Two versions of Baked Ziti

Kay made this for our family. Initially I just thought "Ohhh another casserole, not my favorite." But once we started eating we couldn't stop. I think it was the combination of the white sauce and red sauce that gave it more depth of flavor and made it more delicious than other casseroles. This recipe is definitely a WINNER!

Easier Baked Ziti (quicker), preparing and cooking 40 min
1-2lbs ground hamburger (optional half could be sausage)
16oz favortie pasta
1 chopped onion (Sauteed)
2 jars Classico spaghetti sauce
1 jar Classico alfredo sauce
1/4-1/2 c milk
1 t garlic powder
1/2t onion powder
1 t season salt
1/2t Italian Seasoning
2c shredded mozzarella

-Prepare noodles.
-Brown and drain ground meat, saute onion.
-Dump sauces into 9x13 pan, use milk in the jars to get out extra sauce
-Add meat and noodles to 9x13 pan, Mix everything together.
-Sprinkle cheese on top.
-Bake 350 for 20 minutes



Original Baked Ziti,  preparing and cooking 60 min
16oz favortie pasta
1 lb jimmy dean sausage
1 chopped onion (Sauteed)
1/2t garlic
2c shredded mozzarella

1 jar Classico Spaghetti Sauce (24 Oz)

White sauce-

8oz cream cheese

1/2 cube butter

1 c whipping cream or heavy cream

1/2c Parmesan

1/2t garlic

-Cook pasta

-Brown sausage, garlic, and onion. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer 30 min, low heat.

-White sauce- put ingredients in sauce pan and heat gently.

-Use 9x13 pan, layer pasta, white sauce, red sauce and top with mozzarella.

Bake 350 for 20 min covered and 10 min uncovered.

Chicken Jumbo Shells

Need two 9x13 pans, serve with french bread

12 oz Jumbo Shells
2 Chicken Breasts (chopped food processor)
1 onion chopped and sauteed
1/2lb chopped mushrooms (not necessary, but I love them)
3-6 chopped garlic cloves
1 24 oz can of spaghetti sauce

White Sauce-
8 oz cream cheese
3 T butter
1/2c parmesan
1/2c milk
2 c shredded mozzarella (1 cup for white sauce and 1 c for top of prepared shells)
Cottage cheese filling-
8 oz cottage cheese
1 T basil and parsley
1 egg
salt and pepper

This was more work than I usually like to do. But we don't have them much and I wanted something different for dinner. This recipe uses 3 different pans- 1. to cook pasta, 2. to saute onion, chicken, mushrooms, and red sauce. 3. warm up the white sauce

Saute onion for 7 min, then add garlic and mushrooms with salt and pepper cook for a few minutes. Add chicken till cooked thoroughly, add spaghetti sauce.

In separate pot heat up and stir the white sauce. Turn off the heat, In same pot combine cottage cheese, basil, parsley, egg

In separate pot boil the jumbo shells.  in 9x13 pan lightly spray the pan and then add red sauce to the bottom of the pan. Place the empty shells on top of the sauce . Assemble the shells with the white sauce cottage cheese filling first, then on top of the cottage cheese add the meat red sauce. After all the shells are filled pour the rest of the red sauce over the top.

Cook 350 for 30 min. Last 5 mintues add 1 c of mozzarella to melt on top of shells.

Weirdly enough, I actually noticed these prepared shells tasted much better on day 3 of sitting in the fridge. Initially on the day I made them we had them for dinner and I honestly didnt really enjoy them so much, but my family almost ate one whole pan (so it passed their taste buds).  Next time make this a few days ahead and place foil/wrap on top and let sit in fridge for at least 3 days.

Chunky Spaghetti Sauce

Jamie brought some most delicious spaghetti sauce, spaghetti squash, and noodles to us after Luke was born.  It was so extremely delicious. I CRAZY loved this sauce. A couple reasons why it was successful: 1.  It was the first time I used sausage in spaghetti sauce and 2. the first time i roasted the tomatoes and onions. I think those things made it awesome!!!

1 lb Turkey or beef
1 lb of any type of sausage (no spicy, I took off the outter thin skin)
1 T basil, 1 T oregano, salt and pepper
garlic
2 sliced onions
chopped mushroooms (saute)
Zucchini
Butternut squash (peel and roast in oil, garlic, salt and pepper)
spaghetti squash for the noodles instead of pasta (cook whole squash, uncut at 400 degrees for one hour)
2 options for spaghetti sauce:
    1.  Sauce- garden combination Ragu or Prego
    2.  4 cans of diced tomatoes 
Pasta noodles


1. Cook ground turkey/beef and sausage with chopped mushrooms.  While I'm cooking the meat, In the past I have chopped it up so small b/c thats what my mom did growing up.  But this time I left the meat in bigger chunks and I really liked the texture in the final product. 
2. Roast onions and tomatoes  in oven at 400 for 45-60 min till browned. Then I pureed 2 cans of the tomatoes in the blender and left 2 cans in their diced chunks.  roasting is suppose to help give a more full flavor 
3. Peel and cube butternut squash, toss with oil, salt, and pepper 400 for 20-30 min. I put it in the sauce and i loved it but logan didn't love it.
4. cook whole spaghetti squash, uncut at 400 degrees for one hour. I liked this squash instead of pasta noodles but the rest of the family liked the pasta.


