Pesto Ravioli

 The pesto really takes this dish to the next level!

This recipe was originally for the crock pot, but it was late in the day and I really wanted to try it. I simply cooked it at a lower temperature, and for a longer time, than I do for most casseroles, and it worked great. It's a really easy dish and it looks, smells and tastes wonderful! This will definitely make an appearance during lent.

1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup pesto, I buy mine by the marinara sauce in the grocery store...feel free to use homemade
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 pkg frozen ravioli, 25 oz (your choice of cheese or meat filled)
1 jar or can of marinara sauce, 24 oz (I use Hunt's Traditional in the can)

In a mixing bowl,  add ricotta cheese, pesto and grated Parmesan, stir to mix well.

Start by adding one cup of marinara sauce to the bottom of your 9 X 13 baking dish. Spread it around to cover the bottom.

Add a layer of frozen ravioli over the sauce, side by side.

Top ravioli with a layer of half of the ricotta/pesto/Parmesan mixture.  Spread it over the ravioli the best you can, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Sprinkle a little mozzarella over the top.

Layer it all again, marinara/ravioli/ ricotta mixture/mozzarella.  Use the remaining marinara to dot the top with after the last layer.

Cover with foil to bake. 

I baked mine at 300* for 45-50 minutes. I watched and waited for it to be bubbly all around the edges.

I made only 1/2 of the recipe for Doug and I and it was enough for dinner and leftovers for lunch the next day for the two of us. It warmed up great in the microwave the next day.

If you want to use the crock pot, layer everything just as above and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Adapted from: Real Mom's Kitchen

Chicken Florentine Pasta

this photo doesn't do this dish justice...

This is a dish I originally made for Doug and I, but since then, the boys have enjoyed it, too. It goes together quickly and is a lighter option than many pasta dishes.  Great for summertime. Use a wedge of fresh Parmesan if you can...it really enhances the flavor.


1 pound Penne, I like the mini kind
4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bite-size chunks
Salt And Pepper, to taste
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 cups white wine (you could use all chicken broth)
3/4 cups Low-sodium chicken broth, may need a little more
1 bag Baby Spinach
2 cups diced tomatoes
Parmesan Cheese, shaved with vegetable peeler, can use grated if it's all you have on hand


Put pasta on to cook according to package directions.

In a skillet heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. When hot, drop chicken in and let cook till brown on one side. Flip over and cook until done. Remove from skillet.

Turn heat on skillet to medium and add minced garlic. Stir around for 1/2 a minute or so to avoid burning the garlic.

Pour wine and chicken broth in skillet and stir to deglaze the pan. The liquid will bubble and reduce.

When it has reduced by about half, turn off the heat.

Add in the tomatoes, spinach chicken and drained pasta.  Gently stir to combine, the spinach leaves will wilt as you combine.

Shave plenty of parmesan on top and toss gently once again.

Serve with extra Parmesan if desired.

Source: Pioneer Woman

Rotini with Maria Rosa Sauce

Here is a simple pasta dish that we enjoyed on a Friday during Lent. The sauce is easy, not as easy as opening up a jar of marinara, but easy enough and tasty enough to make it worth a little effort. Just give yourself enough time to let the sauce simmer to enhance all the flavors.

Here's what you need to get started:

rotini pasta, however much you need for your family,
or pasta of your choice, I think penne would work great, too
grated Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling on top

Maria Rosa Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onions
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian, flat leaf parsley
4 cups canned whole plum tomatoes, about one 35 oz. can
(crush the tomatoes using your hands or chop with a knife before adding to the sauce, or puree them in a food processor if you like your sauce less chunky)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil.

Add carrots, celery and onion and garlic and cook until softened about 8-10 minutes.

Stir in the parsley and tomatoes.

Bring the sauce to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the tomatoes are sweetened and cooked about 45 minutes.

When sauce is close to being done, prepare pasta according to package directions.

Drain pasta and toss with enough of the sauce to thoroughly coat pasta.

