Recipe // Cheesy Rigatoni Bake

Almost every weekend I go to visit Chris I bring along one or two new recipes that I really want to try. Chris becomes my guinea pig and I get to finally use those hundreds of recipes I've pinned. We're all happy. This weekend was no different. While at work one very slow night, I grabbed the new Taste of Home magazine and began to flip through it. I usually always stop on the pasta recipes and write them down because they just look so darn good.

I found this Rigatoni Bake recipe and really wanted to try it. Simple and quick, always my cup of tea. However, it did look a little flavorless to me while reading so I knew I wanted to add some more things to it. My new favorite thing for cooking are those pre-made season packets they sell in the baking aisle, they're like awesomeness in a tiny little packet. They add so much flavor and have a choice for almost anything you're making. Try them, now. 

And so, I made the pasta dish and it turned out amazing. So good and let me tell you, you will never eat more cheese in a pasta dish then with this one. It is a must try if you're as big as a nut about pasta as I am. With the extra seasonings and chicken, it is a mouthful of goodness. Check it out my amigos!

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Ingredients needed:
1 box of rigatoni pasta
2 Tbl butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup flour
4 eggs, beaten
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 grated Pamesan cheese
2 large chicken breasts, shredded
1 chicken and pasta seasoning packet (or use seperate seasonings)

1. Cook pasta. Then in a saucepan, melt butter. Add salt, milk, and water and stir. Gradually stir in the flour until smooth. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes or until sauce has become thick.
TIP: the original recipe says to add the flour in with the butter, before the milk and water. I found this to be a complete clumpy mess and redid it adding the flour last. Works a lot better!

2. In another pan, cook chicken until done and shred into stripes. Pour the 2 cans tomato sauce over the chicken and stir in the seasoning packet.

3. Drain pasta and pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Pour the beaten eggs over the pasta and give it a good stir. Next, pour the tomato and chicken sauce over the pasta, followed by the milk sauce. Cover the dish in cheese.

4. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.

<3

Penne Arrabiata Recipe

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The other day I posted about this wonderful pasta dish I made for Chris and I Easter weekend. It was really simple and turned out great and is even better when you eat it for leftovers the next day. I found the recipe via foodgawker, though I ended up losing the original recipe throughout the weekend so I apologize for that. But there are a million recipes for this dish I just tweaked the recipe I looked at a little to make it more for my liking. So feel free to tweak it even more!  

Ingredients:

-pasta of choice (I used penne)

-14oz can of chopped tomatoes

-1 can of marinara sauce

-2 Tbl. olive oil

-1/2 chopped onion

-1-2 tsp. minced garlic

-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 

-2-3 pinches of dried basil

-salt and pepper 

-1 pinch of sugar

-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large pan. I let Chris cut the onion, because I couldn't stop crying and snot was pouring out of my nose. Okay! moving on....

2. Once the onions look cooked throw in the tomatoes (with the juice), cayenne pepper, sugar, basil, and can of sauce. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer for about 25-30min until sauce becomes thick.

3. In the meantime, cook the pasta to al dente and then add to the sauce when done. 

4. Give it a good stir to mix everyone together and top off with all the cheese you want! 

4 steps to a quick and easy pasta dish, you can't get any better than that! Again, it turned out amazing and maybe next time I make it, I might add some chicken strips to make it even more hearty. 

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

xo, k

Cold Italian Pasta Salad Recipe

My addiction to Italian pasta salad started about five years ago, my sophomore year of high school. I was in track and during the meets, one of us would always bring a huge bowl of pasta salad and the rest of us would bring our own forks. During the breaks we would all chow down on pasta salad like we've never been fed before. It was always a fight to see who would get the pepperonis first. YUM!

It's one of my favorite past times and still a huge reason why I continue to make Italian pasta salad every now and then. It is so simple and you can throw it together in a matter of 15 minutes. Now I know there are a million different ways to make this stuff, but this is my take on it so I hope you enjoy it! (This is how a track kid eats)

Ingredients needed:

(There's no exact measuring to this recipe, just use the amounts you would like for each piece)

Colored Rotini pasta 

Italian dressing

Pepperonis

Cherry tomatoes 

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Black olive halves 

Mozzarella cheese chunks

1. Boil water and start cooking your pasta. Meanwhile, I start getting all my ingredients ready. I cut the cherry tomatoes in half and pick out the seeds. I also cut the pepperonis in half (and eat a few). I use canned olive halves, so I drain the water and set them aside.

2. When you pasta is cooked to al dente, drain and throw in a bowl. If you want to eat the salad right away throw the pasta in the fridge for a bit to cool it down faster. Or just throw everything together and pop in the fridge for later. Once the noodles have cooled throw all the goodness in and mix up. top with Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese. 

3. Sit down and gobble up!

This is my favorite :)

Happy Monday everyone!

xo, k