Baked Spaghetti 'Pie'

This one was so much fun to make! It's like a facelift for spaghetti! It could also be a great way to use leftover noodles :)

Peter called me when he got off work and said that he had invited some friends over for dinner. This was a great quick dish to throw together. Luckily, I already had a batch of my homemade bolognese sauce, but if you're really in a rush for time you could make a quick marinara sauce, (or let's be honest- when in a real bind there is no shame in reaching for a good jar of red sauce from the market!)

In any form, this is a delicious and easy entree to whip up. Plus, isn't it so much more fun than plain old spaghetti?!!

Comments from the boys were: 

-"This is so much easier to eat than spaghetti, and it tastes better too!"; 

-"This is so good!...Megan, did I say yet how  good this is!?"; and finally- 

-"Best homemade meal I've had in a long time!"...but that was coming from the boy that just got back from a 'boys trip' in Mexico, so I don't think this one counts, Haha!

This night the three guys took down the whole thing, but I'd say it could normally serve 6 people comfortably- (not counting big hungry boys as normal people, of course)

Ingredients (makes 1 large pie; 8 slices)

• 6-8 ounces Spaghetti noodles, cooked al dente
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese, plus 1/4 cup for topping
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 (16 oz) container of Fat Free Cottage Cheese (or you can use ricotta cheese. I opt for cottage cheese because it is healthier and tastes just as good when it's all cooked in; those who don't normally care for cottage cheese don't even know it's in here and they love it.)
• 1 heaping cup of Shredded Mozzarella, plus 1/2 cup for topping
• 1/2 batch Bolognese sauce, or Marinara Sauce, or your favorite jarred sauce.

Cook pasta 'al dente'; drain; While still hot, stir in 2 Tbsp Butter, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese and 2 eggs; Mix well.

The cheese and butter mixed into the noodles give lots of flavor to this bottom layer of the dish; the eggs  hold it all together as it bakes so that later you will be able to cut it into nice slices without the noodles flopping all over the place. 

Lightly spray or butter your baking dish, and press noodles firmly into bottom of oven safe dish. (I use this Le Creuset pan, but you could use a casserole dish, a large pie pan, ...any oven safe baking dish)

Mix cottage cheese with 1 cup shredded Mozzarella and press firmly on top of noodles.

Layer your sauce on top of the cheese mixture. I used my homemade bolognese sauce, but you could always use a simple marinara if you are looking for a meatless entree. 

If you want to make this 'spaghetti pie' look like a 'pizza pie', you could also use a simple marinara sauce, top with mozzarella, and then top it lastly with slices of Italian sausage (or any pizza toppings for that matter) to turn this spaghetti pie into a 'spaghetti-pizza pie'! 

Top with a final covering of 1/2 c. mozzarella and 1/4 c. parmesan:

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes, or until your cheesey top becomes golden-brown and bubbly!!! Mmmmm...

Slice into wedges to serve. Mangia! 

Mama's Lasagna

This is my mama's lasagna. Our family grew up with this as one of our favorite dinners, and it continued to be one of my favorite comfort foods to cook when I went away to college. Now, it is one of Peter's favorites that I get to cook for him! I have only made a few minor alterations to the original version I was given. My mom and my dad are VERY different when it comes to their food preferences. My mom enjoys healthier foods, and my dad prefers the 'fully-leaded' versions. However, this lasagna is the PERFECT balance. Mom figured out how to make some easy, healthy substitutions that taste great, and Papa still gets his meaty, cheesy, delicious lasagna. 


Recipe: 

• 1/2 lb (1/2 16 oz. box) Lasagna Noodles (you can use whole wheat pasta to make it even healthier), cooked & drained
• 1 lb lean ground Turkey (instead of red meat)
• 16 oz. shredded Mozzarella Cheese (low moisture- part skim for lower fat content)
• 16 oz. fat free Cottage Cheese (instead of ricotta-- if you're not a cottage cheese fan, DON'T WORRY- this does not taste like cottage cheese and you won't even know it's there! For proof, Peter can't stand cottage cheese, but loves this lasagna.)
• 2 eggs (remove one or both yolks to reduce cholesterol)
• 1 jar of Red Sauce, or 1 batch of homemade pasta sauce
• Parmesan Cheese for topping (about 3/4 cup)

**Nutrition Noteworthy: Among cheeses, part-skim mozzarella, nonfat cottage cheese and parmesan cheese rank as some of the best for being lowest in calories, fat, and cholesterol. Part-skim mozzarella and parmesan also rank fairly high for their calcium levels. However, all cheeses are generally high in sodium, so proceed with caution (especially if you have high blood pressure, heart conditions, or compromised kidney function.)