Dish up the pasta and top with extra sauce and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

*You could add a pound of ground chuck to the sauce to make a meat sauce for topping pasta. Just add it to the vegetables after they have begun to soften and cook until done, then finish the recipe from that point, adding the tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper.

This was very reminiscent of pasta we would have ordered in Italy. And even though I made it without meat, it was very filling and healthy with all the veggies in it.

We loved it!

Vegetable Lasagne

Doug bought me a new cookbook for Christmas and this weekend we decided to make a dish from it together. Tough choice as to what to make...it's an Italian cookbook and we love almost all Italian dishes.
We chose this lasagne recipe not even realizing it could also be a Lenten recipe. Whoo-Hoo...double duty recipes ROCK!

The real name of this recipe is Green Lasagne. But in our small town, no green lasagne noodles were to be found, so we're going to call it Vegetable Lasagne. Works for me!!

It looks a bit much at first, but really it's easy to put together. We chopped all the veggies earlier in the day and that helped speed things up. You could even make your sauces completely in advance and then you just have to assemble it and pop it in the oven. (If not making in advance, just be sure to give yourself plenty of time, the red sauce needs to simmer for 45 minutes.)

Here's what you need to get this started:

1 recipe Maria Rosa's sauce, recipe follows
12 Lasagne noodles, cooked, cooled and drained on a dish towel (I like to cook extra just in case some stick to the pan, I cooked 15)
1 recipe White sauce, recipe follows
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350*.

2. Ladle 1/2 cup Maria Rosa sauce on the bottom of a buttered 9 X 13 baking dish.

3. Place 3  lasagne noodles side by side over the sauce.

4. Top noodles with one quarter of the remaining Maria Rosa sauce.

5. Top Maria Rosa sauce with one quarter of the White sauce.

6. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese over all.

7. Place 3 more lasagne noodles over Parmesan and  repeat steps 4, 5 and 6.

8. Place 3 more lasange noodles on top and repeat steps 4,5 and 6 again.

9. Place last 3 lasagne noodles on top and repeat steps 4, 5 and 6, using all the remaining sauce for this layer.

10. Bake until bubbly and lightly browned on top, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.


Maria Rosa Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onions
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian, flat leaf parsley
4 cups canned whole plum tomatoes, about one 35 oz. can
(crush the tomatoes using your hands or chop with a knife before adding to the sauce, or puree them in a food processor if you like your sauce less chunky)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add carrots, celery and onion and garlic and cook until softened about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and tomatoes.Bring the sauce to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the tomatoes are sweetened and cooked about 45 minutes.

*********************************************************************************

White sauce:
6 tablespoons of butter
6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
3 cups skim milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Melt butter in medium size saucepan set over medium-low heat.When butter is foaming, whisk in the flour. Whisk in the milk.Cook, whisking frequently, until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes, more or less time as needed.Remove from heat and stir in salt and pepper to taste and nutmeg.


This was a very tasty lasagne. Not a traditional "American" lasagne, and I think that's what I liked about it. You could definitely add some browned sausage or ground chuck to the red sauce and make it more hearty. Without the meat, it's a  great addition to our Lenten recipes, for sure! AND it heats up well the next day for leftovers! Does this make it a triple duty recipe???

According to the cookbook the Maria Rosa sauce is good on any type of long tubular pasta, like penne, ziti or rotini. I'll be trying that in the future!

Stove Top Mac and Cheese

Guess what?!? Caleb is in his first apartment! Yay for him! He is loving it and doing some cooking! I know he refers to the blog for many of our favorite dishes. So some of my posts may be boring for the more experienced cooks, but my purpose has always been to create a place where our boys can see how I make the dishes we have at home. I think these are the kind of recipes that are lost from one generation to the next, simply because they aren't written down.

Like this dish...I assume everyone makes simple mac and cheese like this when the occasion arises, but maybe not. My mom made it like this and this is how I make it for a quick and easy side dish. Jonah will eat a mountain of it and has always has. It's comfort food for him. Sometimes a big bowl is his entire meal. He does like it with ketchup and it used to embarrass his brothers if he ate it like that in public...isn't that what little brothers are for???

