Chicken Parm Meatball Casserole

CHICKEN PARMESAN MEATBALL CASSEROLE via Buns in my oven
 1 pound lean ground chicken
 1 cup panko bread crumbs
 1 egg
 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
 1/4 cup milk
 1 pound campanelle pasta (any small shape is fine, such as ziti)
 1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce
 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Cook pasta 1 min less than package directions. Preheat oven to 450F. While pasta is cooking, prepare  meatballs. Add all ingredients to large bowl and use hands to mix. Form into 1" diameter and place on a parchment lined sheet.Bake 10 min til cooked through and no longer pink. Remove from oven and reduce oven temp to 350 F. Add sauce to large bowl and stir past and meatballs. Stir gently to coat everything in sauce. Spread half pasta and meatballs into 9x13 dish. Top w half mozzarella. Repeat layers. Sprinkle w Italian seasoning. Bake 20 min til cheese melted. Serve immediately.

*To freeze: stop just short of baking casserole, cover tightly w foil, and freeze til ready to bake. Bake at 350F for 45 min til hot and bubbly.*

Sausage Alfredo Bake

Sausage alfredo bake via Let's Dish
16 oz pasta
3 T butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T flour
1 c chicken broth
2 c half and half
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
2 c  mozzarella cheese, divided
1-2 T chopped fresh parsley
1 (12 oz) fully cooked smoked sausage

Cook pastail just al dente; drain.While pasta cooks, melt butter in large skillet over med heat. Add garlic. cook 1-2 min. Stir in flour. Whisk in broth til smooth, then half and half. Add salt, pepper, cayenne, and red pepper flakes and simmer til sauce thicken, 5 min. Stir in Parmesan and 1 c mozz til cheeses melted and smooth. Slice sausage into 1/4" pieces and add to sauce, along w chop parsley and pasta. Season w salt and pepper if needed. Preheat broiler. Pour into greased, 9×13 dish. Top w remaining mozzarella. Broil 2-3 min or til cheese is bubbly and golden.

Cheater manicotti

This is the only way i will make manicotti. Once you try it you will prob never go back either.  ;) 

String Cheese Manicotti via the girl who ate everthing
1 package (8 ounces) manicotti shells
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove , minced
1 jar (24 ounces) spaghetti sauce
12 pieces string cheese
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
grated Parmesan cheese
(optional) basil, chopped

Cook manicotti per package.While pasta is cooking, cook beef and onion over med heat; add garlic and cook 1 min. Drain meat. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Spread half of  meat sauce into a greased 9x13  dish. Drain manicotti. Stuff ea shell w piece string cheese.  Arrange manicotti over meat sauce. Place over meat sauce; top w remaining sauce. Cover w foil and bake at 350° for 25-30 min or til heated through. Sprinkle w mozzarella cheese and bake 5 min til cheese melted. Sprinkle w grated parm  garnish with basil if desired.

orecchiette with toasted bread crumbs

ORECCHIETTE WITH TOASTED BREAD CRUMBS via genius kitchen
1 lb dried orecchiette
3⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil or 3⁄4 cup butter
2⁄3 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 cup chopped prosciutto
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

 Cook pasta until al dente; 8 min. Meanwhile in med-sized saute pan heat oil til warm. Add breadcrumbs & stir constantly season lightly w salt & pepper. Saute 2 min; remove from heat and set aside. Drain pasta in colander. Working quickly; add pasta to saute pan & stir to combine. Add Parme & prosciutto. mix thoroughly. Pour in lg serving bowl & garnish w chopped parsley.

Autumn Lasagna

Autumn Lasagna via the cozy apron
Olive oil for drizzling
1 ¼ lb. ground turkey
½ t Italian seasoning
½ t salt
¼ t black pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 t chopped, fresh sage leaves
12 lasagna noodles, cooked
Creamy Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Sauce (recipe below)
4 c fresh, baby spinach leaves
4 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350, and have a 12”x10”x2” (roughly) baking dish on hand. (I only had 9x13 so I just filled up the dish and froze the rest of the sauce.)

