One Pot Baked Ziti

One pot meals are awesome in many ways.  I love this recipe since it is quick and easy unlike my usual tomato sauce that cooks for hours.  And the ziti cooks in the sauce and not in boiling water!!!

The photo and recipe are from Plain Chicken, one of my favorite food blogs for simple, easy and delicious recipes!  The link follows the recipe . . . check it out!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed 
• 1 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes (San Marzano) 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning 
• 2 cups water 
• 12 oz ziti 
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 
• 1/3 cup heavy cream 
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 

Directions:

Brown Italian sausage in 9-inch (2.5qt) oven save pan until browned. Drain fat.

Add onion flakes and garlic. Cook for 30-60 seconds, until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes, salt, red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning.

Add water and ziti. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover skillet. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until pasta is tender.

Remove skillet from heat. Stir in ricotta and heavy cream. Cook on low for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Photo and recipe source: Plain Chicken

Tex Mex Mac and Cheese

Who doesn't love macaroni and cheese?

The Captain and I often make it as a snack.  He tends to love the spicy versions of everything, so I know this version of macaroni and cheese will be a regular part of our menu.

This recipe comes from Pillsbury . . . love their website!

Ingredients

1

box (16 oz) penne rigate pasta

1/2

cup butter or margarine

1/2

cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1

teaspoon salt

4 1/2

cups milk

3

cups shredded Monterey Jack or pepper Jack cheese (12 oz)

2

cans (4.5 oz each) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles

1

cup crushed Green Giant® zesty Cheddar roasted veggie tortilla chips (about 16 chips)

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. 

Spray 3-quart glass baking dish with cooking spray. 

Cook and drain pasta as directed on box.

• Meanwhile, in 5-quart Dutch oven or saucepan, melt butter over low heat. With whisk, stir in flour and salt until smooth. Increase heat to medium; cook until mixture is smooth and bubbly, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. 
• Remove from heat; gradually stir in cheese and chiles until cheese is melted. 
• Stir in cooked pasta.
• Pour mixture into baking dish; sprinkle with crushed chips.
• Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

http://www.pillsbury.com/

Chocolate Caramel Bars

Love the combination of chocolate and caramel!

I'm craving chocolate tonight, so my recipe searches are gravitating towards these type of sinful sweets.  

Don't these look awesome?  The recipe and photo originates from Roxana's Home Baking, one of my favorite food blogs!  You must check it out for more delicious recipes from Roxana.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (56 grams) diced cold butter
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
• 1 cup (80 grams) cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (168 grams) melted butter
• 5 oz (1 small) can evaporated milk
• 14 oz caramels, unwrapped
• 1 1/2 cups (226 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 12-14 extra caramels

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350F.
2. Line a 13X9 baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. In a food processor add the flour and cold diced butter. Pulse a few more times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and all the butter is cut in. You can also use a pastry blender, a fork or rub the butter and flour with your hands.
4. Add the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and whisk to combine.
5. In a large mixing bowl add the dry ingredients mix and pour the melted butter on top. Add 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk and mix until well combined. The dough it's going to be similar to a light crumby cookie dough.
6. Spread 2/3 of the dough in the prepared baking pan and set aside. Refrigerate the remaining dough until needed.
7. In a small saucepan place the remaining evaporated milk and the unwrapped caramels. Stir continuously over low heat until the caramels are melted. Pour over the cookie dough base.
8. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the caramel layer.
9. Take the remaining cookie dough out of the fridge and crumble it on top of the chocolate chips.
10. Top with the remaining caramels.
11. Bake for 25 minutes.
12. It may seem bubbly and undone but once cooled the caramel and chocolate layers will set.
13. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.

Photo and Recipe Source: Roxana's Home Baking

Roxana's notes about this recipe . . .  After you mix the cake mix with the evaporated milk and melted butter it yields around 3 cups. The recipe suggested to spread half of the dough in the baking pan and the remaining half to be used as a streusel topping. I think it would be better to reserve around 3/4 to 1 cup of dough for the topping to leave room for the caramel and chocolate to ooze out a little bit more. 

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Comfort food would be my choice if I had to choose my favorite type of food. In my opinion, all chicken casseroles fall into that category. The Captain laughs at my use of many starches and carbs in one meal, but I LOVE this type of meal with some mashed potatoes, maybe a batch of biscuits . . . THAT is comfort!

This recipe courtesy of Trisha Yearwood and The Food Network show Trisha's Southern Kitchen.

I'm anxious to try out this recipe since I have never used the concept of a tortilla-topped casserole and the addition of the green chiles has peaked my curiousity.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt
• Chicken Gravy, recipe follows
• 1 cup canned green chiles, chopped and drained
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Cooking spray
• Twenty-four 6-inch corn tortillas
• 3 cups shredded Cheddar

Chicken Gravy:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

Add the chicken to a large stockpot, cover with water and add a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken and set aside. Reserve 3 1/3 cups of the broth (1 cup is for the chicken gravy, supplement with boxed stock if you don't have enough.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large saucepan, combine 2 1/3 cups of the reserved broth, the Chicken Gravy, green chiles, onions, garlic, sour cream, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.

Spread 1 cup of the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Arrange a layer of 6 tortillas over the mixture, and then top with 1 cup shredded chicken and 1/2 cup of the Cheddar. Repeat this layer three more times, ending with cheese. Spread any remaining mixture over the cheese. Make sure all of the tortillas are covered or they will get very hard during baking. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Chicken Gravy:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and the flour turns light brown in color. Gradually whisk in the stock and milk and continue to stir while cooking over medium heat. When the mixture thickens, after about 5 minutes, whisk in some salt and pepper.

A note about making the gravy . . . the milk is optional, many people use only chicken stock, but I like to add some milk a couple of teaspoons at a time until the desired consistency is achieved to give the gravy more creaminess.

Click here for a link all about making chicken gravy.

Source