This fed 2 families of 10 people with still having leftovers. I thought it'd be good to freeze in smaller portions in sandwich ziplock bags for quick meals.

Manicotti

1 box (8oz) manicotti
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 chopped onion
1 garlic clove
12 oz mushrooms (I would've loved these but I knew my kids wouldn't, I left them out)
12oz cottage cheese or ricotta
salt and pepper
12 oz spinach
1 c parmesan

Preheat oven 400
Boil manicotti 7 min, when it is still a little firm
Saute onion in skillet, add garlic and mushrooms.  Chop spinach and add it to the skillet.
In a seperate bowl mix cottage cheese, salt and pepper, and 3/4c parmesan. Mix the onion & garlic mixture with the cottage cheese mixture.
In a 9x13 pan lay down foil and grease foil. Place half of spaghetti sauce on bottom of pan. In manicotti add the mixture and set in pan.  Spread the red of the sauce on top of the manicotti.
Cook 30 min

Next time we could add some ground beef or sausage to the cottage cheese mixture. Also shredded mozzarella cheese would be delicious.
Could double this next time and make two 9x13 dishes

Spaghetti sauce

Pioneer Woman

1 pound Ground Beef, optional can add 1lb of sausage
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 whole Large Yellow Onions, Diced
1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
6 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 cup White Wine (or Low Sodium Beef Broth If You Prefer)
2 cans 28 Ounce Crushed Tomatoes (or 12-20 chopped tomatoes)
1 can (small, 4-ounce) Tomato Paste
1 jar Good Storebought Marinara Sauce
1 teaspoon Ground Oregano
1 teaspoon Ground Thyme
4 whole Bay Leaves
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
1/4 cup Finely Minced Fresh Parsley (or 3 Tablespoons Parsley Flakes), More To Taste
1 whole Rind From One Wedge Parmesan (optional)
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)
2 pounds Spaghetti, Cooked Al Dente And Tossed With Olive Oil
Extra Minced Parsley, For Serving
Extra Parmesan Cheese, For Serving

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the sausage and beef. Put meat into a separate bowl on the side.  Then cook the onion till translucent, and garlic until well browned; drain fat, add the meat back in. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Mix in sugar and all the seasonings, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

A I have roasted the chopped tomatoes,  zucchini and peppers on broil in oven for 20min with salt, pepper, oil, and garlic before I add to the sauce.  It gives a deeper intense flavor

Serve with Cheesy bake tortellini or Chicken Parmesan or Lasagna Rolls or Lasagna

Cheesy Baked Tortellini

Food Network

Olive oil
2 cups marinara sauce
1 sauteed onion
1/2 lb beef cooked
I didn't have 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese (or cottage cheese)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 pound purchased cheese tortellini
2 ounces mozzarella
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

I Doubled this and froze some for future dinner.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish.
Whisk the sauce, mascarpone cheese, parsley and thyme in a large bowl to blend. 
Cook the tortellini in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Add the tortellini to the sauce and toss to coat. Transfer the tortellini mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top the mixture with the smoked mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheeses on top melt, about 30 minutes.

Surprisingly the kids loved this.

Lasagna

Makes 2 (9x13) baking dishes of lasagna.  Bake one and freeze one
Recipe from Western Family brand Lasagna noodles package.

16 oz lasagna noodles

Red Sauce---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 lb ground sausage
1 lb ground beef
2 chopped onions
2 T minced garlic
1 T dried basil
2 t dried oregano
3 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
3 jars of Hunts spaghetti sauce (24 oz each) (I did add some refried beans b/c I wanted some more fiber and 1 can of stewed tomatoes)

Ricotta/cottage cheese mixture-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 eggs
1/2-1c parmesan
2- 24 oz cottage cheese (one time I used the 48oz cottage cheese, another time I used half cream cheese)

2 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese or just slice it (I used only one pound and I sliced it b/c it was previously frozen cheese (which falls apart) and cutting it is easier)


On stove top- Saute onions till brown, put in crockpot. On stove cook sausage and beef, put in crockpot.  Add to the crockpot: Spaghetti sauce, garlic, basil, and oregano. Put the crockpot on high for 4 hours, to let all the flavors combine.
On stove top boil noodles.
In a bowl- Mix eggs, parsley, parmesan, and cottage cheese.