While your noodles are boiling, brown your ground turkey in some extra virgin olive oil.

When the meat is browned and cooked through, add the red sauce and let simmer. (optional: I also added 2 chopped zucchinis and a couple good handfuls of spinach leaves into the sauce as well. It may look like a LOT of spinach, but it will wilt down to nothing in the sauce. This is a great way to sneak in some veggies for your picky eaters.) Stir all together and let simmer over medium-low heat.

**Nutrition Noteworthy: Spinach is a nutritional powerhouse; it is a GREAT source of Iron, Calcium, Vitamins C & A, and Folic Acid... in addition to many other vitamins and health benefits. 

See how much the veggies have reduced!

 While your sauce is simmering, mix together the cheesy filling: Cottage cheese, mozzarella, and the 2 eggs.

Helpful Hint: Spread some of the red sauce and/or some extra oil on the bottom of the pan before you start layering, or else the noodles on the bottom will bake hard onto your pan, and it won't scoop out nicely.

Then drain your cooked noodles and start layering your ingredients as follows: 

1. Noodles
2. 1/2 of cheesy mixture
3. Noodles
4. 1/2 of red sauce
5. other 1/2 of cheesy mixture
6. Noodles
7. other 1/2 of red sauce
8. Top with parmesan

 Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes or until it is heated all the way through and the parmesan is golden and bubbly on top.

Also, let it sit for about 5-10 minutes before you try to cut in to it. This will let it firm and set up. Otherwise you will try to serve it onto a plate and it will run apart kind of soupy. Trust me, it will still be hot, but it will look much nicer for serving if you do wait a few minutes.

Leftovers pack easily, and reheat well in containers to take to the office for lunch.

It also freezes well; I like to cut leftovers into individual serving sizes and freeze the portions in ziplock baggies. Then, if Peter is home alone, or if I don't have time to make dinner, there is always some homemade lasagna ready to step up to the plate!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

My niece, Kinley, had a picnic party at the park to celebrate her 2nd birthday this month. I was in charge of bringing a pasta salad side dish. This is somewhat of a difficult task in our family, only because my Aunt Diana Lu is the queen of awesome pasta salads. I played around with different ingredients until I found a combination that I was happy with. I think even Aunt Diana Lu would approve of this one :)


A lot of pasta salads use mayonnaise as the base of their creamy dressing, but because this was for an afternoon picnic and I wasn't sure how long it would be sitting outside before we ate it, I wanted to avoid any mayo in this one. Also, as an added bonus, the salad would be healthier without the addition of mayonnaise. The end result was a very flavorful but light dressing. The feta even mixed well with the dressing to create a little creamy texture in the absence of mayo :) I loved it and I hope you enjoy it too!


Recipe List:


Salad Dressing:

• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp minced Garlic
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 1/2 tsp Honey

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of Farfalle or 'Bow Tie' pasta, cooked and cooled (I like bow tie pasta for pasta salad, but you can use 1 lb of whichever pasta you prefer)
• 1 cup Marinated Artichokes, roughly chopped
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 small can (4 oz) of sliced Olives, drained
• 1/2 small Red Onion, diced
• 6 oz. Sundried Tomato & Basil Feta Cheese (regular Feta would be just fine too)
• 1 pint (2 cups) Grape Tomatoes, halved

Mix together the salad dressing ingredients with a whisk.

Add all of your chopped/prepared salad ingredients with the cooled pasta in a large bowl, and toss together with the salad dressing:

 Transfer to your serving bowl and enjoy!

This is also a great dish because you can make it the night before. Just cover your bowl with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight. This will let the flavors marinade together even more, and give you more free time on the day of your event to make more dishes or set up for your guests.

During the birthday party, a very smart ice cream man circled his truck around the park with his luring music calling out to all the children. Kinley LOVES the ice cream man. In fact, sometimes she hears music, whether it's the ice cream truck or not, and she yells with excitement, "Ice Cream Man!" Of course, that was the drill at the park this day. On our way running over to the ice cream truck, she told me that she wanted 'pink ice cream'. I asked the man for his most pink ice cream, and he handed me a 'pink panther'.

 Isn't she SO cute eating her pink panther ice cream.

And while all the children played with their friends at the park... so did the men:

Vodka Pasta- a perfect pink sauce for Valentines!

