Pittsburgh Strip District Italian Deli Pasta Bake

Winter in Pittsburgh. Temps are in the 50's and 60's one day, the teens the next. I don't know about you, but my internal appropriate-recipe-for-the-weather indicator has been swinging back and forth like some kind of crazed pendulum. 

My kitchen is as likely to see a fresh off the grill sizzling chicken breast atop a crisp, green salad as it is a pot of stew or chili simmering on the stove. As a result, I'm behind on making my favorite cold weather recipes, like my family's favorite macaroni and cheese with ground beef and tomatoes. I'd bet this old fashioned, homey casserole is one of your family's favorites, too. 

My mom used to make the dish with elbow macaroni, browned ground beef, onion, green pepper, cubes of cheddar (or even Velveeta!) and a can of tomato soup. Nope, she used no seasoning or garlic at all except for salt and (maybe) pepper. 

My version, many years later, ditched the soup for canned tomatoes, added fresh spinach (to pack more nutrition and the kids never knew there was spinach hidden in there), sometimes I used feta, sometimes mozzarella, sometimes mushrooms made it in, and always garlic. The recipe has always been changeable, but still maintained the basic tomatoes, ground beef, cheese and macaroni base. As does this twist.

As always with this casserole, a visual sweep of what's on hand is the first step. At first glance, the fridge revealed leftover cooked hot sausage links from last night's dinner and several slices of some good Strip District Parma Sausage Salami Rustico. That would be waaaaay better than plain old hamburger! Looking further down, I discovered my own home-smoked hot pepper cheese and even a little home-smoked mozz! The pantry, as always, contained cans of San Marzano tomatoes thanks to Penn Mac in the Strip. The Strip District Italian Deli Pasta Bake came into being. 

Maybe there IS a benefit to this oddball winter. A warm and sunny day is perfect for strolling the Strip picking up components for a comforting casserole to make when the temperature inevitably dips back into the chill zone. Maybe this IS the perfect winter weather after all.

Pittsburgh Strip District Italian Deli Pasta Bake

• 4 C cooked pasta - al dente, of course - I used gluten free penne
• 2 links cooked hot Italian sausage, sliced into rounds
• 1/2 C pre-sliced salami, cut into ribbons - I used Parma Sausage Salami Rustico, use whatever you have on hand...pepperoni works really well, too!
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 medium onion, medium dice
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 1/2 C real San Marzano tomatoes, don't drain off the liquid, use it all!
• 1 T dried oregano
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t Jane's Crazy salt or kosher salt
• 2 T tomato paste - buy the tube so you don't waste the rest of a small can
• 1/2 lb diced smoked hot pepper cheese (or use your own favorite - cheddar, smoked cheddar, hot pepper cheese that hasn't been smoked)
• 1/2 C smoked mozzarella or smoked provolone for the top, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a shallow casserole dish with olive oil and set aside.

In a nonstick saute pan over medium heat, warm the cooked sausage slices and salami until both release their fats and the salami separates and no longer sticks together. Remove to a plate. In the same pan, add the olive oil and then the onion and garlic. Cook until soft, but not browned.

Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, basil, Jane's Crazy Salt and tomato paste. Combine well, then add the sausage and salami back to the pan. Combine all thoroughly.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cooked pasta and the tomato mixture, stir well. Add the diced cheese and mix gently again until everything is evenly distributed throughout. Pour into the prepared casserole dish, top with shredded cheese and bake 25-35 minutes.

Add a green salad and it's dinner, folks!

NOTE: If you like your version less spicy, use cheddar instead of hot pepper cheese and sweet Italian sausage in place of the hot version. Like it spicier? Top the casserole with pickled hot peppers after it comes out of the oven for a real Italian deli touch!

Smoked Portobello & Smoked Mozzarella Lasagna (Gluten Free Version Included)

There is nothing quite like sitting around on a lazy afternoon, drinking bourbon and smoking cheese with a really good friend. Wait. That doesn't sound quite right. We didn't actually light up any cheese, we simply put it into the smoker and watched it like hawks whilst sipping some excellent Kentucky distilled spirits. That's better. 

My dear friend Marti, from Maryland, had attempted smoking cheese many years ago and ended up with loads of melted cheese. Keep in mind, she and Mike gave cheese smoking a whirl in the 70's...long before smokers became more sophisticated and home-smoker-friendly...they were so ahead of their time! 

Marti and I discussed plans, fine tuned them, adjusted them mid-smoking and actually accomplished our mission. Lovely, smoky, NON-melted sharp cheddar and mozzarella cheese eventually emerged from the MasterBuilt...well, with just a bit of fiddling around to maintain a low enough temp to avoid a cheesy meltdown.