Preheat oven at 375

Spray one 9x13 pan with oil, the other pan line with aluminum foil (to make the lasagna easier to pull out of the pan when frozen) and spray with oil too.  Layer the bottom of pans with sauce., layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, spread 1/3 of ricotta mixture, top with 1/3 of mozzarella.  Repeat two additional layers.  Bake with foil for 20 min, then remove foil for 20 min till cheese is melted.

Prepare this 2-3 days before you need it and let it sit in the fridge.

I made the SAUCE in the morning and put in the crockpot.  Then I mixed the cottage, eggs, parsley and parmesan in a bowl and set in the fridge. Shredded or slice the cheese.

The girls will assemble the ingredients in a 9x13pan.

4/9/19
 after putting 2 lasagna layers down I began to run out of the ricotta cheese mixture. So there was about 1/2-1 c left. I melted a block of cream cheese and added one more egg with salt and pepper, parsley and parmesan and finished one more layer of noodle, red sauce, ricotta/cream cheese, and topped with mozzarella. Turned out great.

9/22/23

Made this and it was so ridiculously yummy. I used one jar of hunts, one jar of canned whole tomatoes and lastly one jar of prego, let it book for 1-2 hours.

This time I didnt boil the noodles, it just put them in hard. I added 1/2c water toward the lasagna edges and bubbled up aluminum foil on top (so the cheese doesnt stick to the foil). I also put a good amount of aluminum foil under the pan b/c the liquid can boil out into the oven which can make more mess to clean up. I did cook for 1 and 1/2 hour. So delicious

Crispy Chicken Parmesan

FoodNetwork and Delish

1 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
1/2 c. grated Parmesan

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. canola oil
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 1/2 c. marinara sauce, store-bought or homemade
Pound out 6 chicken breasts till flat.
Salt and pepper both sides of chicken.  

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. 

Combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan on a sheet of waxed paper/plate/ziplock bag. Spread the flour on another sheet of waxed paper. Working with 1 piece of chicken at a time, dip both sides into the flour, shaking off excess. Dip each piece into the egg whites, shaking off excess, and then press both sides into the breading to coat. (for a crunchier breading- dip the chicken in an egg then flour mixture and egg mixture then panko and repeat.)

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken (in batches, if necessary) and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken, in 1 layer, to the baking dish, cover each chicken breast with slice of mozzarella  Bake in oven 12-15min.  Pour warmed spaghetti sauce on top of chicken right before serving.

Serve with steamed broccoli, spaghetti sauce, salad, defrost frozen rolls in fridge the night b4 (Preheat oven to 350F. Bake rolls 15-20 minutes,),  and spaghetti noodles

2 different cakes mixes

1. Chocolate cupcakes, after cooked, cut the top and bottom of cupcake apart and fill with vanilla pudding, then top with choco frosting. (or who we really kidding, just buy the premade stuff)

2. Made a vanilla cake but wanted a choco swirl in it. So i then mixed part of vanilla cake with choco pudding mix and added 1/2c-1c milk. Put vanilla cake mix in greased 9x13pan, then put plops of choco pudding cake mix in the pan and swirl the mixes together.

3/24/16, thursday, pounded chicken flat and salt and pepper each piece, coat with the breading, saute both sides on stove top, then freeze, put wax paper between each chicken piece.  On sunday pull out chicken, put on cookie sheet, put slices of mozzarella on chicken and bake 425 15min

3/24/16, thursday, make cupcakes, can put in fridge or freezer till sunday. Then sat or sunday, make pudding mixture and fill inside of cupcakes and top with frosting

3/27/16 make the pudding let sit in bowl 30 min, then put into cupcakes, then make sauce pan fluffy frosting  (to make choco frosting- add cocoa powder  or melted choco chips to sauce pan)

Lasagna Rolls

Food Network

1 can of cream of mushroom
5 cooked lasagna noodles
1/2 (16oz) bag of chopped spinach
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1/2c Parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese
2 cups marinara sauce

5 slices of cooked bacon (or ground beef or sausage)

 450 degrees F
Pour half of the cream of mushroom on to bottom of 9x13 pan and mix in 1c of marinara sauce.

In bowl mix the other half of cream of mushroom, spinach, eggs, salt and pepper, and Parmesan.

Pour 1/4c of soupy mixture onto the edge of lasagna roll. Put mozzarella on top of soupy mixture and a slice of bacon, then roll up.

Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching on to the 9x13 pan, Pour the rest of the marinara sauce over the top and sides of the rolls.  Put remaining cheese on top of rolls.

Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer