by Pastor Ryan from The Pioneer Woman website. Its not very healthy, but everything is ok in moderation...right? By the way, I just have to say, that I LOVE bacon. You can find the recipe here http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/cooking-with-ryan-pasta-carbonara/. I promise, it's worth it.

Spaghetti Hot Dish

I've felt very uninspired lately when making my meal plans. I just can't find any recipes that interest me right now. I think I need to get a new cookbook. Anyway, I made this casserole today because I just couldn't find anything else I wanted to make.

Spaghetti Hot Dish

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 1/2 onions, diced

3 celery ribs, diced

1/4 cup butter

5 tbsp. all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste

3 1/2 cups milk

2 tbsp. chopped pimientos

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 1/4 cups cooked spaghetti

1 cup finely crushed butter flavor crackers (about 25 crackers)

In a large skillet, cook beef, onions, and celery in butter over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually add the milk, pimientos, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in spaghetti; mix well. Transfer to a greased 11x7x2 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until heated through.

Tortellini Alfredo

This weekend, I bought a fully cooked, half ham at Kroger for a $1.39/lb. I actually took the time to cube the ham when I got home. I used my new handy, dandy vacuum sealer (Thanks dad!) to seal and freeze the meat. I never used to buy ham because it always seemed so expensive. Now that I have it on hand when needed, I can make recipes like this one whenever I please.

Tortellini Alfredo

2-9oz packages of refrigerated cheese tortellini (I like Buitoni brand)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup butter or margarine

1 can peas, drained or 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

1 cup cubed fully cooked ham

1 3/4 cups whipping cream

1/4 tsp ground pepper

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute the onion in butter until tender. Add the peas and ham; cook for 3 minutes. Stir in cream and pepper; heat through. Stir in grated Parmesan cheese until melted.

Drain tortellini and place in a serving dish; add the sauce and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the shredded Parmesan cheese if desired.

I thought I'd add in a couple of pictures of my cooking audience. My husband is rarely home when I cook, but these two are always watching (and waiting for me to drop something!).

So Simple,yet So Delicious: Spaghetti

My husband loves spaghetti so much, but I don't make it very often because I really like it also, and I tend to eat too much of it. I know there are so many fancy ways of making spaghetti, but my homemade sauces don't really taste any better than Ragu. I like to keep it simple and delicious, and serve it with a side of garlic bread.

I debated whether or not to blog our spaghetti dinner, but I decided that I should. Did you know that there are people out there who don't know how to make spaghetti? For example, when I moved into my first apartment with my husband, I didn't know how to cook ANYTHING. The first time my husband asked me to saute an onion, I didn't know that you had to peel it first. I sauted the onion, peel and all. Oh well, I have learned so much since then, but I still have a long way to go....which leads me to a question about spaghetti. My spaghetti often turns out very watery. It still tastes great, but there is just too much water. Do you ever have this problem??? If you do, how do you fix it??? I tried to make sure my noodles were extra dry this time, but it didn't help much. A tip I found in a magazine said to add bread crumbs to the sauce to soak up the extra water (apparently, according to the tip, it doesn't change the texture or taste). I'm going to try this next time, unless someone can give me advice that sounds better. So again, I'm asking for all advice to fix my watery spaghetti.

Spaghetti

1-12 oz package spaghetti noodles

1 to 1 1/2 lbs of hamburger meat

1 large bottle/jar Ragu spaghetti sauce (oringal flavor for us)

Grated Parmesan (optional)

Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, brown hamburger meat in a large pan; drain. Add Ragu to hamburger meat in the same pan and turn heat to low. Simmer until sauce is warm. Drain noodles when done. Pour sauce over noodles and add as much grated Parmesan as you want.

Notes: We only eat Ragu, but I guess you could try Prego or any other brand of spaghetti sauce if you really want to.

Pasta Carbonara

This meal was not my best. My husband found this recipe in one of my European cookbooks and wanted me to make it. I've always steered clear of carbonara recipes because I was afraid I would scramble the eggs in the sauce on accident. Well, thankfully, that didn't happen, but I did overcook the pancetta. Oh well, we still ate all of it, and I overcame my fear of all things carbonara.

Pasta Carbonara

400g (14oz) penne
1 tbsp. olive oil
200g (7oz) pancetta or bacon, cut into strips
6 egg yolks
185 ml (3/4 cup) heavy cream
75g (3/4 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
(as noted earlier, it was a european cookbook, gotta love the metric system!!)

Cook the pasta in a saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the pancetta over high heat for 6 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Beat the egg yolks, cream, and the Parmesan together in a bowl and season generously. Return the freshly cooked and drained pasta to its saucepan and pour the egg mixture over the pasta, tossing gently. Add the pancetta, then return the pan to very low heat and cook for 30-60 seconds, or until the sauce thickens and coats the pasta. Season with pepper and serve immediately.
Be careful not to cook the pasta over high heat once you have added the egg mixture, or the sauce risks being scrambled by the heat.

Notes: I think I will look for a recipe that calls for less egg yolk next time. My pasta was a color that very much resembled mustard (which didn't look appetizing to me). Also, you may have noticed that the picture above has green onions in it. That is because I looked for a picture on the internet that looked most like my pasta and this was it. I didn't take any pics the night I cooked it. Also, I would advise against adding any salt to the boiling water or the dish itself. The pancetta or bacon is already salty enough.

Rachael Ray's Vodka Cream Sauce with Pasta

I've been planning on making this recipe for a few weeks now and I finally got around to it. I really liked the pasta sauce, but my husband did not. I wished it had gotten a little thicker than it was, but I still liked the flavor. It had too much of a tomato flavor for my husband (he hates tomatoes). The recipe makes a ton, so I would cut it in half. I froze about 3 cups of leftover sauce. If you like the recipe, then the freezing directions are in the "Notes" section after the recipe.

Rachael Ray's You-Won't-Be-Single-For-Long Vodka Cream Pasta

salt and pepper to taste

12 oz. pasta, such as penne

1 tbsp. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 tbsp. Butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

1 cup vodka

1 cup chicken broth

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

20 leaves of fresh basil, shredded or torn

Put a large pot of water over high heat for the pasta. When water boils, add salt and penne. Cook according to package directions; drain.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add evoo, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute garlic and shallots, 3-5 minutes, to develop their sweetness. Add vodka and cook to reduce by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble, then reduce heat to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir cream into the vodka sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove from heat. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Serve immediately.

Notes: Shallots are usually found near the onions in the produce section of grocery stores. Walmart doesn't always have them. If you would like to freeze the sauce, leave out the basil and add when it's reheated later. I added cooked, cubed chicken to my husband's pasta because he won't usually eat meals without some type of meat. The recipe to make cooked, cubed chicken in a hurry is above.