Finished Product ready to be wrapped and aged for a few weeks...if we can wait that long!

Having a win under our belts with our smoky mission, we wrapped our treasures securely and waited a couple of weeks for proper aging. Okay, except for a few weak moments of "quality control testing." 

Besides adorning crackers with our home smoked cheese or arranging it among salume and pickled veggies on a charcuterie board, what else? Mozzarella and lasagna were MADE for one another, right? Right. But wouldn't a red sauce overwhelm delicate, smoky sweet mozzarella? White lasagna it would be. I really wanted the smokiness to shine, so I went with a bechamel based lasagna instead of a ricotta base to emphasize the mozzarella. So far, so good.

If smoky lasagna is good, wouldn't a double smoked pasta dish be even better? Thus the smoker was fired up once again with BIG portobello mushrooms luxuriating in the smoky interior.

Portobellos fresh from the smoker.

Then to assemble the dish and invite a few friends over to sample the result. (What a shame Marti was long ago back in Maryland and couldn't join Jenn, Michael and me.) And? Smoked Portobello & Smoked Mozzarella Lasagna turned out to be...sublimely, richly, decadently so...a pasta dish to be reckoned with. And repeated for the most discerning of guests.

Here is my recipe for the lasagna. Buy smoked mozzarella if you don't want to smoke it yourself or don't have access to a smoker. The same goes for the portobellos. If you don't have access to a smoker, cook them along with the rest of the mushrooms. It will still be an excellent lasagna!

Smoked Portobello & Smoked Mozzarella Lasagna

(Gluten Free Version Included)

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 4 LARGE whole smoked portobello mushrooms, sliced - (if you don't smoke them, slice and saute with the rest of the mushrooms)
• 10 oz baby bellos or other brown mushrooms, sliced
• 8 oz shitake mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves black fermented garlic (I get mine at Trader Joe's), smashed with the flat of a knife and pressed to a paste
• 1/2 C dry white wine
• 1 C chicken broth
• 1 1/2 C whole milk
• 1 1/2 C heavy cream (nobody said this was a diet dish!)
• 8 T butter (ditto the above comment)
• 1/2 C flour (gluten free flour to make this GF)
• 1 C freshly grated parmesan - the GOOD stuff!
• nutmeg, a little of a freshly grated whole nutmeg or a smidge of the jarred stuff
• 1/2 lb smoked mozzarella, shredded
• a box of lasagna noodles (gluten free to make this GF)

Heat olive oil and 1 T butter in a large skillet. Add the baby bellas and shitake mushrooms along with black garlic. Stir and let the black garlic paste incorporate into the mushrooms and liquid in the pan. Once the mushrooms are cooked down and the liquid begins to disappear (NOT dry out), add the sliced smoked portobellos and stir well. Then add the wine and let the mixture simmer until the mushrooms are still moist, but the liquid is nearly gone. All the buttery, wine-y, garlicky goodness will be absorbed by those gorgeous mushrooms! Set aside.

This is how the sauteed and wine-d mushrooms will look when they're done.

 In a medium sized, heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium, heat. Stir in flour and continue stirring until completely incorporated and smooth. Cook another minute or two, then slowly add milk - stirring constantly. Next add the cream, again stirring constantly. Cook until thickened, then add nutmeg and stir well. This is your bechamel; set aside.

Toss the shredded mozzarella and grated parm together in medium bowl. Set aside.

While you're doing all the above, cook the lasagna noodles in a big pot of well salted boiling water until al dente. When done, drain in a colander and separate the noodles. You're ready to assemble.

In a lasagna pan, ladle a little bechamel in a thin layer on the bottom. Add a layer of noodles, a third of the bechamel, half the mushrooms, a third of the cheese mixture; repeat this layer. For the last layer, just do a layer of noodles, the last of the bechamel and sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.

Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350; uncover and bake another 20 minutes until browned and bubbly. Let stand 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving. (It will hold together nicely that way instead of sliding apart.) 

Enjoy!

Barbacoa Butternut Tortilla Lasagna

Time for a quickie. Of course, this is only a quick one IF you happen to have leftover barbacoa and roasted butternut squash on hand...and I did. 

Looking for something to do with next week's turkey? Barbacoa Butternut Tortilla Lasagna might be just the recipe you need. Leftover fajita fixings? Or taco meat? Yup. This is for you!

Instead of lasagna noodles, I used flour tortillas. In my case, gluten free wraps performed the duties of flour tortillas to perfection. No difference whatsoever! 

