I always love to get Baked Ziti at restaurants so I thought I'd try to make some at home. I generally get mine meatless but my husband always prefers things to have meat in them if possible, so I opted to try a recipe that contained beef. I thought it turned out pretty tasty, though I might try to use more sauce or less ricotta next time, as I prefer mine to have a little more of a tomato taste to it. It was good nonetheless.
Baked Ziti (er...Rotini...I didn't have any ziti on hand)
1 lb ziti pasta
1 lb ground beef
salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes to taste
12 oz ricotta cheese (I used part skim)
3 cups jarred pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (I used 2% milk mozzarella)
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese, divided
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 and grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season water with salt, boil pasta till al dente; drain and set aside.
Meanwhile brown ground beef in skillet and season with desired amounts of salt, black pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes. Drain excess grease away from meats and return back to skillet.
Put a thin layer of sauce on bottom of baking dish to prevent sticking. In a large pot, mix remaining sauce with meat, ricotta cheese and pasta. Pour half of the mixture into the baking dish and top with 1/2 cup Romano, 1/2 cup mozzarella , 1/4 cup Parmesean. Pour remaining noodle mixture and top with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/4 cup Romano cheese.
Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, then remove foil and broil on low for 5 minutes if you like the cheese a little bit browned. Let set 5 minutes to cool before serving.
Adapted from a recipe found on Mrs. Sac's Purple Kitchen.
I was asked to bring dessert to a Superbowl party and decided I've given this Oreo Cheesecake a try. It was delicious! I love cheesecake and Oreos so this was great. Now if I can just figure out how to keep it from cracking on top!
Oreo Cheesecake
1 cup crushed OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (about 12 cookies)
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
20 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, quartered
PREHEAT oven to 325°F if using a silver springform pan (or 300°F if using a dark nonstick springform pan). Mix crushed cookies and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes. BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Gently stir in quartered cookies. Pour over crust. BAKE 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with additional cookies, if desired.
Source: NC Recipes
I love pizza! It is gooey and cheesy and just all around yummy. However, pizza is generally not all that good for you, especially when it comes from a pizza place. So we try to make it at home and to find ways to make it healthier. Using lower fat cheese and non meat toppings always helps, but helping to get some of your grain servings in there too is an added plus. So I was excited to try this pizza dough that incorporates whole wheat flour. It was tasty and I'll definitely be making it again.
Whole Wheat Herb Pizza Dough
1 package dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons pizza seasoning (I used a mix of Italian seasoning and pasta seasoning since I didn't have pizza seasoning)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking Spray
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, oil, garlic powder, pizza seasonings and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until well-blended. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide dough in half; roll each half into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. Top and bake according to recipe directions.
Note: You can prepare this in a stand mixer using the dough hook. Add all the ingredients and let the hook knead the dough for approximately 5 minutes. Also, this dough may be frozen. Follow directions for kneading dough, and shape dough into 2 balls. Coat balls with cooking spray and place into a ziptop plastic freezer bag. Thaw overnight in a refrigerator. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85'), free from drafts' 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If Indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Shape as instructed.
We cooked the pizza dough for 5 minutes, then added our sauce, cheese, toppings and more cheese. Then we baked for approximately 15 more minutes until the cheese was melted and slightly browned.
Source: Jenni's Culinary Creations
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