Elbow macaroni, 1 1/2 cups or however much you need to serve your crew
Water for boiling macaroni
American cheese slices, sometimes I use Velveeta if I want to change it up. 5-6 slices if I am making enough for 5 servings...you can add more if you love cheese!
Milk, 1/4 cup or so
Butter, a couple tablespoons, more or less depending on your preference
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring water to a rolling boil.

Add macaroni slowly to boiling water, stir to separate.

Boil as directed on package or until desired done-ness, usually 9-10 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking together or sticking to bottom of pan.

Drain water off of macaroni, return mac to saucepan.

Add milk, butter and cheese to hot macaroni.

Stir to melt and incorporate all ingredients. 

The heat from the hot pasta should melt the butter and the cheese, but if not just place over low heat and keep stirring until all is melted.

Salt and pepper to taste.

You can totally add more of any ingredient to satisfy your family. Maybe you love it with more butter...just add more! I make this in all different serving sizes. Sometimes I make it up for only 1, other times I make enough for all 5 of us . Don't be afraid to change it up, it's one of those recipes that has no rules! And kids love it....much more than the box!

Ramen Noodle Stir Fry

1 package chicken flavored Ramen noodles,
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks, (or shrimp for lent)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets, I omitted these and used more broccoli
1 cup celery, sliced thin
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 medium onion, sliced thin
8 - 10 baby carrots, sliced thin
1/2 cup soy sauce, or teriyaki sauce*

Set aside seasoning packet from noodles.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

While noodles cook, stir-fry chicken in oil in a large skillet or wok. 5 -6  minutes or until no longer pink.

Add the vegetables and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until crisp tender.

Drain noodles: add to the pan with contentes of seasoning packet and the soy or teriyaki sauce.

Toss together well and serve imediately.

*I began this recipe with teriyaki sauce as you can see in the first picture, that I crossed out. But before I added it to the recipe, I tasted it and wow was it spicy! I tossed it out and grabbed the bottle of reduced sodium soy sauce and everyone loved it. And to be honest, I forgot to add the seasoning packet and it still tasted great.

I think you could adapt this for lent by swapping the chicken for shrimp! Maybe even using shrimp flavored Ramen...

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Hot Antipasto Salad

have I mentioned we like pasta?
...no south beach diet here!

2 packages cheese tortellini, cooked according to package directions & drained
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped tomato
1 package slices pepperoni, I use turkey (70% less fat) pepperoni and it is excellent
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
1 cup colored pasta noodles, cooked according to package directions & drained
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 can sliced black olives...I skipped these!
1 bottle Italian salad dressing
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients together in a large casserole dish.

Bake in a 350* oven for 30 minutes, stirring half way through.

Can be served hot or cold.

This makes a ton, so I usually cut it in half and it is plenty for my family.

This recipe comes from the school cookbook...from Kristen and Colin O'Brien...HI KRISTEN!

It is just as good the second day!

Make up a batch in the summer and keep in the fridge for quick meals on busy nights.

Tortellini Soup

All you need is a hunk of crusty bread and you've got dinner for tonight...and maybe lunch for tomorrow!

1 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces pancetta or bacon, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can chicken broth, 49 oz
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 package refrigerated cheese tortellini, 9 oz
1 can crushed tomatoes in puree, 28 oz
8 oz. fresh spinach leaves, rinsed and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for garnishing

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add pancetta or bacon, cook until crisp.

Add onion and garlic; cook 3-4 minutes or until tender.

Add broth, crushed tomatoes and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions; drain.

Add cooked tortellini to soup mixture.

Add spinach and cook until just wilted.

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve in bowls and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

I found this recipe in an older Taste of Home magazine. 

It was originally called "Holiday Tortellini Soup"

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Usually when I ask Doug what sounds good for dinner he says, "Spaghetti and meatballs." It's kind of a running joke. But today when he was home for lunch and I ask, he said, "anything Mexican". 

