Macaroni and Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese, although most of my life the only mac and cheese I knew came from that blue box. I actually used to not like the homemade version that I would encounter because it wasn't what I was used to. But that all changed a few years ago when I made my first attempt and this recipe has just strengthened that love. In fact, the last time I had the blue box variety I could barely eat it and just kept thinking about how fake it tasted.

This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman, it's on her Web site and in her cookbook. It is really pretty simple, in fact while I was making it I was thinking about how it really is not that much more work than the boxed variety. I definitely recommend this recipe, it's really easy and tasty and is total comfort food. One thing though is I do recommend grating your cheese yourself. Yes, it's kind of a pain but I've made this both ways and it is so much better with self-grated cheese. It's more moist and flavorful than pre-shredded and totally worth the work.

Macaroni and Cheese

From The Pioneer Woman

4 Cups Macaroni

1/2 Stick Butter (1/4 cup)

1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour

2 1/2 Cups Milk (I used our standard 2%)

2 Teaspoons Dry Mustard, heaping

1 Egg, beaten

1 Pound Cheese, Grated

1 Teaspoon Salt*

1 Teaspoon Season Salt*

1 Teaspoon Pepper*

Cook macaroni until still firm; drain.

Beat egg. At this point I recommend having every remaining ingredient all measured out; it will make the next few steps much easier.

Melt butter in a big pot and then sprinkle in the flour and whisk constantly for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.

Add milk and mustard and whisk until smooth and then cook for another 5 minutes, still whisking constantly.

Prepare your egg by slowly adding 1/4 of the sauce to the beaten egg, stirring constantly until smooth. This keeps you from having scrambled eggs in your mac and cheese.

Add the egg to the rest of the sauce and stir constantly until smooth.

Add all but 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir until melted (if you want to serve immediately then add all the cheese now). Add seasonings.

Add in drained macaroni and stir until totally covered. You can serve now or...

Pour into a buttered dish (I've used a 2 quart casserole and a 9x13, both work). Top with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Check out Pioneer Woman's site for additional suggested seasonings.

* PW calls for 1/2 teaspoon of these seasonings, but we think it's better with 1 teaspoon of each.

An Incredible Lasagna

In 2007 Doug and I decided that there weren't enough events in the month of December, so to spice things up I decided to graduate college and we decided to get married, hey we didn't want anyone to be bored! So I graduated the 15th, there was one week of nothing, then Christmas (which included Christmas with both of our parents, my grandparents, and Doug's mom's family), and the following Saturday (the 29th) we got married. While some thought that we were insane and were trying to cause problems other family members got in the spirit and jumped in to help.

Two of those who jumped in to help were Doug's aunt and cousin, Donna and Rachel respectively. They helped out by insisting on bringing the meal to the family gathering at Doug's parents house (this was on Thursday, our rehearsal dinner was Friday and the wedding was Saturday). Rachel made a great chicken lasagna from her husband's family and Aunt Donna made this incredible sausage lasagna. But they were nice enough to allow us to bring the bread.

This lasagna is so good, we actually had this on New Years Day this year, it was a great way to reminisce about what had happened just over a year ago. The great thing about this lasagna is that it is fancy enough to work for a special meal (like Christmas or New Years) but yet simple enough to enjoy any time. This recipe is also great because you can make it as mild or as spicy as you'd like, just by changing the sausage.

Give this recipe a try next time you're in the mood for lasagna, you won't regret it.

Italian Sausage Lasagna

Source: Aunt Donna

2# Italian Sausage (whatever spice level you want)
1 clove (or more) garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon basil
1 1/2 tsp salt
2-6 oz cans tomato paste
2-12 oz cans tomato sauce (can use some of the Italian spiced one or with added basil/garlic)

3 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 Tablespoons parsley
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp salt
1# sliced mozzarella cheese
Lasagna noodles - may use oven ready

Brown and drain meat. Add next FIVE ingredients and simmer 30 minutes, stir frequently. Combine remaining ingredients EXCEPT sliced mozzarella and noodles.

Now build....
First Layer - thin layer of meat/tomato sauce
Second Layer - single layer of noodles - (but you can overlap if you want)
Third Layer - ricotta mixture (use half)
Fourth Layer - mozzarella slices (use half)

Repeat layers (but save some meat/tomato for top)

Top with meat sauce and additional Romano (or Parmesan) cheese.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Easy, Cheesy Pasta

One thing that you've probably noticed is that there are not a lot of real meals on here. I promise, we don't live on sweets alone. It is just that usually I feel like my meals are not that interesting or special. However, lately I have been trying to change that and make meals that are interesting, tasty, and not the same-old-thing. This is another recipe that I found on Annie's Eats. She says that it is a meal she enjoyed growing up and I can totally see why. It is a really easy cheesy pasta dish that is not too heavy. D gets tired of having the same heavy pasta dishes all of the time and he really seemed to enjoy this dish because he said it was not heavy (score one for me!). I had never worked with mozzarella in any form other than pre-shredded before and I found that I really liked it in block form. This meal came together pretty quickly and provided both of use with lunches for the next 2 days. I totally recommend this dish (thanks Annie!).

Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta al Forno

From Annie's Eats

Annie credits this recipe to Pasta by Dorling Kindersley

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2-14 oz. cans diced Italian plum tomatoes

1 tsp. dried oregano

S&P

1 lb. pasta (tubes)

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed

2/3 c. parmesan

Directions:

Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic and cook over medium high heat, 1 min. Add tomatoes and oregano and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally until thickened, 15 min. Add S&P. Meanwhile, cook pasta. Toss pasta with sauce. Place half of pasta in an oiled 9×13” dish. Cover with half parmesan and half mozzarella. Top with remaining pasta, then parmesan and mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.