Pasta Bake
I like to cook. When I get really inspired, it's fun. Like tonight...By 7:00 p.m. my other half and I had already been to the grocery store to get some supplies, to the gym and home to prepare dinner. Sipping a glass of Wrongo Dongo wine and munching dip and chips while Ray LaMontagne sang in the background was enough to keep me going. That, and I was accompanied in the kitchen by my very sweet husband who tastes, helps and plays the part of (constructive) food critic when necessary. Cooking for/with/because of him is so fun.
I would like to rave about a great new food product. It is the Barilla Plus pasta. It is "Enriched Multigrain Pasta". It has protein in it...and legume flour...and ground flaxseeds. It is really quite good. I say this because it was the starting point for tonight's dinner. We had a pasta bake. First, we made homemade pesto with basil from market and pinenuts that I bought in bulk at Stauffer's of Kissel Hill. Then the cheese filling. It's really simple.
Pasta Bake
about 12 oz. pasta
1 c. parmesan cheese grated
1 c. mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 c. heaping tablespoons ricotta cheese
milk or half-n-half to thin the cheese mixture
1/2 c. pesto
enough tomato sauce to cover top
enough grated mozzarella cheese to cover top
Cook pasta according to directions. Mix all the cheese except the amount reserved for the top. Add enough milk or half-n-half to thin it out. Add a little bit of salt. Oil baking dish with olive oil. Put about half the pasta in the bottom of the dish. Layer half the cheese mixture and pesto over top. Repeat with the remaining pasta, cheese mixture and pesto. Top with sauce and shredded cheese. Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes until cheese is melted and pasta is heated.
Serve and enjoy.
Now I'm off to try a new cookie recipe - oatmeal cookies with peanut butter and chocolate chips. We'll see how it goes.
Bean Chili
As we discussed
before, we love our recipe for bean chili.
We're making it right now and it smells amazing.
Quote of the night: "Black beans are like little nuggets of black gold."
