Tried and true recipes, new twists on old favorites, and new dishes to expand my family's palate.
This is just one of my oldest son’s most favorite meals to eat. And it’s simple since you can throw it together early in the day, or even the day before, and then pop it in the oven to bake for a bit when you need a quick dinner on the table.
I’m not going to go nuts about giving precise measurements for this dish because I don’t really have any. I can give hints of how much of this and that I’ve used, but in all honesty, it’s really just something you can throw together without worrying about being exact with the amounts. Most of how I cook is really me throwing this and that in together and seeing how it comes out. If there were one area of my blog I could say I struggle with its coming up with precise measurements for recipes. While sometimes I’m able to provide that easily, I can’t say it always works out that way. Sometimes I just need to make something a second or third time before I publish it so that I can really focus on exactly how much of an ingredient I’m using.
With that being said, use this as a general guideline of ingredients and measuring and don’t make yourself crazy about how much of each you use. It’s food, folks. We are meant to enjoy it, not stress over it.
BAKED STUFFED SHELLS:
If you are making your own homemade tomato sauce, good for you. There is nothing else in the world like it. But, if you aren’t, use whatever brand you prefer.
In a 13″ x 9″ baking dish, spoon some sauce across the bottom.
Cook your pasta shells for half the amount of time listed on the box. You don’t want them aldente for this dish. You only want to partially cook these since they will continue to cook while you bake the dish in the oven. Make sure to salt the water well before cooking the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, in a large bowl, add the ricotta, 3/4 of the shredded mozzarella, chopped parsley, grate parmesan and salt and pepper. Stir together well and then spoon into a large Ziploc bag. You may want to only spoon in half the mixture to work with and then refill it with the rest when you’re done. It makes the bag easier to manage while you are filling the shells.
Once the pasta is done, strain it and rinse with cold water. Once cool to the touch, begin filling each pasta shell with the ricotta mixture. You don’t want to over fill the shell’s, but put just enough in each shell so that you can easily fold the shell so that each open end meets.
As you fill and fold each shell, place them seam side down in the baking dish. Continue repeating until you have filled the dish.
Spoon on some tomato sauce, followed by a sprinkling of the shredded mozzarella.
At this point you can either place them in the fridge until you are ready to bake them, or throw them into the oven and bake them right away.
Place them, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven and bake until heated through and bubbly and the cheese has completely melted.
Enjoy with a salad and some garlic bread!
Note: I ended up with about 38 cooked and stuff shells. I was able to fit 27 of them on the first layer of the baking dish. I covered those with sauce and mozzarella and then added the remaining stuffed shells to the top of them, spaced out as evenly as possible, and topping those with sauce and shredded mozzarella as well. You can do it this way with the extra shells that don’t fit into a single layer in the baking dish, or you can just make a smaller batch in a smaller baking dish. Your choice. Either way, nothing goes to waste.
This is a super easy one pot meal to make for your family. My daughter looked and said she wasn’t eating it until I had to tell her it was “Cinderella Pasta”. When she asked why it was Cinderella’s Pasta I told her because the wheels in the pasta came from Cinderella’s pumpkin coach. I was grasping at straws to try to get her to try it and I knew once she did she would like it.
Really, it’s more of a ragu than it is Cinderella’s anything. I made this with diced tomatoes, bulk Italian sausage and ground beef. Let the ragu simmer on the stove while you boil the pasta water and you have a filling meal ready in no time. And, okay, I actually used two pots, but one had boiling water in it so I’m not counting it.
Pasta Ragu:
In a large and deep skillet, brown the pork and beef breaking up as it browns. Remove it to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
Without washing the skillet, add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add the meat and all other ingredients to the skillet except for the pasta and the mozzarella cheese. Stir together well, cover and reduce to a low simmer.
Fill a large stock pot 3/4 with water and salt. Bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente. Once done, drain the pasta, add to the skillet along with the mozzarella cheese and stir well. Serve with garlic bread.
Enjoy!
I shared this recipe in the Saturday Swap over at Kim’s blog, Quit Eating Out
.
Check it out here for more great recipes!
UPDATE:
The contest has ended, and thanks to Random.Org a winner was selected. Lisa from Sweet As Sugar Cookies was the #8 comment that was randomly selected. Lisa has been notified and responded with her information and will be receiving her prize from My Blog Spark. Thanks to everyone for entering!
I think by now I’ve made it abundantly clear that I’m a lemon and lime freak, right? I’ve shown you various recipes where either of these citrus fruits are a core ingredient and instead of adding the normal amount to the dish I always end up doubling, or even tripling the amount. I can’t help it. If a dish calls for lemon or lime I want that to be the dominant flavor. It’s just the way I am.
Pork Milanese is one of my favorite dishes to cook up for so many reasons. Besides it being delicious, it’s also simple, quick, and of course, filled with lemon flavor.
Normally when I bread the pork chops I use seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs. But ever since the wave of Panko has hit the store shelves I find myself either using Panko in place of bread crumbs, or as an accompinament to the breadcrumbs.
Then of course I add the lemon and heaven begins to sing down on my plate.
But, Progresso came out with not only their own line of Panko, but a Lemon-Pepper version. Insane. When the folks over at My Blog Spark
gave me the opportunity to try out this new Progresso Lemon Pepper Panko I knew just what I wanted to try with it! To me it was the perfect addition to this dish because it infused even more lemon flavor into the dish. Not to mention the additional crunch it added to these chops!
If you are a lemon lover, give this one a try. It’s easy and delicious!
PORK MILANESE:
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In three shallow bowls or pie plates add the following; one with the Panko and parmesan cheese, one with the egg and milk and one with the flour.