Here ya go Honey...

Here's what you need to get started.  And yes, I like to shred my own cheese, but I will forgive you if you buy it already shredded....this time.

12 large pasta shells, cooked to package directions, drain
1 # ground chuck, browned and drained of any fat
1 8 oz jar picante sauce
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 can mild rotel
1/2 cup water
1 cup shredded monerey jack cheese (I don't really measure, just throw some on till it looks yummy enough)
1 cup french fried onions (in the can found by the green beans at the grocery store)

Combine picante sauce, water, tomato sauce, and rotel in medium bowl.

Stir 1/2 this sauce into ground chuck that has been browned, reserve the rest.

Stir in 1/2 the cheese and 1/2 the french fried onions into the meat mixture as well.

Pour the reserved sauce into the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking pan.

Stuff shells with 2 to 3 tablespoons of meat mixture each. Arrange shells in baking dish on top of sauce. If you have leftover meat mixture...just sprinkle it over the top of the shells.

Cover and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

Uncover and top with remaining cheese and french fried onions. Return to oven uncovered for 5 to 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Want a bite?

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe, she understands my love of cookbooks/recipes, and  she knows Doug loves anything "pasta" and Mexican. Actually, almost all of us like it. 
If chunks of tomato turn you off, just whirl the sauce in a blender when you get it all put together.

Pasta Amatriciana a.k.a Piccolini

Click on any picture to get up close and personal.

1/4 pound pancetta, chopped, can substitute bacon
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic
red pepper flakes, 1 or 2 shakes, depending on how spicy you like it
1/2 onion, minced
1- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh oregano
parsley
1 pound penne pasta, we like the mini-penne

In a large skillet, brown pancetta (or bacon), remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

Add olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes to pan.

Heat till garlic sizzles.

Add onion and cook 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and herbs stir in reserved pancetta (or bacon).

Heat through and reduce heat to low.

Simmer until pasta is ready.

Start large pot of water for pasta, cook according to package directions.

Drain pasta and return to hot pot, add sauce and toss.

I found this recipe on the internet when we returned home from Rome. We had so many incredible meals there and hope to return one day to explore some more. This one is especially a hit with Jonah. He calls it Piccollini. Long story made short...the box of mini penne pasta from Barrilla is called "Piccolini".  I love how family traditions are sometimes started and it only make sense to the family.

Chicken and Pasta Primavera

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large green pepper, sliced thin
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli floweretts
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cup cooked and diced chicken
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 cup apple juice
1 package thin spaghetti
1/2 cup toasted almond slivers

Cook spaghetti according to package directions; meanwhile...

Heat oil in a large skillet, stir in pepper, onion, broccoli and garlic.

Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in chicken pieces, soy sauce and apple juice; heat through. Add almonds and toss to mix.

Drain spaghetti and place in a large pasta serving dish.

Pour chicken and vegetable mixture over pasta and serve.

Penne Pasta and Smoked Sausage

2 cups uncooked penne pasta (I like the mini ones)

1 1/2 cups french fried onions, divided
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup (4oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 lb. smoked sausage or fully cooked kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 cup frozen peas (I leave these out...no one likes peas in this house!)

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes; drain.

In a large bowl, combine milk and soup. Stir in 1/2 cup french fried onions, 1/2 cup cheese, peas (if you like that kind of thing), and sausage.

Drain pasta and add to sausage mixture. Transfer to a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Cover and bake at 375* for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Remove and sprinkle with remaining french fried onions and cheese. Bake uncovered and additional 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

"Pasta and sausage, oh darn," says Doug. He loves all pasta and all sausage!

Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta

8 oz. uncooked pasta
1 # ground chuck
6 strips bacon
1 can tomato soup
1/2 soup can water
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile cook bacon and ground chuck until browned, drain well.
Add pasta, soup and water to skillet with drained meat. Heat through.
Sprinkle with cheese, cover till cheese is melted.