spaghetti pie

I remember my mom making this when I was a kid.  I loved the dry crunchy pasta crust edges.  Mmmm.  Nothing like taking decent Italian food and making it totally waspy.  I LOVE IT!

Here's my rendition of spaghetti pie.  It's super-easy and possibly less messy than traditional spaghetti.  Royall loved it because he said it had the great taste of spaghetti, but in a more convenient way to eat it.

Here's what you will need:

box of spaghetti
jar of spaghetti sauce
mozzarella cheese (just a sprinkle)
ricotta cheese (1/2 to 3/4 cup)
2 eggs
cooking spray
oregano

First things first:
Boil some water and cook a whole box of spaghetti.  Also, preheat the oven to 350.

Once the spaghetti has cooked, rinse it off with cool water and spray it lightly with cooking spray or olive oil.

In a bowl, combine the spaghetti, 2 well beaten eggs, a dollop of sauce (maybe more like a 1/2 cup), and some ricotta and mozzarella.  I didn't measure the cheese very well, just used what I thought looked good.  Sprinkle some oregano in there too!

Pour the spaghetti mixture into a pie pan.  Press it down so it is even and if you can, press some spaghetti up on the sides to form a pie crust.  Leave a shallow well in the middle and add more ricotta and mozzarella in the middle.

Pour spaghetti sauce on top and press/rub it into the pie.  Try and use the whole jar or else you risk a dry pie.  If you don't like dry crusty pasta on the edges, cover well with sauce.

Bake for 25 minutes and then add mozzarella on top.

Let it cool a little bit before cutting into the pie.


Here's the photo play-by-play:

YUM!!!

PS: You can spice this up by adding the following: veggies, ground beef, olives, or different cheeses!

Basic Baked Rigatoni

This recipe is a healthy make-over of a dish I learned how to make in my 8th grade cooking class. Whole wheat pasta and low-fat cheeses make this better for you and more Weight Watchers friendly. This is also a basic dish, meaning you can add all kinds of different ingredients to it to shake things up if you want!

Ingredients:

1 box of whole wheat pasta
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 small container of low-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (again, low-fat)
Parmesan cheese
oregano
garlic powder
salt & pepper

First, cook the pasta. You could use ziti, penne, rigatoni or similar shaped pasta.


While pasta is cooking, make the cheese mixture. Use small container of ricotta, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder. Mix well.


Coat a 9 by 9 dish with non-stick spray.

Pour a small amount of pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan.


Add half of the cooked pasta. Sprinkle with oregano.


Add all of the cheese mixture and then top with half of the jar of sauce.

(be sure to smooth out the ricotta, not shown here)

Add the remaining half of pasta.

Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese if you please.




Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.




1/6th of the pan is 7 Weight Watchers points and is very filling! That is the serving size shown in the picture above.

Ideas for a more versatile dish: add ground beef or vegetarian crumbles, add spinach, mushrooms or other vegetables, use different varieties of pasta

Campanelle with Asparagus and Bacon in a Cream Sauce

This recipe is a spin-off of something I saw in a Taste of Home "Healthy Cooking" magazine recently. I've gotta admit, I was lured in by a close-up photo of a great combination: pasta, asparagus, and bacon! It's super-yummy, simple, and uses fresh ingredients that are easy to find. Plus, it satisfies even the heftiest carbohydrate craving. Even better, the calorie count on this goodness isn't too ridiculous (considering it is a creamy pasta dish)!

Here's what you will need:

- a box of pasta (I used campanelle. Rigatoni or ziti would also work well.)
- asparagus (coarsely chopped, one or two cups will do)
- bacon (About 8 tablespoons. I used bacon-bits. It is WAY too dangerous to keep a pound of bacon in the fridge.)
- half and half (I used "fat-free"... it's an oxymoron.)
- mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup shredded)
- butter or margarine
- garlic
- parmesan cheese
- salt n peppa


STEP ONE: Cook that pasta. Just follow the package directions for cooking time. Drain and set aside.


STEP TWO: Cook that asparagus. Cover with water and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside in a place where it can cool off.


