Pepperoni Pizza Penne Pasta Bake

This easy, yummy recipe is from something I saw Guy Fieri make on Food Network the other day.  You know, Guy Fieri, the Diners, Drive ins & Dives, guy?  I figured if he said this was a good idea, it would work - don't you agree??  

I just took some pepperonis (I had leftover from something else I'd made earlier in the week) and put them in a skillet with some olive oil.  I cooked them until they were crispy and heated through.  Then I removed the pepperonis from the skillet and put them aside.  Leaving all the glorious pepperoni infused oil in the pan.

Then I added the ground beef to the oil, seasoned and browned the meat with garlic and onions.

Once meat was drained, I added one large can of crushed tomatoes (like 28 oz) and one can of tomato sauce (like 4 oz or something like that, the little can).  Then I chopped up the pepperoni, which was nice and crispy at this point, and added it to the sauce - you can see the little guys right there on top - yum!!

Brought it to a boil, covered, and simmered for 30-45 minutes.

Mixed with some penne, added a generous amount of mozzarella, baked at 350 for about 10 minutes (or until cheese is melted) and here it is!

Totally yummy & a little different than the normal spaghetti night - the pepperoni shook things up!  Yum!

Taco Soup

I made this on Halloween, the perfect fall soup!  This soup is even acceptable to the mister bc it's definitely hearty!  It's a Paula Deen recipe so you know it's that good!  And easy?  Yes!

For this soup, you'll need:

• 2 lbs ground beef (I used about a pound and a half)
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 - 15 1/2 oz cans pink kidney beans
• 2 - 15 1/2 oz cans pinto beans
• 1 - 15 1/2 oz can of niblet corn, drained
• 1 - 14 1/2 oz can Del Monte mexican tomatoes*
• 1 - 14 1/2 oz can Del Monte tomatoes with chilies*
• 1 - 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 - 4 1/2 oz cans diced green chilies*
• 1/2 cup green olives, sliced - optional
• 1 - 1 1/4 oz pkg taco seasoning mix
• 1 - 1 oz pkg Hidden Valley Original Ranch salad dressing mix
• Corn chips
• Sour cream
• grated cheese
• chopped onions

**I used 2 cans of Rotel instead of the Del Monte tomatoes, I couldn't find them

**I used one - 7 oz can of diced green chilies

Brown meat with onion, drain fat.

Pour in beans, corn, tomatoes, chilies, olives, and seasonings.  If using crockpot, cook on low for 6-8 hours or simmer on low heat for an hour in stockpot for an hour.  I simmered mine on the stove for a little more than an hour.

To serve, we tested fritos on the bottom, before ladling the soup, or topping soup with fritos.  Both me & the hubby agree, topping with fritos is better than putting fritos first - the crunch was much better to us than soggy chips!

After the chips, I also topped it with sour cream, shredded cheddar & green olives.  I guess black olives would work, too, but this mama gets grossed out by black olives so they don't make it to anything cooked in this kitchen :)

Doesn't it look yummy?!?  Totally Yummy!!

Spaghetti with Homemade Tomato Sauce

I know all of you know how to make spaghetti.  But until a few weeks ago when I tried the Tomato Sauce with Bacon & Onion , I had not tried to make my own spaghetti sauce.  I relied on my new cookbook as a starting point and went from there.  It was pretty easy!  But I have to say, I have to tweak a few things to make it to my liking...like does anyone know how to thicken tomato sauce??  Do I add flour or....?  This sauce was super easy and very clean tasting, but I think it could've used more a little more flavor - next time I will add some basil & oregano and hopefully figure out how to make it thicker!  But besides that, it was pretty and smelled delish!  The recipe I had was for simple tomato sauce, but added meat to mine bc that's just how we like it around here.

You'll need:

• olive oil
• about 2 lbs of ripe tomatoes
• 5 cloves of garlic
• about 1 lb of ground beef
• pepper
• sea salt
• garlic powder

I started by roughly chopping up my tomatoes using a serrated knife - so easy!!  My life has changed thanks to my new knives hahaha!  Sad.