Layer up tortillas, smoky salsa, sweet roasted butternut squash, earthy spinach, salty queso fresco and savory, beefy, barbocoa (or leftover protein of your choice), bake, and there's one easy, colorful, and delicious dinner on the table in a snap. 

(Don't have a barbacoa recipe? Here's mine from a little while back. You're welcome! Spicy Barbacoa With Chilies For Tacos, Frito Pie And Especially For Chris)

Barbacoa Butternut Tortilla Lasagna

• 6-8 appox. 8" diameter flour tortillas - I used Toufayan Gluten Free Wraps to make this GF
• 1 C smoky, chunky salsa - I used Jardine's Campfire Salsa
• 2 C roasted butternut squash
• 10 oz package o frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 8 oz queso fresco, crumbled - feta makes a perfectly wonderful substitution!
• 1 1/2 C leftover barbacoa - if you use leftover turkey or another unseasoned meat, mix in a half packet of taco seasoning for some oomph!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread a little salsa in the bottom of a shallow gratin dish - I used maybe a 9"-10" X 6"-7" oval casserole dish...yep, the Corning Ware French White large dish we all have tucked away somewhere. 

From here we're making layers of ingredients - like a lasagna. The tortillas won't fit, so tear them as you go to fit in a single layer. Next slather on 1/3 of the salsa, scatter  1/2 the barbacoa, then 1/3 of the squash, 1/3 of the spinach, 1/3 of the queso fresco, then repeat the same layers. The last layer doesn't use barcacoa, but otherwise is the same.

This is how it looks before going into the oven. Colorful!

Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes then cut into squares and serve!  

Spicy Smoked Corn Casserole

Oh, the excitement of a new smoker! Since our beloved stack type charcoal smoker bit the dust (ash?), I've had my eye on a Masterbuilt chest-type electric smoker. Amazon put the one I've lusted after on BIG sale (one day only) the Saturday before Father's Day...coincidence? I think not. 

Before I could give it a test run, Michigan beckoned. As I pulled out of the driveway, I glanced longingly behind at my yet-to-be-named smoky cutie and ahead at the prospect of time with those I love in Lansing. And hit the gas.

Not being the only family member with a yen for good BBQ, we all went to a favorite Q spot of Matt's called Meat Southern BBQ & Carnivore Cuisine. What a find! We started with Pickle Fries that are long shoestrings of dill pickles, breaded and fried and served with a side of homemade remoulade for dipping. Not content with just ONE appetizer from Meat's oh-so-tempting menu, we shared a basket of nachos mounded high with pulled pork, house-smoked bacon and chopped brisket, then topped with cheese, one of their own BBQ sauces, sour cream, onions, tomatoes, jalapenos and avocado. Transcendent. The nachos alone could have been a satisfying dinner and we only had a half order! 

Thank goodness we didn't stop with appetizers. The Meat platters came laden with perfectly moist, smoky brisket...sliced for me, chopped for Matt and Matthew's choice was the sweet n' smoky pulled pork. Mieke went with her favorite chopped brisket sandwich. Meat platters came with cornbread and 2 sides. And THAT is where I swooned. 

Nothing fancy at Meat Southern BBQ & Carnivore Cuisine...that's a GOOD thing!           BBQ beans on the left, succulent brisket and Spicy Cream Corn on the top. 

Now, it's been a while since I've recreated a dish I was particularly taken with, but the Spicy Cream Corn left me wanting MORE! Note that it's not called "creamed" corn. No, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the loose, pale yellow, lumpy stuff from a can. This was CREAM corn. It had substance. It had heat. It. Was. Remarkable. So I came up with my very own version as soon as I got home.

What would go best with my version of Spicy Cream Corn? BBQ, of course. I loaded up the brand spanking new smoker with chicken...specifically 8 thighs, 3 breasts, 6 whole wings, 4 eggs (recommended by a BBQ'ing friend from Georgia - I'll be making deviled eggs with those!), and 5 ears of corn in the husk. Wouldn't smoked corn make the cream corn even better? It did!

Starting with smoky corn really made a difference in the finished dish. I decided to make the dish into a casserole (small individual cast iron skillets would make a wonderful presentation). For the heat (and creaminess) I used jalapeno cream cheese and a bit of chipotle powder; for color and flavor, sliced green onion and roasted red pepper; and for more smokiness, a "healthy" sprinkle of bacon crumbles across the surface. Nothing like reinforcing the smoke, right? 

Here you go...the recipe!

