Heather's Bytes

I’ve been sitting on this entry for so long because, well, people tend to get a little judgey about this. I understand it because I used to kind of do it, too. But that was before I understood how it worked.

So, I’m ripping off the bandaid. That’s a lot of brownie mix, right? Would you believe I got all that and a gallon of milk for $1.80 this afternoon? You can probably guess what that means: Read More

It’s been nice and chilly here in Vegas for the last few days (you can’t even really call it cold) and because I know these days are limited I’ve been pulling out my dinner recipes that require the use of an oven. I do baked meals during the hot months too, of course, but even then I tend to put them in our (very awesome) toaster oven to bake rather than fire up the big one. A hot kitchen in the middle of a Vegas summer is miserable indeed.

Anyway, this baked ziti is one meal that I haven’t made in a while — in fact, it’s apparently been so long that my grocery store no longer even carries ziti, and I had to use rigatoni instead. Penne would work really well too, depending on what you can get.

Baked Ziti

1 pound dry ziti or penne pasta
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce (or equivalent homemade sauce)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook about 8 minutes; drain.

In a large skillet, brown onion, garlic and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.

Butter or spray a 9×13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the pasta, 1/2 the mozzarella, all the sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, remaining mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is melted.

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I’ve been making these stuffed pasta shells for about eight years now. You can use all beef or all turkey, but having tried both I prefer the combination. You can also use homemade pasta sauce, which works really well, but if you don’t have it on hand the jarred kind can be tasty, too.

The recipe below makes about 30 shells, or two casserole dishes-worth. My family of five gets through about a pan and a half, and the rest go in the fridge for leftovers. If you don’t have that many people to feed it halves very easily.

Stuffed Pasta Shells

30 jumbo pasta shells (or one 12 oz box)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 closed finely chopped garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
1 26.5 oz can spaghetti sauce (or about 3 cups of homemade sauce)

Cook shells according to package directions. Drain and set aside to cool a little. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a large skillet and saute onion and garlic until tender. Add turkey and beef and cook until browned. Drain and mix in basil, oregano and 2 cups of the cheese (it’ll be very cheesy and stringy – perfect!).

Spread about half a cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of each 9×13″ casserole dish. Stuff cooked shell with the meat and cheese mixture and place meat-side down in the casserole dish. Spoon remaining sauce over top. Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil, add remaining cheese over top and cook for an additional six or so minutes or until cheese is melted.

I love making pasta for dinner, and thankfully Mike and the girls like it too. Pasta is easy, nearly impossible to screw up, and can feed a mob (so to speak).

One of my favorite pasta dishes is turkey goulash. I always have the ingredients on hand for the nights I don’t feel like doing much of anything, and paired up with a loaf of garlic bread and a simple side salad makes for a perfect, fast meal.

I usually make it with farfalle or bowtie pasta, though in the picture above I used cavatappi (my new favorite pasta).

Turkey Goulash

1 pound ground turkey
1 (28 ounce) can stewed, diced tomatoes
3 cloves minced garlic
1 (14 oz) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 lb package cavatappi or farfalle pasta

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. In the meantime, in a large skillet (or large saucepan) over medium heat, cook the turkey until browned. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, tomato sauce, sugar and basil, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook for about 8 minutes or until al dente, and drain. Combine the pasta and turkey sauce, and serve.