Italian Mac N Cheese

1 pound ziti rigate, penne rigate or cavatappi
1 pound Italian bulk sweet sausage (choose level of spiciness - mild, hot)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
12 crimini mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 (10-ounce) sack, 2 1/2 cups, shredded Italian 4 cheese blend
1 can diced tomatoes, drained well (if using RoTel, choose spiciness)
1 teaspoon hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco), optional
1/2 cup Parmesan, a couple of handfuls


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water and cook pasta to a chewy al dente, about 8 minutes.

In a nonstick skillet, brown and crumble the sausage. Drain cooked crumbles on paper towel lined plate. Return pan to heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, butter, garlic and mushrooms. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Saute 3 to 5 minutes, until mushrooms are lightly golden.

Preheat broiler to high.

To mushrooms, add flour and stir, cooking 2 minutes. Whisk in stock, then stir in cream. Bring cream to a bubble, then stir in 2 cups of 4 cheese blend. When cheese has melted into sauce, add tomatoes. When sauce comes to a bubble, remove from heat and adjust seasonings, adding hot sauce if desired.

Combine cheese sauce with sausage and pasta, transfer to baking dish, casserole or oven safe serving platter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of 4 cheese blend and the grated Parmesan over the top and brown under hot broiler.



Recipe from Erica

"Mommy Worked Last Night" Baked Pasta

1 to 1 1/2 lb ground beef and/or Italian sausage
1 26oz can or jar of spaghetti sauce
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 box (1 lb) penne, mostacolli, or ziti pasta
1 small onion (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 cup-ish sour cream (optional)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown meat with onion and garlic. Drain. Mix together sauce, cheese soup, Parmesan, and sour cream. Cook and drain pasta. Mix all ingredients together. Put in greased casserole dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake covered for melty cheese, uncovered for bubbly cheese, at 350 for 25-30 minutes (until cheese is melted). Serve.

Basic, original recipe from Dawn, with some modifications by me.

Chicken or Beef Spedini

chicken breasts
thinly cut beef (like breakfast steak)
Italian bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese
garlic powder
1/2 to 1 stick butter or margerine, melted
lemon juice

- Pound chicken with a meat tenderizer until 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. If making beef, no pounding is necessary.
- In a bowl, combine butter and lemon juice.
- In another bowl, combine dry ingredients.
- Dip meat in butter bath and then into crumb mixture, coating evenly on both sides.
- Roll meat into a log and set aside. Repeat dipping a rolling until finished.
- Cut logs into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices. They will look like little spirals.
- Place slices on skewer.
- Broil skewers for 5-6 minutes, then flip and broil another 5-6 minutes. You may have to flip them and do a final 5-6 minutes, depending on how thick the slices were cut.

TIPS
- I soak my bamboo skewers in water for a couple of hours before sticking the meat on them. It prevents the bamboo from charring during the broiling.
- After rolling up the meat, I refrigerate for an hour or so; it makes it a lot easier and less messy to cut into slices.
- You may substitute lemon zest for lemon juice. Just add it to the dry ingredients.
- As far as the dry ingredients go, sorry about the non-measurements! I usually do half crumbs and half cheese, and then garlic to taste.

Original recipe from Mary

Creamy Pesto Sauce

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 to 1 1/2 cup milk or half and half
2/3 cup pesto

Melt butter over medium heaet. Add dry ingredients. Heat until bubbly and smooth, stirring constantly. Carefully add milk. Stir constantly while heating to boiling. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in pesto. Serve over pasta or chicken.

Recipe by Meredith

Alfredo Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1 2/ cups grated Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter. Add cream and simmer 5 minutes. Then add garlic and cheese. Whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and serve.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Pesto

good handful of fresh spinach
1 generous tsp basil
1 generous tsp garlic, minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil

Process all ingredients to make a paste.

Recipe from Diane

Pasta con Broccoli

1 box shell, large macaroni, or mostacolli pasta
1/2 lb provel/mozerella/provelone cheese
1/2 lb velveeta
1 pint half and half
1 stick margerine
sliced musrooms
broccoli flowerettes
garlic

Steam vegetables. Heat together margerine, half and half, and cheeses until cheeses are melted. Add garlic to taste. Pour over noodles. Toss in cooked vegetables.

Recipe from Mary

Pepperoni Cheese Pie

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp red pepper
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup pepperoni, chopped
1/4 cup green onion
1/4 cup green pepper
1/2 cup mozzerella cheese

Beat cream cheese, sour cream, oregano, garlic, and red pepper together. Spread in a 9" or 10" pie plate. Spread pizza sauce over cheese mixture. Sprinkle pepperoni, green onion, and green pepper on top. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Top with mozzerella cheese and bake 5 more minutes.

Recipe from Mary