Spicy Smoked Corn Casserole

• 4 ears smoked corn, approx 2 C of kernels (you don't have to use smoked corn...you can use fresh, frozen or canned corn if you wish!)
• 4 oz. jalapeno cream cheese (1/2 of a tub) - if you want less heat, just use 2 oz. jalapeno and 2 oz. plain cream cheese. Don't want heat at all? Use all plain cream cheese.
• 2 T milk
• 1 green onion, sliced well into the green for color
• 1/4 C roasted red pepper, diced
• 1/2 t salt
• a hefty grinding of black pepper
• 1/4 t chipotle powder (this makes it smokier and hotter - use less if you don't like HEAT, more if you like the heat sweats)
• 2-3 T crisp, crumbled bacon
• softened butter - enough to grease the inside of your casserole dish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 1 quart casserole dish (I used a cast iron oval casserole).

In a medium saucepan, add the cream cheese(s) and milk. Stir over low heat until smooth. Add the corn, green onions and red peppers, stir well. Add salt and pepper, chipotle powder and stir well again. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish, top with bacon crumbles and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until bubbling. Serve with damned good BBQ!

NOTE: Next time I'm smoking some jalapenos to go into the mix!

One last thing....

Well, it wasn't actually "last." A Meat Bloody Mary WITH BBQ sauce is what I started with!

Artichoke, Mushroom, Chicken, Red Pepper & Feta Pasta Bake

Idea #372 under "400 Uses For A Rotisserie Chicken." Okay, I made that up. I haven't begun to get that far in my list of things to do with a rotisserie chicken...although, if my memory were sharp enough, it might be darn close!

This one is actually a Quickie, because the definition of a rotisserie chicken is practically instant dinner...the first night when you bring it home for a quick dinner and the multiple iterations of the leftovers, too.

Fortunately, I happened to have a few roasted red peppers from the weekend's grilled veggies and some extra baby portobellos, too. If you don't have grilled or roasted red peppers on hand or fresh mushrooms, canned and jarred is just fine. In fact, it would be even speedier. 

Once all the veggies were cooked and everything was warmed through, I simply mixed the veggies with cooked pasta, crumbled some feta in too, seasoned everything well and poured it all in the casserole dish. Into the oven for a spin and BOOM! Dinner. 

This one is easy and ready to delight the family in the blink of an eye. Okay, I made that part up, too. Not quite a blink of an eye, but pretty darned fast!

Artichoke, Mushroom, Chicken, Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Pasta Bake

• 1/2 pound penne pasta, cooked & drained (use gluten-free pasta to make this GF)
• 2 C rotisserie chicken breast, torn into large pieces
• 1 T butter
• 1T olive oil
• 12 medium-large baby portobello mushrooms, stems removed & discarded, caps sliced 1/2" thick
• 1 C roasted red peppers, jarred is fine - cut into 1" squares
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 12 oz jar marinated artichokes, drained (I REALLY like the tang of the artichokes with the creaminess of the cheese!)
• 1 T butter
• 1 t dried oregano
• salt & pepper to taste
• 6 oz feta, broken into large crumbles
• Pecorino Romano cheese, just a little freshly shredded to finish the dish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a shallow casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a skillet, melt butter and olive oil. Add sliced mushrooms and garlic; cook until mushrooms begin to wilt down. Add the red peppers and drained artichokes to the skillet and mix well. Let everything warm before adding the chicken to the skillet, too. 

In a large bowl, mix cooked pasta and the contents of the skillet. Add the additional tablespoon of butter, the oregano, salt & pepper and feta. Mix gently and thoroughly. Pour into prepared casserole dish.

Bake for 30 minutes, grate a little pecorino romano over the top and bake another 15 minutes until the grated cheese is melted. Serve with a green salad.

NOTE: One half of the full chicken breast made 2 C...those Costco rotisserie chickens are HUGE! We'd already enjoyed the thighs and wings the first night, just used half of the breast meat for this casserole...you know what that means, don't you? Chicken salad for lunch tomorrow! Mmmmm.

Also, I kept the veggie and chicken pieces large because penne is a larger pasta. If you choose to use a smaller pasta, feel free to cut the chicken and veggies smaller. Proportion!

Maryland Crab And Spinach Mac N' Cheese Lasagna

The past and the now. Old and new. A new recipe with familiar roots. With all of the preceding, there was first a history that led to the present and so it is with today's recipe.

Back in the early days of Phillips Restaurant in Ocean City, Maryland...back when Phillips offered some of the best seafood in town...there was a particular crab dish my sister, Jeanie, and I couldn't get enough of - Crab au Gratin.

