Italian Sausage Pasta Roll-Ups

Italian Sausage Pasta Roll-Ups

1 1/4 lb. Italian sausage
1 lg. onion chopped
1 (10 oz) container alfredo sauce
12 frozen precooked lasagna strips, thawed
1 (30 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1/3 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350. Remove casing from sausage if necessary. In skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium high heat until sausage is browned; drain. Cool slightly. Stir in alfredo sauce. Place 3 tablespoons of meat mixture on one end of each lasagna strip; roll up. Spread half of the spaghetti sauce in bottom of ungreased baking dish. Place roll-ups, seam side down, over sauce in dish, forming 2 rows of 6 roll-ups each. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly around edges. Remove foil; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Let stand 5 minutes

Country-Style Rigatoni

- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 pound mild or hot Italian sausage
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups canned low sodium chicken broth, or homemade stock
- 1 head escarole, torn into 2-inch pieces (about 2 quarts)
- 1 cup drained and rinsed canned cannellini beans, (from one
15-ounce can)
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 3/4 pound rigatoni

In a large deep frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the
sausage and cook, turning, until browned and cooked through, about 10
minutes. Remove. When the sausage is cool enough to handle, cut it into
slices.
Put the garlic and the broth in the pan and bring to a simmer. Add the
escarole, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Gently stir in the sausage,
beans, Parmesan, salt, and pepper and simmer 1 minute longer.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until
just done, about 14 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce. Serve
with additional Parmesan.

Italian Meatloaf

This is my FAVORITE meatloaf recipe!! It's even better the next day so double it and make two loafs and keep the one for leftovers.



ITALIAN MEATLOAF
2 1/2 lbs ground beef or chuck
2 large peppers, red or green, coarsely chopped
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 large sweet onion, chopped
4 slices bacon
1 1/2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced or pressed garlic
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/3 teaspoon oregano
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley (do not substitute)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt or beef bouillon powder
2 eggs
1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup ketchup (or more as neede)
onion and garlic powder to taste
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, combine meat, eggs, seasonings and remaining ingredients except ketchup and bacon, adding breadcrumbs to mixture last. If meat is low in fat, add up to 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mix well.
Press meat into a loaf shaped pan, forming a dome shape. Brush top with ketchup and sprinkle with onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover with bacon slices. Baste occasionally with additional ketchup during cooking, being careful not to allow oven to get cold or additional cooking time will be required. If desired, cover with thinly sliced onions.
Bake uncovered 1 1/2 hours.

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti

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1/2 pound ziti pasta
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 1/2 cloves garlic, crushed
2/3 pound lean ground turkey
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1/3 cup fresh, chopped basil
1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
2/3 cup grated, fat-free mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Bring 1/2 gallon of salted water to boil. Add the ziti and cook until
al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more. Add the ground turkey, season
with salt and pepper, and brown. Drain off the excess fat.

4. Add the tomato sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning.

5. In a large mixing bowl, toss the ziti, meat sauce, basil and ricotta
cheese together. Transfer to a casserole dish and sprinkle with the
grated cheeses. (This can be made ahead and stored unbaked in the
refrigerator up to 2 days, or it can be frozen.)

6. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and brown and the dish is thoroughly
heated, about 15 to 20 minutes; bake longer if the dish has been
refrigerated.

Crockpot Stuffed Shells

Crockpot Stuffed Shells

18 jumbo pasta shells
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1 tbsp. parsley flakes
1 egg, beaten
2 jars (16 ounces each) meatless spaghetti sauce
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, just until tender; drain.
Meanwhile, brown beef, onion and garlic in skillet; drain. Add cheese,
bread crumbs, parsley and egg. Stuff shells, set aside. Pour 1 jar of
sauce into slow cooker. Arrange stuffed shells in sauce. Top with other
jar of sauce and Parmesan cheese. Cover and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours.

Serves 6.

Greek Skillet

I made this tonight (although I modified it a bit) and it was SO good!!!! I made it bigger so it would feed my family and didn't write down exact amounts when I altered the recipe.


8oz ground beef or lamb
3/4 c chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
14 1/2 oz can beef broth
1 1/2 c DRIED medium shell pasta
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (broccoli, carrots)
1 14 1/2 oz can, undrained diced tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
1/8t ground cinnamon
1/8t ground nutmeg
2t snipped fresh marjoram (I used dried)
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese (I used mozzarella cause I forgot to buy feta)

In large skillet, cook meat, onion and garlic. Stir in broth and macaroni. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in vegetables, tomatoes, tomatoe paste, cinnamon, nutmeg. Retrun to boiling until veggies are tender. Stir in marjoram. Sprinkled with feta.


(I used fresh veggies...carrots, broccoli and celery....instead of frozen)