Cheesy Rich Italian Roni Mac

This is a perfect potluck casserole-for-a-crowd...it makes a big ole dish of rich, yummy, lasagne-like pasta.

Plus, it is easy to make and goes together quickly for a layered pasta.

Total cook time: 45 minutes


CHEESY RICH ITALIAN RONI MAC

INGREDIENT LIST
16 ounces roni mac noodles (could also use pasta shells or penne)
1 24-ounce jar pasta red sauce (I used Ragu roasted garlic)
1 lb. pork or turkey sausage
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 stick butter
8 ounces low-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
8 ounces low-fat small curd cottage cheese
2 cups shredded colby cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

DIRECTIONS
Spray a 9X13 casserole dish with non-stick spray, slice up two tablespoons of the butter and place on the bottom of the dish. Cook the noodles, and place half of the noodles in the casserole dish. Cook the sausage, add in onion, toss with the jar of red sauce. In a mixer, blend cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese, and spread the white cheese mix over the noodles. Top with remaining cooked noodles, slice up the remaining butter and place around on top of the noodles, then top the whole dish with the sausage/sauce mix. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees, top with the shredded cheese, and bake for 15 more minutes.

Leftovers heat up well!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

A Vintage Summer's Casserole

A cheesy shells-n-tuna summer casserole, baked in the cutest vintage casserole pan I found at the Disabled American Veterans thrift store for 1.50. How about that?

I love making casseroles year-round because you just throw together ingredients, pop it in the oven, clean everything up, and wallah! Dinner is ready soon, and the kitchen is already clean!

So the other night, I looked around the fridge and the pantry, and I came up with some pasta shells, a couple cans of white albacore tuna packed in water, some cheddar cheese, a jar of Ragu cheddar cheese (I had stocked up when it was on sale a couple of months ago), baby portobello mushrooms, a fresh vidalia onion, and a bag of salad. That sounded like dinner to me!

Most cheesy casseroles call for shredded cheese. I prefer to chop up chunk cheese, for some tasty bites throughout the dish.

I gave all my ingredients a quick chop. I think this casserole would also be good with some fresh broccoli, and definitely topped off with some fresh herbs like flat-leaf parsley and basil.

After the pasta shells were cooked, I tossed it all together, added a splash of half and half--you could also fold in an egg for more binder--and seasoned it with salt and cracked black pepper. It was ready to go in my cute new/old casserole pan. I love those vintage flowers. I baked it for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

An easy summer meal--and great to heat up for lunches the next day!

Now, one thing I need to do is to stop trying to figure out what's for dinner at 5 p.m. When will I start creating dinner menus ahead of time! Everyone knows that's the way to go--I think I'm just so busy doing other things, I don't bother and the next thing I know, it's Wednesday night at 5 p.m. Plus, I'm waiting for the first spaghetti squashes to come out of my garden any day now--those will be so yummy sauteed with mushrooms, garlic and basil and topped with parmigiano reggiano cheese! In the meantime, I'm ready to try a new Amish dish that I found the makings for in the Amish store on a trip last month--I will let you know how it goes.

Eat at home...Write in a coffeeshop...Dream on a cloud....Stitch on the porch....