Beautiful, glorious tomatoes.

And into the food processor they go.  I put in seeds and all bc I thought, "Why go through the trouble of seeding the tomatoes?  I eat them anyway on a regular basis."

I blended mine until they were at the consistency I wanted.  I was surprised that, although it's hard to tell in this picture, the tomatoes now took on a pink color, not the color of regular tomato sauce.  My nerdy cooking self thought this was interesting.

Then I poured a couple tbs of olive oil in my pan

And browned my meat - while seasoning it with salt, pepper, & garlic powder, of course!  Then I removed the meat from the pan and got out these guys...

5 cloves of garlic seems like a powerful punch, but it was just fine for this sauce.  I didn't think it was overpowering at all.  I chopped them, smushed them...

And returned him to the pan that I browned the meat in, with a little added olive oil

Then when the garlic started to sizzle, but not brown, I added the tomatoes back to the pan.

I let all that simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes

Then I added the meat back in the sauce and simmered for another 15 minutes or so - isn't it pretty?  I felt very Italian!

And if I had some garlic bread it would've been perfect!  But at least I had finely shredded parmesan & that went nicely with it.  Now once I figure out how to thicken it up, it will be perfecto!!

Lasagna

Lasagna and pot roast are similar to me.  Another rite of passage into adulthood.  However, this lasagna is cheater's lasagna - no boiling of noodles required.  And I got the recipe straight off the box of noodles.  Rave reviews from the family!  I have to admit, though, I still like boiling the noodles and regular lasagna - there's just something about it.  But, if you're in a time pinch, this recipe will do just fine!!

You'll need:

• 1 lb ground beef
• about 26 oz jar spaghetti sauce (I recommend two jars, but I"ll talk about that later)
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce (optional, I didn't use this)
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 12 pieces Skinner Oven Ready Lasagna, uncooked
• 4 cups (16 oz) mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 grated parmesan cheese (I used shredded and liked it better)

Brown beef - I seasoned mine with my favorite usual suspects:  salt, pepper, garlic powder.  After meat is browned, add jar of spaghetti sauce (the recipe calls for 3 cups, but I added about 4, you can add more/less if you like, but when I make this again I'm going to double the meat and sauce, you'll see why later on...)

Mix ricotta, egg, and spices - looks not very appetizing when first thrown in the bowl

But improves when you mix it up :)

Assembly begins!  Spread 3/4 cup meat sauce on bottom of pan.  Place 3 noodles over sauce.  Do not overlap or touch side of pan with noodles

Spread 2/3 cup ricotta mixture over pasta.

Spread another 3/4 to 1 cup meat sauce over ricotta, covering all the pasta

Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese.

Then repeat these steps TWO more times.  Finish with remaining noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella and parmesan

I put this all together while my little person was napping, covered it with foil, stuck it in the refrigerator until ready to stick it in the oven.  

If putting it directly in the oven, bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for 10-15 minutes more until hot & bubbly.

If baking from refrigerator, bake, covered for 40 minutes, remove foil & bake for 10-15 minutes more until hot & bubbly.

It said you could refrigerate it up to 48 hours and freeze it up to 2 months!  Very convenient!  (If frozen, bake, covered, 1 hour and 30 minutes at 350, remove foil last 10-15 minutes as before)

Yummy!

I used the remainder of my jar of sauce, heated it, and added it on top of my lasagna.  That's why next time I make this I'm just going to make double the meat sauce so I can have meat sauce to top it off instead of plain sauce.  I guess the no boil noodles soak up a lot of the sauce and that's why the extra sauce is a good addition.

Even my little person had extra sauce - it made it extra good!  :)

I baked one of those crusty french breads, from Pillsbury, in the oven, heated up green beans and that's it - yummy meal!  And the family loved it - again, much more than the onion tart :)

Beef a la Duetsch

I will be trying this very soon!  Thanks for sharing, Emily!

http://strongprojects.blogspot.com/2011/02/beef-la-duetsch.html