Crab au Gratin was a  decadent dish of huge crab lumps and nothing else but a blanket of rich,  cheddary sauce cuddling the crab. No fillers, no extraneous ingredients hidden anywhere, just simple cheesy crabmeat. Perfection. And then Phillips changed. Their crab was brought in from all over the world instead of remaining locally sourced. The bigger Phillips got, the less we enjoyed the food. We sought better and went elsewhere.

In the intervening years since our crab and cheese indulgences, lobster mac n' cheese became a thing. Aha, another variety of crustacean and cheese sauce! Would it be as wonderful as long lamented Crab au Gratin? It wasn't...at least the version I had wasn't. Instead of a beautifully browned and crusty top layer of cheese sauce, what came on my plate was more like stovetop mac and cheese with bits of lobster hiding amongst the pasta elbows. Finding lobster was a search and rescue mission.

Besides, as succulent as lobster is, it's no match for sweet Maryland crab. Why not do my own version? Why not crab mac and cheese? How about a base of pasta and cheese with a light blanket of sauteed spinach, crowned by a thick layer of giant Maryland crab lumps and caressed by a rich, cheese sauce? My new crab dish became a sort of fusion of macaroni and cheese meets Greek pastitsio meets lasagna. Once again old inspired new.

Speaking of new, Maryland Crab And Spinach Mac N' Cheese Lasagna was the covered dish I took to Friendsgiving last night. A casual gathering of friends - both old and new - celebrated an early Thanksgiving with good food (Duxelles Roast Turkey, Bourbon Vanilla Bean Cranberry Sauce, Bourekas, Cheesecake-Stuffed Baked Apples w/Homemade Caramel Sauce...just the highlights) and drinks (fine wines - both homemade and store-bought - and a delicious Peanut Butter Cup cocktail), great stories, lots of laughs and even a few misty-eyed moments. It was an evening of made-over tradition...old to new...that I'm looking forward to again next year! 

Maryland Crab And Spinach Mac N' Cheese Lasagna

• 12 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked al dente - I use Barilla gluten-free pasta to make this GF - use your own favorite macaroni, of course.
• 1 lb Maryland jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through carefully for any shell or cartiledge - don't break up the lumps, please.
• 4 T butter
• 4 T cornstarch
• 2 C milk
• 1 C half & half
• 1 1/2 t Old Bay seafood seasoning - accept no substitute!
• 1/2 C sharp cheddar, shredded - plus extra for top
• 1/2 C Swiss, shredded - plus extra for top
• 1/2 C Italian Parmesan blend shredded cheese, plus extra for top
• 2 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 t olive oil
• 3 C sliced fresh spinach, stems removed
• 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced finely

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter a shallow baking dish (2-3 quart size). Set the baking dish aside.

Melt butter in a medium sized pot over medium heat. Whisk in the cornstarch until the mixture is smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring until smooth, then add the half & half and whisk until smooth and the mixture thickens. Add 1/2 C each of cheddar, Swiss and Italian blend cheeses. Reduce the heat and stir until the cheeses are completely melted. Add cream cheese and Old Bay - stir until the cream cheese is completely melted. Set aside and keep warm. 

In a non-stick skillet, add the olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add spinach and garlic and cook until the spinach wilts. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the cooked macaroni and pour 2/3 of the cheese sauce over top. Stir gently to thoroughly combine. Pour the mac n' cheese into the bottom of the buttered shallow casserole dish.

Pat any liquid in the pan of spinach off with a paper towel. Distribute the spinach evenly over the top of the macaroni and cheese layer. Gently scatter the gorgeous Maryland crab lumps over the spinach layer, spoon the remaining cheese sauce evenly over the crab and sprinkle the extra shredded cheeses over all.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is beautifully browned. 

NOTE: I use cornstarch to make this gluten-free. If gluten isn't an issue, feel free to use all purpose flour.

Spinach & Parm Meatballs And Sausage With Hot Banana Pepper Sauce

Staring at the takeout menu, the decision is always the same when a hot hoagie is the night's craving. Meatball or hot sausage?  Okay, maybe a steak n' cheese might figure into the equation, too, on occasion. But generally, it's meatball or hot sausage for me.

And then there's the gluten issue getting in the way of simply ordering from a takeout menu. Except for Mandy's Pizza in West View (thank you Steve for doing amazing GF pizzas, hoagies, calzones and pastas ALL in a GF version!), usually if I want a hoagie, it's going to be homemade. As long as I'm doing my own meatballs or hot sausage, why not make it the way I really want it? Why NOT do both meatballs AND sausage in the same sandwich so there are no potential life altering decisions to be made? Why not indeed. So I did.

