Pasta

Ingredients
For the meat sauce
1 onion, chopped
6 ounces pepperoni, sliced
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
¹⁄₄ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (28 ounces each) cans crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
_
For the manicotti_
3 cups ricotta cheese
2 ¹⁄₂ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 ¹⁄₂ cups provolone cheese, shredded
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper
¹⁄₄ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
16 no-boil flat lasagna noodles (This is one box of the Barilla kind.)

Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375*F. Pulse onion and pepperoni in food processor until coarsely ground. Add beef and pulse until thoroughly combined.

2. Transfer beef mixture to large saucepan and cook over medium heat, breaking up mixture with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer 1 cup beef mixture to paper-towel lined plate and reserve. Add tomato paste, garlic, and pepper flakes to pot with remaining meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (At this point, sauce can be refrigerated in airtight container for 3 days.)

3. Combine ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 1 cup provolone, egg, salt, pepper, basil, and reserved meat mixture in large bowl. Pour 2 quarts boiling water into 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Soak noodles until pliable, about 5 minutes. Drain noodles on kitchen towel. Pour off water and dry baking dish.

4. Spread half of meat sauce over bottom of baking dish. Top each soaked noodle with ¹⁄₄ cup cheese filling, roll, and arrange, seam-side down, over sauce in baking dish. Spread remaining sauce over manicotti. Cover with foil and bake until bubbling around edges, about 40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and provolone. Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2009 Cook’s Country Annual and it’s the second time I’ve used America’s Test Kitchen’s method for making manicotti.  Regardless of the recipe you use, this method for making and filling the noodles is, hands down, the best ever.  It’s so very simple. 

Sadly, I’ve had the realization over recent months that I really don’t care that much for manicotti and lasagna.  I guess there’s something about the ricotta-based filling that is unappealing to me.  Oh well, everyone else loved them!

Shown here with Garlic Toast.

Cook’s Country 2009

Ingredients
1 pound fusilli or other short pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
¹⁄₂-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon oregano
1 cup white wine
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoon butter
¹⁄₄ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of water to boil and cook pasta as instructed by packaging.  Drain well. 

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and add sausage.  Cook, breaking sausage into small pieces, for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add red pepper flakes and continue cooking until meat is cooked through.  Add oregano and white wine.  Cook until wine is reduced by half.  Reduce heat to low and add lemon zest and juice. 

3. Toss pasta with sausage mixture.  Add Parmesan, butter, and stir until butter has melted and everything is well distributed.  Garnish with additional Parmesan and parsley. 

Comments
This recipe is from Let’s Start Simple.  It not only looked delicious, the recipe was nice and simple.  It proved to be both!  And, much to my surprise, Lance loved it.  He’s not normally a sausage lover but he said I could make this often and he’d be happy. 

While the dish has great flavor as it is, I could see adding some oil packed sundried tomatoes for a little extra kick if desired in the future.

Internet - Let’s Start Simple

Ingredients
1 pound fettuccine or other noodle-type pasta

For cherry tomato sauce:
3 tablespoons olive oil or garlic olive oil
1 ¹⁄₂ pounds cherry tomatoes
³⁄₄ teaspoon salt

For arugula pesto:
2 tablespoons pine nuts
5 ounces arugula (I used two large bunches from the farmers market.)
¹⁄₂ cup olive oil
¹⁄₂ cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook fettuccine as directed by packaging.  Drain. 

2. For tomato sauce: Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add tomatoes and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are collapsed but not falling apart, about 15 to 20 minutes. 

3. For pesto: Process pine nuts, arugula, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, garlic and salt in food processor until almost smooth. 

4. Toss cooked pasta with arugula pesto until well coated.  Top with tomato sauce and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from epicurious.com and I loved it.  Arugula has a peppery taste and it’s a great change from the usual basil based pesto sauces.  At times I wished that there was more tomato sauce but, after having another serving for lunch the following day, I think that it was just the right amount to balance out the flavors in the pesto.  This dish would work well with pasta of any shape. 

Shown here with Tilapia with Pine Nut, Parmesan, and Basil Pesto Crust.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
1 pound short pasta, such as penne
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¹⁄₈ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
4-6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
1 onion, chopped
8 ¹⁄₂ ounce jar sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed (I just used two bags of broccoli florets.)
2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
4 ounces cream cheese
4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  Add penne and cook 1 to 2 minutes less than instructed by packaging.  Drain and let cool a little.