Okay, vodka sauce is my favorite pasta sauce. I fell in love with it the very first time I tasted it at a little Italian ristorante in Dana Point, 'Mario's By The Sea'. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, maybe you will fall in love too... with the sauce I mean. It is so pink, and pretty, and perfect for the occasion! It is a great alternative to the usual red sauce for a special treat once in a while. This vodka sauce is  somewhat sweet with its sauteed onion, sweet basil, creamy background, and a good dose of cheesy parmesan... all very complimentary counterparts to the typical tomato sauce.


Recipe List:

• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 cup Vodka
• 1 (28-oz) can of Crushed Tomatoes, OR 3 cups or so of your own homemade red sauce
• 1 cup of Half & Half (or a little more as preferred to achieve your desired pinkness :) -In a normal Vodka sauce recipe, this would be heavy cream, but I have substituted it for the (how do I say this nicely) less unhealthy half & half, haha.)
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese, plus extra for serving
• 1 lb of pasta (I like to use Penne Rigate, but any pasta you like will do)

Start by sauteing the onion in some extra virgin olive oil over medium-low heat for a few minutes (while you mince your garlic, and start boiling your pasta):

Then add the minced garlic and the red pepper flakes, continue to saute over medium-low heat for another minute:

Stir in the Vodka and let that simmer for about 2 minutes before you add in the crushed tomatoes and basil. Let this all simmer together for a minute:

Now, stir in your half-n-half and watch the pan turn to a beautiful pink color! :) Bring it to a slight boil, then turn the heat to low and let this sauce simmer together until your pasta is done cooking.

When the pasta is al dente, drain the noodles, then stir the parmesan cheese into the sauce

Then combine the sauce with the hot pasta and.... mangia! (or 'eat', in Italian!)

 Here are two different ways you can plate up this pink sauce :)

Don't forget to top it with a little extra sprinkle of parmesan cheese :) (If you're serving this for Valentine's Day, you can use a little heart-shaped cookie cutter and just sprinkle parmesan inside the heart so that you have a sweet design for your special night. I tried to do it tonight, but I couldn't find my cookie cutters. -Also, I think this would work only if you ladle the sauce on top of noodles (like picture #1 above) before you stir it all together (like picture #2 above)).


Also, I would have garnished with a few leaves of fresh basil, but my basil plant passed away. Therefore, I had to use another herb to garnish here that is commonly in the red sauce; thyme! But, if you have some fresh Basil, that would make a great garnish here! Garnish should give a little hint as to the flavors and herbs actually used in the dish.
I also think that it's important to garnish, because people eat with their eyes first. Plus, it's so fun to dress up your dishes, especially if it's a meal for entertaining guests or a special event, like say... Valentine's day! :)


Alterations:

• I love, love, love sliced zucchini in this sauce. Unfortunately for me, I married a zucchini-disliker. Cut a zucchini in half lengthwise, and then slice them so that you end up with a bunch of little half-moon cuts; steam them for 30 seconds and stir them into the sauce to let it simmer after you have added the cream. 
• You can also add little broccoli florets too. I have done both zucchini and broccoli together and it is great!
• Serve with some diagonally cut grilled chicken, so you can keep the elegance while providing some protein
• Accompany with warm, toasty bread... mmm!

Baked Molten Mac and Cheese

In my last post, I mentioned that I had just returned from a visit to San Luis Obispo. Well, Peter was a little jealous, so he planned a boys trip to SLO for this weekend. He and 6 of his old roommates are up there right now... so tonight, I am watching all my girly shows and chick flicks. Actually, Peter is a great sport at watching them with me, but I figured that I could get them all out of my system (and off of his DVR) while he isn't here so that he won't have to be such a good sport ALL of the time (or at least not this week) :) I also took this opportunity to cook one of my favorite dishes that Peter is not such a good sport about; Macaroni and Cheese!!! It is one of my absolute comfort foods, and always has been. Peter won't touch it, so the only chance I get to make it is when he's gone. This recipe is one that my sister and I played around with a few years ago, and have since made a few tweaks.


Of course, I will start with the shopping list for you:
16 oz. shredded cheddar (I like sharp, but any cheddar will do)
4 oz. crumbled blue cheese
2 oz. shredded jack cheese
2 oz. cubed fontina
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
Ground Black Pepper
Paprika (approx 2 tsp.)
3 Cups milk, warmed
Parmesan, for topping
1 lb. elbow macaroni

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and cook and drain the macaroni noodles (leave them a little undercooked, because they will continue to cook more later when added into the sauce and cooked in the oven).
Now, let's start the sauce. We begin by making a roux; In a large, oven-safe pot, melt the butter in the bottom of your pan. When it's all melted, sprinkle in the flour and whisk together until there are no clumps.