Every good meatball or sausage hoagie (did you know I still say "sub" sometimes from my years in Maryland?) starts with a doggone good tomato sauce. Since I still have hot banana peppers from the CSA, that's where I started. And really, Italian hot banana peppers are just made for a good sauce on an Italian hoagie! After starting with the peppers, I added lots of garlic, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil and good red wine. Good start.

My meatballs are a nice light version with chopped fresh spinach and a hefty amount of Parmesan, as well as fresh bread and heavy cream to be sure the meatballs stay light and tender. Because the sauce itself packs a nice wallop of heat, instead of my usual hot sausage, I used sweet Italian sausage and let the sauce carry the heat for the dish. 

Once the sauce, meatballs and sausage had simmered on the stovetop for a while, all that was needed were good, crusty hoagie rolls (or Udi's GF baguettes for me) and a nice smoky provolone to tuck into the sandwich to get all gooey and melty. Just like takeout!

And the leftovers? Turn the sauce, meatballs and sausage into an easy casserole for a dinner the whole family will love! Who doesn't like double duty dinners?! 

Spinach & Parm Meatballs And Sausage 

With Hot Banana Pepper Sauce

Sauce:

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 large sliced banana peppers - HOT ones!, tops removed, seeds removed, sliced across into thin wheels
• 4 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 C fresh basil, chopped
• 1 T Kosher salt
• lots of freshly ground black peppercorns
• 2 - 1 lb 12 oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes in puree w/ basil leaf
• 1/3  (or more?) C good red wine

Meatballs:

• 1 1/3 lb lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 2 T Italian flatleaf parsley, chopped
• a generous 1/2 C fresh spinach, chopped - measured after chopping
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 t granulated garlic
• 2 T heavy cream
• 1 slice firm bread, crumbled finely - I use gluten-free bread to make this GF, but if gluten isn't an issue use something like Pepperidge Farm

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage links, cut in half and browned in a skillet

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Start with the sauce. In a large pot, add the olive oil and add the banana peppers and garlic. Saute gently until the veggies are softened, but not browned. Add the basil and stir in well, then add the salt & pepper, tomatoes (crushing each tomato with your hand and fingers as you put it in) and wine. Stir well, bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer gently while making the meatballs & sausage.

In a large bowl, mix all the meatball ingredients well, but lightly. Make meatballs about the size of golf balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes until beautifully browned. 

Add meatballs and browned sausage into the sauce and simmer an hour or so. Don't let the sauce reduce too much, but just to a nice spoonable consistency. Stir occasionally, making sure the bottom isn't burning. 

Serve on good crisp hoagie buns with slices of provolone, if you wish. To make these GF, I use Udi's baguettes. Fabulous!

NOTE: What to do with leftovers besides more hoagies? Cut each meatball in half, and the sausages, too. Cook rigatoni or medium shells, drain and add meatballs and sausage with enough sauce to coat the pasta well. Add cubes of mozzarella and some parm, mix well, pour into a large shallow casserole dish, cover with more shredded mozz and bake at 400 degrees just until the casserole bubbles nicely. Serve with a good salad and garlic bread. Easy dinner! 

Oh what the hell, here's a bonus recipe for the casserole:

Meatballs, Sausage & Shells 

Quick and Easy Casserole

• 8 oz. large shell pasta - I use gluten-free to make this GF - cooked just under al dente to allow for time in the oven
• 4 C leftover meatballs and sausage, each cut in half
• 1 C leftover banana pepper sauce
• 4 oz. sharp provolone, cut in 1/2" dice
• 4 oz. firm mozzarella, cut in 1/2" dice
• 4 oz. fontina, cut in 1/4" dice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Drain the shells and return to the pot. Add the sauce and stir gently to coat, trying to separate the shells. Add the halved meatballs and sausage and the cheeses, again trying to separate the shells so they're evenly distributed with the meats. 

Spray a shallow casserole dish with Pam and pour the mixture into the dish. Bake for about 50 minutes until the cheeses are melted and the casserole is bubbly.

Easy, family pleasing dinner! 

Bacon Crusted Upside Down Pimiento Mac N Cheese

Yeah, yeah...I know...it's grilling season when we all go super healthy and eat nothing but lean meats and fish and rainbow colored veggies and kale salads and we all absolutely GLOW with all the vitamins surging through our bodies in preparation for bathing suit season. Nobody craves those bad-for-you, but oh-so-good, carb-loaded dishes from the blustery days of winter. Nobody but me, apparently.