Place a large, pan over med-high heat, cook gr turkey. add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic,  remove from heat and stir in fresh sage; set aside to slightly cool.

To assemble  lasagna:  1 c Butternut Squash Sauce to bottom  dish;  4 uncooked lasagna noodles over the sauce, and then add another 2 c sauce over top of noodles; next, add half cooked, ground turkey, followed by 2 c  baby spinach , and drizzle lightly w olive oil; next, sprinkle over 1 c mozzarella ; repeat layering process. 4 noodles, 2 c sauce, remainder of gr turkey and remaining 2 c spinach leaves, and 1 c  cheese; finish lasagna by adding remaining 4 lasagna noodles, and remaining sauce and  2 c mozzarella over top; add remaining ½ t Italian seasoning over cheese, and bake 350F 30-35 min, tilcheese melted and lightly golden; serve while hot.

Creamy, Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Sauce
3 heads garlic, tops cut off
Olive oil for drizzling
3 tsalt, plus a pinch, divided use
4 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken stock, warm
2 cups half and half, warm
4 ounces mascarpone cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

(*This sauce can be made ahead if desired, and kept refrigerated.)

Preheat oven 400F, and line sheet w foil. Drizzle  olive oil over 3 heads of garlic, and sprinkle a couple of pinches of salt over top, as well; wrap each head of garlic tightly in foil, and place the heads directly onto the rack of the oven (on the side) to roast; once garlic heads have roasted for about 10 min, toss together cubed butternut squash w 3 T olive oil, 1 t salt,  pepper and Italian seasoning; turn squash out onto lined sheet, bake along side garlic 30-35 min or til squash vy tender (total roasting time for garlic 40-45 min); once  squash istender, remove from theoven, along w garlic.  allow squash and garlic to cool slightly, ssqueeze  garlic from heads, and mash lightly. set aside; next, add about 1/3  squash into  bowl of food processor (will take about 3 batches), and process w about 1/3  garlic, til smooth and pureed; turn processed squash/garlic into a large pot, and repeat pureeing process w remaining squash/garlic and turn that out into pot once pureed.

Place pot w squash/garlic on low heat, and add in warm stock and warm half and half, carefully stir to incorporate; next, add  mascarpone, Parm and  remaining 3 t salt, combine, til mascarpone and Parm blended completely; remove sauce from heat and set aside until ready to use for lasagna. (If making ahead, cool the sauce completely, and refrigerate until ready to assemble lasagna, at which time you can gently re-heat it stove-top.)

Cajun Lasagna

Cajun Lasagna via creole contessa
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb andouille sausage, fresh, casing removed
1 box lasagna noodles, dried
1 red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 6oz. can tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoons creole seasoning
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon sugar

For the Ricotta/Cheese Mixture:
1 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups jack cheese, grated
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, grated
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cook pasta. Mix seasonings, reserve 1 T for ricotta/cheese mix, and divide remaining seasons in half, set aside. In large soup pot heated over med heat add 2 T evoo, add onion, bell pepper, and celery. Saute 5 min, add garlic and cook 1 min. Add meats. Season w 1/2 seasoning blend. cook til browned 15 min. Add tomato paste, cook 5 min. Add crushed tomatoes and broth, season w remaining seasoning blend. Lower heat to med-low add parsley and cook uncovered for 20 min, stir occasionally.

Ricotta/Cheese Mixture: Mix Sharp, Jack, and Mozzarella cheese, set aside. Mix eggs, ricotta, parm, 1 c sharp, jack, and mozzarella cheese mix w seasoning blend you set aside.

To Assemble Lasagna: spray 13X9 dish, place 1 c sauce on the bottom. Top with noodles.Then sauce. half ricotta mix. then handful shred cheese. repeat with noodles, sauce, remaining ricotta mix.
for last layer top w noodles, sauce and shred cheese. cover w foil. bake 375 30 min.  remove foil, bake 20 min.  cool 10 min.