Add in the warm milk (I just poured my milk into a pyrex measuring cup and popped it into the microwave before I used it). Whisk that all together over medium heat until it is completely smooth. Then whisk in the paprika and black pepper (some people add salt in here too, but cheese is so high in sodium already- if you leave it out like me, I promise it will not taste as if it is missing any salt!). Now, simply add in all the cheeses (reserving a couple ounces of cheddar to top the dish). Over medium-high heat, vigorously whisk the cheese until it is a completely smooth and homogenous mixture... like a sauce. If you think it may be a little runny and not quite thick enough, don't worry- it goes into the oven and continues to thicken

Now, turn off the heat and stir in the undercooked macaroni. Top it all off with some cheddar and parmesan cheese.

Now stick this beautiful, warm, molten pot into the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the top gets all bubbly and golden, like this: 

*Additional notes: 

One great thing about this dish besides it's gooey deliciousness is that it is a one pot meal! Easy cleanup :)

Another idea to try next time: Add caramelized onions into the mix... mmmm!

Quick, Easy Marinara

Okay, so this is a very quick and easy way to whip up a 'homemade' red sauce, plus it only uses one pot! I made this batch meatless because I wanted to use the leftovers to make pizza tomorrow night. However, you can easily add meat in during the cooking process. If I were to add it, I would use ground turkey- healthier and still adds tons of meaty flavor and texture to an already flavorful sauce.


**Nutrition Noteworthy: Red sauce is an excellent source of nutrients. One reason is because tomatoes contain lycopene, which is most beneficial when it has been cooked. **


First, I will start with your grocery list:

• 4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or so)
• 1 small or 1/2 large Onion, diced
• 3 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (more or less, depending on your preference)
• 28 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
• Any herbs/seasonings you prefer (I like a simple Basil, Oregano, and Thyme combo for red sauce) 

I used a dutch oven, but you can use any heavy bottomed sauce pan or pot you like. Heat the olive oil on a medium setting heat. Then add the diced onion. Stir to coat well with the olive oil.

Then, let them sweat it out on medium or medium-low until they become golden, sweet, and translucent. (About 10 minutes) Like this:

Then add your minced garlic and red pepper flakes at this time. It is important that the garlic is not added any earlier, because when overdone, garlic becomes bitter. We only want to lightly saute it with the onions before we add the liquid- this is how I prevent that tough, bitter garlic taste.

*Side note: This is one of my FAVORITE kitchen toys. I cook with garlic often, so this has made my life so much easier! It is called the 'garlic zoom' and I got it from Williams & Sonoma. Just pop the cloves out of their skins, drop them into the 'zoom', wheel it back and forth a few times like a toy car, and VOILA! ...quick, mess-less, fresh minced garlic!

Okay, back to the sauce- Once, your garlic and red pepper have been sauteing with the onion for about 1 or 2 minutes, dump in the can of crushed tomatoes and your herbs, and give 'em all a good stir. I used fresh thyme and oregano from my little outdoor herb pot, but I used dried basil, since it's winter and my poor little basil plant does not tolerate the cold weather well (Basil does very well during the summer). Dried herbs are just fine, but remember that the dehydrating process condenses the flavor so you will not need to use as much dried herbs as you would use fresh.

Let it all simmer for about 5-10 minutes. I let mine simmer for a few minutes uncovered, and then I finished it out with a lid on because I didn't want it to evaporate and become too thick. However, as usual, you can change it up to your liking. Depending on what you're making it for, or if you just like it super thick and chunky, leave the lid off and let it evaporate and thicken up- but be sure to stir it often if so.

After it is done simmering, give it a little taste and make sure it is just how you want it. Now is the time to add anything else that you think it might need. Maybe some fresh ground pepper, or garlic salt, or maybe even some more herbs :) I liked mine just how it was, so I was finito!

Variations: 

Next time I make red sauce, I might play around with it to make a few variations. Next time, I might add some tomato paste to give it a little more deep and rich flavor. Also, if I were to make it meatless again, I might add a 1/4 or 1/2 cup of red wine (for cooking, I use a cheap, dry bottle of 2 buck Chuck's red Cabernet Sauvignon). The wine can be added in and simmered for a little bit before the tomatoes go in. This might help create some extra depth to substitute for the missing meat. The wine could even be added in with ground meat (again, I like to use Turkey because it is nutritious and still full of flavor in a dish like this). Red wine compliments the meaty flavor and will give it some rich dimension.