Mac n cheese was my downfall over the weekend. Obviously I somehow didn't manage to get my minimum daily requirement (MDR) of golden cheddar and toothsome, perfectly cooked pasta over the last few weather-appropriate-for-pasta months. So I fixed that oversight! 

Of course, it wasn't ALL that bad...there was a healthy dose of pimientos mixed in to cover the veggie portion of this show. Vitamin C loaded pimientos - the essential ingredient of the down south favorite, pimiento cheese - counts as a good-for-you vegetable, right? Whew. In that case, pay no attention to the crisp and golden bacon bottom crust. LIKE YOU COULD!

How did I get that crunchy, golden, upside down bacon crust? My trusty old cast iron skillet. I lined it with thin strips of bacon, popped it into a HOT oven, cooked the bacon almost all the way through and then poured the macaroni and cheese mixture into the hot skillet. 

Hot skillet + Bacon + Oven = Crisp, crunchy, golden crust. A few minutes of rest, once the skillet came out of the oven, and Bacon Crusted Upside Down Pimiento Mac n Cheese became reality.  

Speaking of reality, remember that bathing suit season I mentioned earlier? No worries. There's LOTS of time to compensate for the mac n cheese transgression. There are almost three whole weeks to work this all off. Ooof.

Ready to cut into wedges and serve!

Bacon Crusted Upside Down Pimiento Mac n Cheese

• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni - you know I used a good gluten-free type to make this GF - cooked al dente
• 2 T butter
• 1 T cornstarch - check to be sure it's gluten-free to make this GF
• 1/2 t salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup milk - I use skim milk, but use what you like...there's so much cheese, what difference does it make?
• 10 oz. extra sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1/2  of an 8 oz container of Philadelphia Chipotle Cream Cheese spread - yes, you read that right...my secret ingredient for creaminess. If you don't like the heat, feel free to use 4 oz of regular cream cheese!
• 1  jar sliced pimientos, drained (you know, the bright red, squat jar Dromedary kind?) 
• 8-10 slices of THIN-sliced bacon

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Take a 9-10" cast iron skillet and line the bottom with with the strips of bacon. I did mine in a circular pattern and made sure the sides of the bacon strips touched. When the oven comes up to temp, pop the skillet into the oven and cook the bacon to almost done. Remove the skillet from the oven, CAREFULLY drain the dripping from the skillet.

While the bacon is cooking, in a saucepan, melt the butter and gradually add the cornstarch while whisking. When smooth, add salt & pepper. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Add the cream cheese and whisk until smooth, then add the cheddar and melt completely into the mixture; stir in the drained pimientos.

Add the sauce to the cooked, drained macaroni and set aside while keeping warm.

After cooking the bacon and draining the drippings, CAREFULLY pour the mac n cheese mixture into the HOT skillet right on top of the bacon in the skillet. Lower the oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes. 

Remove the skillet from the oven, let rest for 5 minutes or so, then run a knife around the perimeter of the skillet to loosen the contents. 

Then take a large platter - larger than the cast iron skillet - and place the platter upside down over the skillet. CAREFULLY, using oven mitts, flip the skillet and platter over and let the contents sit for a moment before lifting the skillet. You should have a beautiful bacon-crusted vision of mac and cheese on the plate. Cut into wedges and enjoy!

A Twist On The Traditional Tuna Noodle Casserole

Is there anything as easy as a tuna noodle casserole? Take a can of tuna, cooked noodles, a can of mushroom soup, maybe a little cheddar, bake until its browned and bubbly and there you have your typical Friday Lenten dinner. Wham, bam, done. Unless you're gluten-free. Then it's a wee bit more complicated. (But not ALL that much!)

When it comes to a gluten-free tuna casserole, some of the basics are the same...or nearly so. Tuna? No issue there. Noodles? There are REALLY good GF noodles, so that's not an issue either. Good ol' Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup? Nope. That's where one of the things we (old fashioned) cooks take for granted goes awry.

Condensed cream of mushroom soup, this basic ingredient of the All American casserole is laden with gluten! What's more, this pantry shelf wonder is almost irreplaceable for that good, rich, traditional favorite national casserole dish. (Note the word almost in the previous sentence?) You may think what will I do?! How will I live the rest of my life without this old timey staple for nearly every family favorite casserole? The answer? Not a big deal, really.