STEP THREE: Make the sauce. In a pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle in some minced garlic. Cook for a few minutes.


STEP FOUR: Still making sauce... Add 2/3 cup of half and half. Bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes until sauce thickens. I had to add a little cornstarch to give it a jump start. Add 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella and stir until melted.


STEP FIVE: Assembly. Add the cream sauce to the pasta. Throw in the bacon bits and asparagus.


STEP SIX: Stir it! Season with salt and pepper.


STEP SEVEN: Put in pretty serving bowl.


STEP EIGHT: Get cheesy. Grate some fresh Parmesan on top! Just look at the angelic glow it gives to this dish!


STEP NINE: EAT IT!!!


My review: I really liked making this! I got to yell at Royall, "STOP EATIN THE BITS!", as he picked at the bacon bits I had set aside. I really like the flavors of Parmesan, asparagrus and bacon together. It's a great combination!"

Royall's review: "I think it's pretty good. It's good with lots of salt on it. Fresh grated Parmesan is a nice touch".

NUTRITION FACTS (more like "Estimated Nutrition Facts"):

If you divide into 6 servings (I think you could easily get more than that), the nutrition facts are:

373 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of fiber, 12 grams of protein

PS: Tastes pretty good cold, too!

Vivian's Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese

This is the MAC DADDY of MAC n CHEESE!

Macaroni and cheese kicked butt in the latest poll and won by a landslide! And it's about time, I have been waiting to make this great recipe!

This recipe is an adaptation of a great recipe from Royall's grandmother, Vivian. It's pretty simple and you can leave it cooking in the crock pot while you are at work... or sitting on the couch all day watching PBS. Either way, you can set it and forget it!

Vivian's Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese takes anywhere from 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours to make, but again, it's not like you are slaving over the stove for those hours. It's more like 15 minutes of prep and a few hours of forgetting about it while it is in the slow cooker. Or if you are like me, you won't forget about it because you are too excited and will go check on it every 5 minutes!

You're gonna need:

1/2 box elbow macaroni, cooked and drained, I used organic whole wheat macaroni because I like to pretend to be a food snob sometimes. In hindsight, I think regular pasta would have tasted better.

4 cups of shredded cheese, If you buy bags of already shredded cheese you'll need 2 bags. I shredded my own and used 1/2 monterrey jack (the kind with jalapenos) and 1/2 cheddar cheese. The original recipe calls for all cheddar.

12 oz. evaporated milk, I used 2 %, and only because Royall wouldn't let me buy the fat free one. I just couldn't justify using full fat milk. Trust me, there's enough fat in the cheese.

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

1 tablespoon salt (I know it seems like a lot of salt, but any attempt to make this healthy will be in vain. This recipe bakes carbohydrates and fat into a large cake, there's no turning back now.) PS: Royall actually added salt to his!

HOW TO MAKE AWESOME CROCK POT MAC N CHEESE:

1. Cook macaroni and drain.


2. Grease your crock pot. I used a large oval crock pot, but I think this recipe is supposed to be done in the smaller kind that is round shaped.

3. Shred the cheese and measure it. If you took the easy way out, open the bag of pre-measured cheese.


4. In a big old bowl add everything; the macaroni, shredded cheese (save some to sprinkle on top), milk, evaporated milk, eggs and salt.

4. Add to crock pot and cook on low for about 6 hours. This time is according to the original recipe. I think since I used a larger crock pot, it cooked faster. It was done in about 4 1/2 hours.

Here's the progression of goodness:

Stage one: just mixed, "not-so-good"


Stage two: an hour into cooking time, "gettin good"


Stage 3: done, Geee-Double-Oh-Dee: Good!

By the way, like most things made in the crock pot, you aren't supposed to take the lid off to look at it because you lose a lot of steam pressure and heat. I wanted to take pictures so I peeked a few times, but don't try this at home folks!

Yummy! Since I used two kinds of cheese, some bites had a little kick to 'em because of the spicy monterrey jack with jalapenos. I probably wouldn't go for the whole wheat pasta next time, but it was still quite tasty. ENJOY!