Crockpot pierogi casserole

This was good but made waaay too much with 3 boxes.  2 boxes of mini pierogies would be a better ratio imo.

Crockpot Pierogi Casserole with Kielbasa via daily diy life
3 boxes Mrs. T's Cheddar Pierogies - Regular or mini.
4 cups chicken broth
1 8 oz. block cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 pound kielbasa - sliced
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in your crockpot. Cook on high 3-4 hours, or on low 6 hours.

sage sausage pumpkin pasta

I found this recipe when I had some sage sausage in the freezer i didnt know what to do with.  I usually just make scotch eggs, but I wanted something different.  I made it for dinner last night and it was easy enough to make after piano lessons.  Probably took an hour from start to table.  

It was proclaimed to be better than any other pumpkin pasta dish I've made before from both Teenblock and Mrblocko.  Teenblock said the spices from the sausage balanced out the sweetness of the pumpkin.  I will have to take their word for it. I couldnt taste much of anything because i have a stupid head cold.  

Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Sage Sausage adapted via vodka and biscuits

1 lb ziti or rigatoni noodles, cooked to al dente  I used rigatoni

1 lb sage sausage 

1/2 onion, diced (mine had way less onions than the original photo. next time I will use 2 sm onions)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

4 sage leaves, chopped

1/2 t nutmeg

1/4 t red pepper flakes

pinch of cinnamon

1/2 c dry white wine (I used Gato negro's Sauvignon blanc. This is my go to white wine for cooking. Decent taste and super inexpensive.)

1 c vegetable stock (My sauce was really thick so I probably added at least another c.)

15 oz can pumpkin puree

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (I used italian cheese blend - probably closer to 1 1/2 c)

Preheat the oven to 350. Brown sausage in a skillet over med high heat. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. set aside. In same skillet, add onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Cook til onion translucent, about 3 min. Add sage , red pepper flakes, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt/pepper to taste. Cook 1 min. Add wine and cook til reduced by half. The heat should remain to med high. Add stock and stir in the pumpkin. The pumpkin will thicken the sauce. Stir in sausage and pasta. pour into sprayed 9x13 dish.  top with cheese. Bake 25-35 min.

Stuffed Krab Shells

Stuffed Shells adapted from Finger food Guru
20 Pasta Shells
1 pkg krab, chopped
1/2 Cup parsley, chopped
1/4c Mayo or til looks creamy
1 T Olive Oil or more to help spread
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1 1/2 C  Italian cheese, Grated (divided)

BOIL water in a medium sauce pan. Place pasta shells and bring to low-medium heat. Cook 15 minutes until soft.

MIX crab, parsley, mayo, olive oil, salt, pepper and 1/2 c cheese

TRANSFER shells onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

FILL each shell generously with crab mixture using a tablespoon.

Top with Mozzarella

BAKE in the oven on 400 F for 10 minutes.

Top with alfredo or red sauce if desired

Egg noodles from scratch

Five Minute Homemade Egg Noodles via Real Life Dinner
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
½ tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1½-2 cups flour + more for rolling out

Whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper.Add flour, (start out with 1¼ c and add until dough begins to form. Knead 1 min to get dough into a ball shape.  Roll out very thinly on generously floured surface
Slice dough into ¼-1/2 in slices with a pizza cutter and gently place in boiling soup. Let noodles cook in boiling water for 10-15 min before serving.

notes: I was expecting these to be like the egg noodles you buy at the store.  They are not.  They were still good, but tasted more like the flat style dumplings.  Again, very tasty, just not what I was hoping for.