These days I make my dish with lots of big slices of browned-in-butter fresh mushrooms instead of those teeny, tiny mushroom-ish specks in the tan-gray glop from the can. I add the color and flavor of sauteed red (and maybe yellow and orange, too, if I have them on hand) peppers and beautiful green spinach, a little onion and not only is the tuna mixture looking colorfully gorgeous, it's been pumped up with vitamins and fiber, too! Creaminess? Just a little Greek yogurt or sour cream (if you're feeling indulgent) takes care of that just fine along with lots of good sharp cheddar chunks that melt into ooey, gooey treasures studded throughout the noodles. Sounds even better than the original, doesn't it? It is!

Even if you don't have to watch out for that old demon gluten, you may just want to give this version a spin with regular "gluten-FULL" noodles. You know, the same ones you used in your old version? Maybe this one does require a few more steps than just opening a couple of cans, but I think YOU might just think those extra couple of minutes are worth it. I do!

Tuna Casserole Twist

Serves 6-8

• 12 oz. package rotini pasta (twist shapes to go with the 'twist' theme!) - I used Barilla gluten-free rotini or you can use whatever shape you like best. Be sure not to overcook. Cook them just short of al dente because the pasta continues to cook in the oven and absorbs the flavors of the casserole.
• 2 T butter, plus another 2 T to butter the casserole dish - soft butter to make the buttering easier
• 8 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1/3 C red pepper, diced
• 1/3 C yellow pepper, diced
• 1 1/2 C fresh baby spinach, left whole (or if you have bigger spinach, cut into ribbons or chop roughly)
• 1/4 C onion, finely diced
• 2 cans light tuns in water, do NOT drain - broken into smaller pieces (I like light tuna for a casserole, but white for tuna salad)
• 1 C Greek yogurt (you know I use Fage 0%) or sour cream, if you wish
• Jane's Crazy Salt (my fave seasoned salt) - I used about a tablespoon as this is a big casserole and LOTS of freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 6-7 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, diced small

Set oven to 350 degrees.

While the noodles are cooking, melt 2 T butter in a skillet. Saute the mushrooms, peppers and onion until just wilted. Set aside.

Drain the cooked noodles in a colander. When all the water is drained off, put the noodles carefully back into the pot. Add the sauteed veggies, spinach, tuna, yogurt (or sour cream), Jane's Crazy Salt and pepper and stir gently. Add the diced cheddar, stir gently again. Butter a large, deep casserole dish with the remaining 2 T of soft butter.

Pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Bake approximately 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Mushroom Broccoli Alfredo Mac n Cheese

Hello! It's that time of year again when some of us are scrambling to come up with meatless meals that won't bore the family. Fish sandwiches, mac n cheese, tuna  casserole...they've been done to death by now. And there's still almost a month of Fridays left to meatless meal planning! Uh oh.

One of the best things about the Lenten season is that fish and seafood are more plentiful, and therefore more reasonably priced, than other times of year. If you're a fish and seafood lover (and I am!), now is the time to take advantage of the bargains out there, folks. There are always great sales on things that swim during Lent...even at Whole Foods!

How about a little change up that turns the same old mac & cheese into an alfredo-style mushroom and broccoli meatless meal? One that will be a brand new Friday family fave? 

Instead of cheddar, a sauce of smooth, creamy fontina, subtle smoked gouda and a little parmigiana regianno set off with a sweet touch of garlic, LOTS of earthy mushrooms and just a little bright green broccoli. Baked in a gratin dish until the top is golden, just a simple salad and some good bread makes a Meatless Friday (OR Monday!) into a dinner sure to be repeated even when it isn't Lent.

Ready? Go!

Mushroom Broccoli Alfredo Mac n Cheese

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups milk
• 2 1/2 cups fontina cheese, shredded - approx. 1/2 lb.
• 2 cups smoked gouda cheese, shredded - approx. 1/2 lb.
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

• 1 pound penne pasta, cooked al dente, drained - Gluten-free penne to make this GF, my fave is BiAglut!

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced - I like the package of baby bellas, oyster and shitakes!
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets

Mix the cheeses together in a large bowl until well combined. Reserve a cup of the mixed cheeses. In a saucepan, melt 3 T. butter, add the cornstarch and cook for a minute. Gradually whisk the milk into the cornstarch mixture. When the sauce has thickened, gradually add the bowl of grated cheeses, constantly whisking until the sauce is smooth. Set aside.
 
In a skillet, melt 2 T. butter and add the minced garlic and sliced mushrooms. Stir until the garlic is translucent and the mushrooms are tender. Set aside.
 
Have the cooked pasta waiting in a large bowl. Pour the cheese sauce over the top, add the mushroom mixture and the broccoli florets. Mix well and pour into a large, buttered gratin dish. Top with the reserved cheeses.
 
Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden.