Baked Ziti

This is a great and easy recipe that I got from my lovely college roommate.  She got it from her mom or grandma and made it for me one evening for a dinner party.  Of course, I asked for the recipe!

Ingredients:  

• 1 box of ziti pasta (plain-no ridges)
• 1 jar of pasta sauce
• 1 package of mozzarella cheese cut in half 
• 1  16 oz. container of ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Method:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Shred 1/2 of the mozzarella and set aside

3.  Cube other 1/2 of mozzarella and set aside.

4.  Cook ziti according to directions on box (el dente) and drain

5.  Pour all of sauce jar into pasta and mix well

6.  Next, add in whole container of ricotta, the cubed mozzarella, & the parmesan cheese.  Mix until well combined.

7.  Transfer mixture to an oven-safe casserole dish & top with the shredded mozzerella

8.  If desired, sprinkle the top with some parmesan cheese

9.  Cook for 30-45 minutes or until top starts to brown & inside is bubbly.

Tomato Basil Fettuccine

As with most people who are trying to save money, we buy our food in bulk when it's on sale.  So, our cabinets and food pantry are usually pretty stock full of vegetarian staples: vegetarian broth, crushed tomatoes, pasta, beans, lentils, bread crumbs, you name it.  Well, the time has come where Jon and I are moving.  We're moving permanently.  We have a new challenge on our hand.  Trying to get rid of all of these staples in our cabinets.  

I invited a friend to dinner who is more traditional in her eating and so Italian food was the way to go.  I found this great recipes to get rid of the pack of fettuccine we've had in our cabinet for a long while now.  The recipe ended up really amazing and I'd love to share it with you now!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fettuccine noodles
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup fat-free evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Cook fettuccine according to directions on package
2. Meanwhile, saute the onions and red pepper flakes in butter until onion is tender.  Add tomato and salt, cook and stir over medium heat until most of the liquid is evaporated.
3. Remove from heat and let stand for one minute.
4. Slowly whisk in the milk
5. Drain fettuccine and place in a large bowl.  
6. Add the basil and parmesan cheese and the tomato mixture
7. Toss to coat

Kudos to the original recipe here

Stuffed Shells

My friend Shelli is always so kind and thoughtful when I go to her house for dinner.  She always considers my vegetarianism and what I might enjoy.  This dish is an old classic that I would not have remembered except she made it for me.  It can easily be made low-fat since she uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese.  She gave me the recipe and it's super easy and yummy!

Ingredients:

• Large shell pasta (approximately 18 shells)
• 1 24 oz. vat of cottage cheese (can use low-fat)
• 1 16 oz. bag of mozzarella cheese (can use low-fat)
• One jar of pasta sauce
• 1 egg
• Parsley to sprinkle

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Boil water and add the large shell pasta, cook until soft. 

2.  In the meantime, combine the cottage cheese, almost all of the mozzarella cheese, egg, and parsley into a bowl.  Mix thoroughly.

3.  After pasta is soft, drain and run under cold water to cool down shells. 

4.  While waiting for shells to cool down, cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan with the pasta sauce.

5.  Once cool enough to touch, stuff the shells with the cheese combination and begin placing into the pan.

6.  You should be able to fill and fit about 18 shells with a 9x13 pan and with this much cheese mixture.

7.  Once the pan is full, place the remaining pasta over the shells.

8.  Bake the shells in the oven for 40-45 minutes.  About 5 minutes before removing from the oven, place remaining mozzarella cheese over the shells.

9.  When finished baking, allow to cool for about 15 minutes so the cheese cool back together.