Mushroom Swiss Cheeseburger Mac

Mushroom Swiss Cheeseburger Macaroni via Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
2 T EVOO
1/2 med onion, thinly sliced
8 oz mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb hamburger
3 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
3 c beef stock
8 -12 oz elbow macaroni (or other short cut pasta)
3 T butter
3 T flour
1 c milk, warmed
2 c Swiss cheese, shredded
Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

In large skillet, heat olive oil over med heat. Add onions and sautee, stirring occasionally, until they begin to turn golden brown. About 5 min. Add mushrooms to skillet and continue to cook an additional 5 min, then add garlic and cook and another min.Increase heat to med-high and push veggies to sides of pan. Add gr beef, breaking up with a wooden spoon and stirring into sauteed veggies. Cook until there is no longer any pink. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, pasta, and beef stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook  10-15 min (til pasta al dente), stirring occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking. Meanwhile, in a med pot, melt butter over med-high heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk for a couple of min. Add warmed milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and add Swiss cheese a little at a time, stirring until it is melted before adding more cheese (mix will be very thick). Stir cheese sauce into hamburger mixture. Garnish with chopped parsley

Tex Mex Ravioli Casserole

Easy Tex-Mex Ravioli Casserole via The Kitchen is My Playground
1 (24 oz.) jar salsa
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 t cumin
2 (20 oz.) packages frozen cheese ravioli, thawed
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (3 c cooked)
1 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In a mixing bowl, combine salsa, tomato sauce, and ground cumin. Pour 1/2 c salsa mixture in bottom of a lightly greased 9 x 13"  dish. Place first bag of ravioli evenly over sauce, covering  entire bottom of  baking dish. Top ravioli evenly with  black beans, green onions, cilantro, and 1 c salsa mix. Layer remaining bag of ravioli on top of black bean/cilantro layer. Top with remaining salsa mixture; sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350F for 45 min. Let stand 5 min before serving.

Chicken maranara-alfreado rigatoni

Chicken maranara-alfreado rigatoni via Gloriously Made
2 boneless chicken breasts cut into thin strips
1 T minced garlic
1 T  crushed red pepper flakes
½ t black pepper
3-4 T olive oil
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1 jar Marinara sauce
1 lb Rigatoni noodles
Grated Parmesan cheese & red pepper flakes for garnish

Sauté garlic, red pepper flakes, and pepper 2-3 min in EVOO,  right before your garlic turns brown.
Add sliced chicken to the oil, garlic, and peppers and cook over med heat til  strips are no longer pink in middle.While  chicken cooking, cook pasta until al dente. Once chicken is done, add the Alfredo and Marinara sauces and let simmer 10 min. Add cooked pasta to chicken and sauce and mix together. Garnish with Parmesan Cheese and red pepper flakes for garnish.

Taco Lasagna

The family was a bit skeptical about this dish but it turned out great! 

Taco Lasagna adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

12 no bake lasagna noodles
1 lb gr beef or turkey
3 T taco seasoning
1 egg
1 (15-oz.) small curd cottage cheese cheese
4 c  shredded Mexican or Taco blend cheese
1 (24-oz.) salsa
Optional toppings: sour cream, green onions, diced tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350F. In lg skillet, brown meat.  Drain and add taco seasoning. set aside. In sm bowl, mix egg and cottage cheese. In 9x13 dish, layer4 noodles, 1/3 cottage cheese, 1/3 meat, 1/3 salsa, and 1/3 cheese. Repeat  layers 2 more times. Bake uncovered 30-40 min til casserole heat and bubbly. Let stand 10 min before cutting. Top with sour cream, sliced green onions, and diced tomatoes if desired.

Ranch Pesto Bake

I finally successfully grew basil in the garden this year.  Every year I seem to kill it, but I tried this weird purple basil and I was able to harvest enough for several batches of pesto.

I used home made pesto, but I'm sure store bought would work lovely as well.

The only change I made to this recipe was to add meat.

Ranch Pesto Rigatoni Bake adapted from Mostly Homemade Mom
1 box rigatoni (or other similar tube shaped pasta like cavatappi or penne, etc)
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup prepared pesto
28 oz can diced tomatoes drained and slightly rinsed (I happened to have fresh)
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 c cooked shredded chicken/turkey or 1 lb cooked gr turkey/chicken or bulk sausage

Cook and drain pasta, return to pot. Stir in ranch , pesto, tomatoes, meat and one c mozzarella. Transfer pasta to 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella . Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 15 min. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 min til cheese completely melted.

