Zucchini Pasta Bake

Ingredients:
2 zucchini, sliced
12 oz. tomato sauce
3 cups Rigatoni
6 oz. Mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 tsp olive oil
Handful of shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook pasta according to package instruction, then set aside.

In a small saucepan, boil a small amount of water. Add zucchini and cook until tender. Grease a baking dish and layer 1/3 of the Rigatoni, tomato sauce, cheese and zucchini. Continue layering until you have three of each. Cover with shredded cheese and add a sprinkle of olive oil.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Here’s a little secret: olive oil-packed canned tuna, chili pepper flakes, and pasta is a master combination (and classic Italian). One of my favorite dishes on this site is the tuna, arugula, chili pepper, pasta recipe. So when I stumbled on another variation with similar core ingredients in Giulia Melucci’s I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti I had to try it. Score! If you like canned tuna and pasta, you must try this. I made one batch (serves two), ate half of it for lunch and the rest for dinner. Because I know someone is going to ask, if you don’t cook with wine, try substituting 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar and 1/4 cup of water for the white wine the recipe calls for. Regarding tuna packed in water, I’ve tried it and believe me, it doesn’t work (dry, tastes bad). You need to use tuna packed in olive oil.

Continue reading “Pasta with Tuna and Capers in White Wine Sauce” »

From Simply Recipes.

I tried making it at home with various bottled dressings, but it just never came close to my favorite restaurant versions, that is until I came across this recipe – Enjoy!

Do a little research into the background of the caesar salad and you’ll find that it is named not for some illustrious Roman emperor, but for Caesar Cardini, a Mexican chef working in Tijuana in the 1920s, who would dramatically serve it up table-side. (At least that’s how the story goes.) Fast forward to this century and you have what is probably the most popular restaurant salad in the country, with plenty of variations around the theme of romaine lettuce, garlic, Parmesan, and croutons. What follows is my she-can-cook-a-lot-better-than-I-can friend Suzanne’s recipe, family size. I love Suzanne’s caesar salad, and have been a frequent guest at her house when it has happened to have been served (lucky!) She makes her own croutons from scratch, from baguette slices that have been brushed with olive oil, toasted, and then roughly chopped. This she does while the garlic has been soaking in olive oil in the serving bowl, a great way to infuse the oil with garlic.

Continue reading “Caesar Salad” »

From Simply Recipes.

Have you heard about the “canvolution” sweeping the country? Check out CanningAcrossAmerica.com for canning events and resources. ~Elise

One of our favorite products is jarred marinated red bell peppers. They’re convenient for recipes that call for roasted red peppers, and good to nibble on straight too. Usually we just buy them at Trader Joe’s, but if you can get a good deal on a lot of peppers, you can easily make and can your own. It takes a while for red bell peppers to fully ripen into their redness, which I suppose is why they cost more than the green variety. Late August is a great time to find them at a reasonable price at a farmers market or the supermarket. To make your own, just char the peppers in a broiler or over flame, remove the blackened skin and seeds, bottle with a boiled vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil marinade. If you just want to use up the peppers quickly, you can skip the canning steps and just keep them refrigerated in their marinade (they’ll last a couple of weeks in the fridge). Or process the jars in a water bath if you want to store them in the cupboard or for a longer period of time.

Continue reading “Marinated Roasted Red Bell Peppers” »

From Simply Recipes.