2. Whisk milk, eggs, mustard, Worcestershire, nutmeg, and black pepper in large bowl.  Add pasta and stir well. 

3. In large ovensafe skillet over medium-high heat cook bacon until starting to crisp, 4 to 5 minutes.  Add onion, sundried tomatoes, and broccoli.  Season with 2 teaspoons salt and black pepper.  Cook until onion is tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add pasta mixture, cream cheese, and 3 cups cheddar cheese to skillet and stir until cream cheese melts. 

4. Top pasta mixture with remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese.  Bake until casserole is set and top is golden brown and starting to crisp, about 25 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes before serving. 

Note: If you do not have an ovensafe skillet, transfer everything to a lightly greased baking dish between steps 3 and 4.  Proceed as directed. 

Comments
This recipe is from the fantastic How to Boil Water.  It’s almost like a quiche with pasta instead of a crust and very tasty.  I love the way all of the flavors come together into a dish we all enjoy.  When I first made this I followed the original directions and baked it in a casserole dish, but I’ve since realized that I can spare my dishwasher a dish if I just cook it directly in the skillet used for everything else. 

This dish also works well with the addition of cooked, crumbled sausage or chicken if you’re interested in making it into a one dish meal. 

Shown here with Mom’s Chicken.

How to Boil Water

Ingredients
1 pound pasta (I used rotini, any small shape would work.)
2 (28 ounces each) cans whole tomatoes, drained
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive  oil
1 pound ground meat (beef, chicken, or turkey)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chicken or beef broth
1 (14 ounce) bag frozen Southwest vegetable blend (or just corn)
1 teaspoon salt, plus extra, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¹⁄₂ cup half and half
3 ounces cream cheese
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Bring large pot of water to boil and cook pasta for 1 to 2 minutes less than packaging directs.  Drain well. 

2. Process tomatoes and jalapeno peppers in food processor until pureed. 

3. Heat oil in large ovensafe skillet or Dutch oven.  Brown the meat then add onion and sauté until soft.  Add pureed tomatoes and broth. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.  Add frozen vegetables, salt, half and half, cream cheese, 1 cup shredded cheese, and pasta.  Stir well and season with salt and pepper. 

4. Top with remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melted and edges are bubbly, about 30 minutes.  Cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from Sauce and Sensibility.  It was very similar to the Nacho Beef Skillet we enjoy, just with pasta instead of rice.  I think that, next time, I might opt for just corn instead of the Southwest blend and maybe something else for seasoning, but I’m not sure what yet.  Maybe taco seasoning in the ground meat?  Regardless of future tweaks, it was delicious this time around!

Internet - Sauce and Sensibility

Ingredients
2 ¹⁄₂ cups small pasta, such as elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 onion, diced
1 cauliflower, cut into florets
3 tablespoons flour
1 ¹⁄₂ cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper
1 cup cheese, shredded (I used a combination of cheddar, swiss, and mozzarella.  Use what you like and have.)
¹⁄₂ cup bread crumbs

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F. 

2. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.  Transfer pasta to large bowl. 

3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large pan over medium heat. Add peppers, onion and cauliflower and sauté for 5 minutes.  Transfer vegetables to bowl with pasta. 

4. Melt remaining butter in same pan over medium heat.  Stir in flour and mix until smooth and bubbly.  Gradually add milk, stirring constantly.  Season with salt and pepper and continue cooking, stirring, until mixture thickens.  Add ³⁄₄ cup cheese and stir until melted. 

5. Add sauce to bowl with pasta and vegetables and stir well to combine.  Transfer to 9 by 12-inch baking dish.  Top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

Comments
This recipe is from Zoom Yummy.  Cauliflower isn’t a vegetable I grew up eating, so it’s nice to experiment with from time to time now.  I did change out the green peppers in the original recipe for red peppers which are significantly tastier in my opinion!  I think this would have worked well with broccoli instead of cauliflower, so I might have to try that next time. 

Shown here with Slow Roasted Salmon.

Internet - Zoom Yummy

Ingredients
For the chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried thyme
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

For the pasta
1 pound short pasta (I used rotini.)
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried thyme
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon flour
¹⁄₄ cup white wine
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cups milk (Or some combination of milk and cream.)
8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded or cut into small pieces
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Mix together mustard, thyme, salt and pepper and toss with chicken.  Cook chicken in skillet, stirring often, until cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove to a plate and cover with foil. 

2. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta as directed by packaging. 

3. In same large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Cook onion and pepper, stirring, until beginning to soften.  Add garlic, thyme, and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add flour and stir to combine.  Stir in wine, mustard, and milk and increase heat to high.  Bring to boil while stirring to break up any clumps.  Continue to boil until mixture begins to thicken, 5 to 10 minutes more.  Reduce heat to low and add cheese, stirring until melted. 