Spinach Dip Pasta Bake

I made this dish with cooked bulk sausage.  I would recommend sticking with the suggested chicken or even ground turkey/chicken.  The sausage made for a meal that was too salty for my tastes.  Mrblocko and Blockette loved it though!

Cheesy Spinach Pasta Bake adapted from Crunchy Creamy Sweet
1 box tube pasta like penne or cavatappi
2 chicken breasts or 1 lb ground chicken/turkey-cooked
salt and pepper
2 T flour
1/2 c sour cream
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c half and half or whole milk (I used skim)
1 pkg dry Ranch mix
5 oz. frozen spinach or half of a batch of fresh (I used a bag of fresh spinach)
1.25 c shredded mozzarella

spray 9x13 dish. Cook pasta per box. Drain. Dice chicken, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour over chicken and toss to coat. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Meanwhile, in lg bowl, mix sour cream, cream cheese, Ranch mix, milk and spinach. Add cooked pasta and chicken to the spinach mixt and stir all together. Transfer to prepared dish. Top w cheese, bake 375F 10 min.  Broil 2-3 min to brown cheese.  Let stand at room temp 10 min before serving.

30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Twenty-seven: Pumpkin Sausage Pasta Bake

I love pasta with a white sauce.  Mrblocko prefers red sauce so we don't have it very often.  This sauce is really a version of Bechemel sauce, so if you're familiar with that, or even making a roux/gravy, this dish will be a breeze for you.

As usual, I made a few changes to this recipe. The biggest one being I added a pound of spicy or Italian sausage. I also swapped out the ricotta for cottage cheese.

Now, I've had some pumpkin pasta disasters in the past.  Thankfully, this was not one that was added to that list!  The pumpkin in this dish acts as a vehicle for cheese.  I'd say the cheese overwhelms the pumpkin which is not a bad thing.  Just be aware, if you are looking for this meal to taste like pumpkin, you will be disappointed.  Get that thought out of your head and you'll sit down to a scrumptious meal!

Pumpkin Sausage Pasta Bake adapted from A family feast
3/4 pound dry pasta (I used a mix of leftover tube shaped noodles like cavatappi, rigatoni and penne)
1 lb bulk hot or italian sausage

Pumpkin filling
1 c pumpkin
1 c small curd cottage cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ c grated parmesan cheese (I used the stuff in the green container...gasp!)
½ t nutmeg
Pinch of white pepper
1 t parsley

White Sauce
1/3 c butter
1 T chopped fresh sage
3 heaping T flour
1 c milk (i used skim)
1 c chicken stock
¼ teaspoon white pepper
Pinch  nutmeg
¼ t mustard powder

2 cups shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

Cook pasta to al dente. Drain. While pasta cooking, brown sausage, drain.
To make the pumpkin filling: In med bowl, combine pumpkin, cottage cheese, egg, Parmesan , nutmeg, sausage, white pepper and parsley. Mix well and set aside. To make the white sauce: nuke stock and milk for a few min to remove the chill.  Set aside. In sm sauce pan melt butter over med heat and add sage. Saute 4 min. Add flour. Cook 3 more min. Slowly add hot stock and milk to butter and flour mix, 1/4c at a time, whisking each time. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and dry mustard. Stir to combine and remove from heat. Heat oven to 375 F.  To assemble: In 9x13 dish, layer ingredients as follows: 1/4th  White Sauce, 1/3rd pasta, 1/3rd Pumpkin filling and 1/4th  mozzarella. Repeat  layers 2 times. Then add one last layer of white sauce and mozzarella. Bake uncovered  30-40 min til top golden and bubbly.

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake

This recipe for Chicken Enchilada Bake comes from Gimme Some Oven.  I used leftover chicken that I had cooked up the previous day in the crockpot.

