White Bean and Sausage Rigatoni.

I'm pretty sure I don't even need to say "I found this wonderful recipe in my FAVORITE magazine, Anyone Can Cook" because just about everything I make comes from there.

So.

I found this wonderful recipe in my favorite magazine, Anyone Can Cook.

It's for baked pasta.

And if there's one thing I like to do, it's eat the shit out of some pasta.

WHITE BEAN AND SAUSAGE RIGATONI

INGREDIENTS:

-6 cups (or one box) dried rigatoni
-8 oz. cooked kielbasa
-1/2 of a 6 oz. can Italian-style tomato paste
-1/4 cup dry red wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth
-2 10 oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
-2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic, undrained
1 15 oz. can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup grated or finely shredded Parmesan cheese



Preheat oven to 375F. Cook rigatoni according to package. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.



Cut kielbasa in half lengthwise, then cut into bite size pieces. In a small bowl, combine tomato paste and chicken broth.



Add kielbasa, tomato paste mixture, spinach, tomatoes, and beans to the rigatoni; stir to combine. Transfer to an ungreased 3-quart rectangular baking dish.



Bake, covered, about 25 minutes or until heated through. Uncover; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Makes 6 to 8 servings.



NOTES:
-I used chicken broth instead of red wine.
-20 oz of spinach is way too much, IMO. Next time I think I would take it down to 10-12 oz.
-I couldn't find Great Northern beans at my grocery store. I went with standard "White Beans" and I loved it. Boyfriend wasn't so crazy about the beans in general, but I think it was actually my favorite part.
-Add as much Parmesan as you want. It's impossible to have too much. Also, only used fresh. It's way better than the dusty canned stuff.

This is a pretty hearty meal and it's simple to make. Perfect for rainy days or a quick family dinner.

Boner'ppetite.

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Homemade Chili.

Remember that one time I went on a diet?

That was cute when I did that.

Anyway.

Boyfriend and I made chili last weekend and it was off the chain delicious. And considering how easy it was to make, I think we were both surprised by how great it turned out.

CHILI (adapted from Anyone Can Cook magazine)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb of lean ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 15-oz can of tomato sauce
1 15-oz can of red kidney beans, undrained
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 heaping teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
cheddar cheese, grated (optional)
sour cream (optional)
avocado, sliced (optional)
margaritas (not optional)



DIRECTIONS

In a 3-qt saucepan cook ground beef, bell pepper, onion, and garlic all together over medium heat until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain fat.



Throw in the rest of the ingredients- tomato sauce, beans, tomatoes, chili powder, salt, basil, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.



Top each serving with cheddar, sour cream, avocado, or whatever you feel like. It's also great served with cornbread muffins.



Also, eat it with a margarita. It's perfect, actually.

Also-also, this is perfect "Sunday" food. It goes with football AND bridal marathons.

Boner'ppetite.

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Mini Meatloaves, Mother Truckers.

The other night, I decided to try out a recipe for Individual Sicilian Meat Loaves. From my favorite mag, Anyone Can Cook, obviously. Here's what you need:

INGREDIENTS
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 3/4 cups garlic/ onion pasta sauce
1/4 cup seasoned fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
12 oz of ground beef
2 oz mozzarella cheese or 2 sticks of mozzarella string cheese
4 thin slices prosciutto or cooked ham
9 oz cooked fettuccine



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400. In a medium bowl, combine egg, 1/4 cup pasta sauce, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Add ground beef to that mother.


Cut string cheese sticks in half, crosswise. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each cheese log. Add 1/4 of the meat mixture around each meat stick to form a loaf. Place in a shallow pan and cook for approx 20 minutes.


Arrange meatloaves over fettuccine. Spoon sauce over top. Add Parmesan if you like it.



NOTES
-The pasta sauce I used was regular old Ragu Traditional.
-I used shredded mozzarella and basically used the sliced ham to make a burrito out of it. Then I stuck a bunch of pieces of the ground piece mixture around it.
-The pasta options we had were slim. I went with elbow macaroni. Next time, I'll try egg noodles.
-I may have used less ground beef than called for. I got three loaves out of it.
-I like Parmesan. I added a lot.
-The loaves were very tender and juicy. I'm not sure if that's because I may have under cooked them, but nobody got sick. So basically, I owned that recipe.

These fucking loaves were DELICIOUS and I've been whispering sweet nothings to a package of ground beef in the freezer ever since. The recipe was surprisingly easy to make and pretty much foolproof if I was able to make them on a whim and not fuck anything up.

If you like spaghetti bolognese, you'll like this. Because that's basically what this is.

Boner'ppetite.

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