4. Add chicken and pasta to skillet and toss to incorporate.  Serve with red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese, if desired. 

Comments
This recipe is from Homemade by Holman and I thought it would be a nice casserole-type dish to make Art happy since casserole-type dishes are the one thing he really misses while traveling.  Sadly, those plans didn’t quite come together and I ended up making it while he was gone, but he thought the bite I gave him of leftovers was tasty!  Lance and I thought the dish was great, especially with the addition of red bell pepper which was not called for in the original recipe.  The pepper added great color and flavor to the dish.

Internet - Homemade by Holman

Ingredients
12 ounces bacon, chopped
1 pound farfalle pasta
1 pound Italian sausage, hot or sweet, casing removed and sausage crumbled
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 large onion, chopped
6-7 cups pasta sauce (I used a jar of Bertolli and then a jarful of homemade.)
16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded
8 ounces pepperoni, sliced

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Cook bacon until crisp in a large skillet over medium heat.  Drain well. 

2. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta 1 minute less than directed on packaging. 

3. Cook sausage, ground beef, garlic, oregano and onion in skillet over medium heat until meats are cooked through.  Drain if necessary and return to pot.  Add sauce and bacon and mix well. 

4. Pour a small amount of sauce mixture into a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with high sides.  Spread out to lightly coat bottom.  Layer ingredients in three layers in the following order: ¹⁄₃ pasta, ¹⁄₃ sauce, ¹⁄₃ cheeses.  After final cheese layer, cover casserole with pepperoni. 

5. Bake for 40 minutes. 

Note: If you want to reduce some of the grease from the pepperoni, microwave on paper towels for a few minutes first.  I nuked them a bit too long, which is why they’re a bit dark in the picture. 

Comments
This recipe is modified from Cully’s Kitchen.  The original recipe had three meats and included ham, I switched things up to make use of the freezer full of cow we’ve got.  They guys loved this casserole and devoured it over the course of three days, sometimes even eating it for multiple meals each day! 

I did wish that the casserole had more pizza flavor, I think additional spices would do the trick and maybe using pizza sauce instead of pasta sauce. I will be making this at some point in the future since it was scrumptious.

Internet - Cully’s Kitchen

Ingredients
2 pound grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
6 cloves garlic, minced
²⁄₃ cup fresh bread crumbs (I processed 4 slices of bread in the food processor to get these.)
²⁄₃ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound penne pasta
¹⁄₂ cup fresh basil, chopped

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Place tomatoes on a baking sheet.  Combine garlic, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and then sprinkle mixture over tomatoes.  Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 to 35 minutes. 

2. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta as directed on packaging.  Drain and return to pot.  Add tomato mixture, stir well, and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from the blog “In the kitchen with Kath.”  The roasted tomatoes were a great change from the normal fresh tomato pastas I make during the summer.  Leftovers were equally tasty! 

Shown here with Chicken with Goat Cheese Sauce.

Internet - In the Kitchen with Kath

Ingredients
¹⁄₃ cup pine nuts
1 pound pasta (I used rotini.)
1 pound green tomatoes, roughly chopped
¹⁄₂ cup olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic
¹⁄₄ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
2 dozen basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Instructions
1. Place pine nuts in small skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and just starting to brown. 

2.  Bring large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.  Add pasta and cook following package instructions.  Drain well. 

3. Place pine nuts, tomatoes, oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes into food processor bowl and process just until sauce is chunky.  (You can prepare the sauce 1 to 2 hours ahead of time and keep at room temperature.) 

4. Season sauce with salt and pepper.  Add basil.  Toss pasta with sauce and serve. 

Comments
I’d never had a green tomato before last year and was less than thrilled with the typical fried treatment.  I also didn’t have much luck finding other ways to cook them, so I was left feeling like green tomatoes were a loss.  This year I was looking through Fresh from the Farmers’ Market and I found this recipe.  It seemed like it might be worth trying and since I had the green tomatoes I needed to use them somehow, right? 

I was very pleasantly surprised by this dish!  The green tomatoes worked very well to give the sauce a fruity kind of taste.  The red pepper flakes added heat and the garlic brought along quite a bit of flavor.  This pasta was tasty enough to make me think that green tomatoes might deserve a few more chances – it’s just a matter of finding the right (recipes! 

Shown here with Baked Italian Chicken.

Fresh from the Farmers’ Market