This meal was easy enough for me to prepare after going for a run.  You have no idea how much this is saying for this recipe.  I run slower than a sloth...that's asleep, however, when I've finished I pretty much just want to collapse into a pile of goo on the floor.  Had I really been thinking I would have assembled the casserole BEFORE I went into the great outdoors.  Then again, I've started running so there's something flawed with my thinking in the first place.

I made a few changes to the original recipe amp up the flavor to my families' preferences.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake adapted from Gimme Some Oven
1 lb. dried pasta (I used med shells)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
heaping t cumin
1/2 t pepper
2 cans enchilada sauce
3 c shredded cooked chicken
1 1/2 c  cooked black beans
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
2 c shredded Mexican-blend cheese
Toppings: diced avocado, salsa, sour cream

Heat oven to 350 F. Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions. Meanwhile, heat oil in  lg skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and saute 5 min, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent. Add green chiles, garlic and pepper and saute 2 min. Add spices, cook 1 min. Add Add enchilada sauce, shredded chicken, black beans, and corn, and stir to combine. When pasta done, drain and remove from heat. Add enchilada sauce mix to pasta, and stir to combine. Add 1 c cheese until just combined, then transfer the pasta to a 9x13" greased baking dish. Sprinkle pasta with the remaining 1 c cheese. Bake 15-20 min, or til cheese melt and mixture warmed through. Serve immediately with toppings.

Pepper and Pepperoni Pasta

I've gotten in a bad rut of not taking photos again.  What can you do eh?

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I made this dish for a dinner that my husband went to at church.  It went over so well that I got asked for the recipe. 

While it's a simple dish in that it's easy to make, it's not something I'd prepare on a regular basis.  It had a lot of ingredients that I don't normally buy.

I only made some very minor changes to this recipe.  First, I pre roasted and peeled the red peppers.  I hate the skins on peppers so that was my reasoning for that.  I swapped out the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses for a preshredded Italian blend that contained those cheeses in addition to a few others.  Finally I halved the pepperonis so they were a bit more evenly distributed when the dish was served.

Pepperoni and Pepper Pasta adapted from Half Baked Harvest

1 lb angel hair pasta, broken in half

1/3 c olive oil

1 T dried basil

2 t dried oregano

1 t dried parsley

1 t dried dill

1/2 t crushed red pepper

1/2 t pepper

1/4 t salt

heaping 1/3 c kalamata olives, halved

1/3 c oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained of excess oil, reserving oil-sliced

2 c shredded Italian blend cheese.

4 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled then slicced

Pepperonis-halved (enough to cover the top of the dish)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Boil pasta until al dente. Drain well. While water comes to a boil add olive oil (make sure oil covers entire bottom of baking dish, if not add more oil), dried basil, dried parsley, dried oregano, dried dill, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to a 9 x 13 baking dish. To baking dish add 3/4 pasta, olives,and sliced tomatoes. Toss well. Drizzle pasta with reserved oil from  sun-dried tomato jar. If pasta seems a little oily add in a little more angel hair or if you would like to use all  pasta be sure to add more oil to evenly coat all pasta. Add 1/2 cheese and scatter sliced peppers over top.  Top with remaining cheese, pepperoni and another drizzle of oil. Bake 45-60 min til top browned.

Crockpot Ravioli

I think this just might be the easiest recipe for dinner ever.  It only requires 3 ingredients! 

Frozen Ravioli, pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Here's what you need to do:
Take a bag (about 25 oz) frozen ravioli.  Dump it in the crockpot.
Take a jar of pasta sauce. Repeat.

Stir.

Cover and cook on high 2 1/2-3 hrs.  20 min before serving top with cheese.  Cover and let the cheese melt.

THAT'S IT.

I doubled the recipe using 1 bag of cheese ravioli and one bag of cheese and mushroom ravioli. 

Super yum!

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Recipe found over at Crystal and Co.