Begin by dredging each pork chop through the flour, then the egg and then the Panko. Make sure to press the Panko into each chop well. Allow the chops to rest on a plate for a few minutes.
In a heavy cast iron pan (or other frying pan that is safe for oven use), add the oil and butter and allow to heat up.
Once hot, fry each pork chop on each side until golden brown. Once done, transfer the pan to the oven and allow to cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve immediately with lots of fresh lemon wedges!
*Note* I recommend using any additional salt and pepper in this dish sparingly. The Panko and the parmesan cheese really already has enough salt in them. I actually didn’t find the need to add any additional salt or pepper to this dish before or after cooking.
Enjoy!
Now for the giveaway!
Thanks to the wonderful folks over at My Blog Spark
and General Mills, they’ve made this giveaway possible. And they not only sent a gift of each of these to me, but they will send another to one of my readers who wins!
If you’ve ever watched Michael Chiarello on Food Network you know all about the beautiful food he serves up. He has a new cookbook out and you get the opportunity to win an autographed copy of it, along with a package of Progresso’s Lemon-Pepper Panko. This cookbook is gorgeous and BIG. There is definitely something for everyone in here to enjoy. It’s gorgeous.
What do you need to do to win? Simple. You have the opportunity to enter twice each day during the duration of the giveaway. I’m running this giveaway for a week so that gives you up to 14 chances to enter.
HOW TO ENTER EACH DAY:
THE RULES:
Disclosure: This giveaway was generously provided through My Blog Spark and General Mills. Neither My Blog Spark or General Mills is paying me for this review or giveaway. Michael Chiarello has no idea I’m offering this giveaway or who I am, but I think he’s cute!
This is enjoyed by both kids and adults and you hear nothing but slurping when I serve it up. In fact, I haven’t made this in a while and making it the other night brought comments from my four-year old daughter like, “Mom, this is the best dinner ever.” Wouldn’t it be great if you got to hear that every night?
The original recipe for this soup was inspired by the traditional Stracciatella soup. Stracciatella in Italian means “torn rags”. The soup got that name for the egg that is swirled through the soup and breaks up to look like torn rags. If you don’t know it by now, I hate eggs. I cook and bake with them yes, but you won’t ever see me eat an egg in its natural state. I cannot and will not and that’s just the way it is. So I certainly have no intention of ever adding an egg to this recipe. Okay, I did add it to the meatball mixture, but that’s different.
Also, in a typical Stracciatella soup you would add some shredded spinach, which to me would have been perfect. However, my children have an aversion to anything green and it took awhile just to talk them around the parsley that was flecked in the meatballs. Sometimes I will split up the batch of soup and add the spinach to half and leave it out of the other half. And since spinach cooks up quick enough, you can always add it to your own dish before serving.
Whichever version you choose, with our without spinach, this is a simple but delicious soup. The recipe I’m providing below is a double batch since I always serve up one batch and then freeze the second batch for a later day. You can cut the recipe in half if you want to just make it for a single family meal. I serve this with some grilled cheese sandwiches and call it a night.
MINI MEATBALL & ALPHABET SOUP:
Begin my filling a large stock pot with the chicken broth and water. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil.
While waiting for the broth to boil, mix up the meat, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg, onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Roll the meatball mixture into tiny meatballs about 1/2″ in size.
Once the broth is boiling, add the meatballs carefully to the broth along with the pasta. Turn heat to low and allow the pasta and meatballs to fully cook. The meatballs will float at first, but will eventually sink to the bottom. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
Once done, serve up immediately with some extra parmesan cheese sprinkled on the top.
Enjoy!
I think I’m just going to cook casseroles and one dish meals for the rest of this school year. Anything that makes my life easier is on my list of things to cook lately. This was meant to be the week I did two days worth of cooking for my freezer to make my life easier over the next few weeks, but I haven’t even been able to find the time for that. “Maybe” next week. At least that’s what I’m promising myself.
This was a quick meal to throw together for this evening and it’s always a big hit. There is nothing in here that makes anyone complain when they ask me, “What’s for dinner, Mom.”
I used penne but you can just as easily use rigatoni, ziti, or even elbow macaroni. This is really nothing more than lasagna in easier form. I do enjoy making lasagna every now and again, and normally use sliced meatballs or sausage for my lasagna, but this is perfect and simple for when you are short on time.
Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.
In a large sauté pan, begin browning your sausage. Once evenly browned, drain any excessive fat from the pan.
Add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato sauce to the pan, stir well and bring to a simmer. Add the minced garlic and basil and stir well. Allow to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Once water is boiling, salt the water and add your pasta. Stir well. Don’t cook the pasta to completion or based on the package directions. You only want to cook the pasta partially since this is going to bake in the oven and complete the cooking process. I usually allow it to boil for about 6 to 7 minutes.
Once pasta is done, drain it in a colander and then pour it back into the stock pot, or into a large mixing bowl. Now add the sausage mixture, 2/3 of the shredded mozzarella, and the entire container of ricotta cheese. Stir until fully combined.
Pour this into a large baking dish – mine was slightly larger than 13″ x 9″ – cover with aluminum foil and allow to bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees, or until hot and bubbly.
Once done, remove the foil and sprinkle the top with the reserved mozzarella cheese. Return the pan to the oven and allow it to cook until the cheese is completely melted.
Remove from oven and serve immediately.
NOTE: This recipe makes enough for 8 people. You can either make the full recipe if you have that many to feed, halve the recipe for a smaller dinner, or bake this up in two separate dishes where you can eat one tonight and freeze the other one for a future meal.
Serve with a side salad and some garlic bread.
Enjoy!
