Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Cauliflower

Baked pasta sounded good, sort of like lasagna but slightly easier. I'll admit it, lasagna looks a lot prettier when it's plated. The rigatoni looks like heart valves, which isn't exactly appetizing. If you can get past that, you'll find this pasta dish actually tastes pretty good. I really like the cauliflower and had a hard time stopping myself from eating all of it before it went into the dish.

Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Cauliflower
from Cooking Club
click to print

4 c cauliflower florets (1 inch) (1 medium head)
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. rigatoni (tube-shaped pasta)
4 c slightly packed spinach, coarsely chopped
1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 (28-oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 c shredded Romano cheese (4 oz.)
2 c finely shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz.)

Heat oven to 425ºF.

Toss cauliflower and oil in large bowl to coat; place on large rimmed baking sheet.


Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; reduce oven temperature to 350ºF.

This cauliflower is delicious - make extra to snack on.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; cool under running water. Drain well. Place in large bowl; toss with spinach.
 
Tossing the drained pasta with the spinach just meant the heavy pasta tended to settle to the bottom of the bowl while the fluffy spinach gradually migrated to the top.

Heat large deep skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Crumble sausage into skillet; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Add rosemary and garlic; cook over medium heat 30 seconds or until fragrant, stirring constantly.

After 5 minutes, the sausage is nearly completely browned.

Stir in tomatoes, salt and pepper.


Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook 12 to 15 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally and adjusting heat as necessary.

My sauce was only slightly reduced after 30 minutes; I made the mistake of reducing the heat to a simmer once it reached boiling.

Coat 13x9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon in enough of the tomato sauce mixture to lightly coat bottom of dish.


Layer with half each of the pasta, cauliflower, tomato sauce and Romano cheese.


Sprinkle with generous 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.


Repeat layers, ending with remaining mozzarella cheese. (Rigatoni can be made to this point 12 hours ahead; cover and refrigerate. Uncover; adding an extra 5 to 10 minutes to baking time.)


Bake at 350ºF. 40 to 45 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Remove from oven; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.



Having forgotten that the spinach would leak moisture as the dish baked, I really wish I'd reduced my sauce further. You can see in the plated image that it was watery. If you try this, be sure to boil the sauce for 15 minutes and avoid the tendency to to reduce the heat once it reached a boil like I did. With all that extra moisture, the rigatoni on the bottom of the dish was quite flaccid. The texture of the rigatoni on top was certainly the opposite; some of them poking out of the sauce and cheese were crunchy. I kind of liked it.

I'm not sure what the point is of combining the rigatoni and spinach in a bowl. As said above, the heavy rigatoni sort of rolled to the bottom of the bowl while the fluffy spinach floated to the top. Otherwise, prep made sense, the dish came out to be tasty; the cauliflower alone is reason to do it again. For all the time and cost though, you may as well do lasagna!

Cost:

• cauliflower: $4.83
• extra-virgin olive oil: $0.09
• rigatoni: $2
• spinach: $1.69
• Italian sausage: $3.99
• fresh rosemary: $1
• garlic: $0.15
• diced tomatoes: $1.92
• Romano cheese: $3.59
• mozzarella cheese: $2

Total: $21.26 or about $2.66 for each of 8 servings.

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites

There's supposed to be a Chipotle Sour Cream dipping sauce to go with these, but seriously, why? It's bacon-wrapped potatoes! Why bury that goodness in a sauce?

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites
adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures
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1 lb red potatoes, scrubbed 
2 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb thick-cut bacon

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place a wire rack inside of a rimmed baking sheet.

Cut the potatoes into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces.


Add them to a medium pan and cover with cold water. Season the water with 2 teaspoons of the salt then bring to a boil.


Once boiling, cook the potatoes for about 3-4 minutes, or until just tender. Don't overcook as the potatoes will finish in the oven.

Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, olive oil, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of black pepper to a medium bowl. Stir to combine.


Drain the potatoes and toss to coat with the rosemary mixture.


Cut each strip of bacon into three equal pieces.


Working with one piece at a time, wrap the bacon around the potato and use a toothpick to secure. Transfer the potato to the wire rack taking care not to crowd the bites.


Bake 30-40 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp.



Major hit at the potluck! Just a few minutes in the electric broiler to warm 'em up and gone in minutes. There were many critiques about how there just weren't enough!

Cost:

• red potatoes: $0.83 
• fresh rosemary: $0.65
• olive oil: $0.24 
• thick-cut bacon: $4.03

TOTAL: $5.75 or about $0.14 for each of 42 potato bites.

Stuffed Italian Meat Loaf

My dinner plate: Green Beans with Shallots and Walnut Oil (just a half batch), Rosemary-Parsnip Mashed Potatoes (a half batch of this too), and the meat loaf.

Here's the second of five Aidells ground beef recipes I've set out to try. Considering that it's stuffed with a huge pile of cheese it's going to be good I thought it'd be cool to see what happens with the seasonings. Trust me, it works out extremely well.

I didn't get all crazy trying to figure out what to eat with the meat loaf so I went some recipes I've already tried. Click those links under the photos - they're good ones and were perfect with the loaf.

Stuffed Italian Meat Loaf
adapted from Cooking Club of America
click to print

MEAT LOAF
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 c finely chopped onions
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 c fresh bread crumbs
1/2 c milk
1 lb. ground beef (80% lean)
1 lb. bulk mild Italian sausage
2 (10-oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
2 eggs, beaten
1 c grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp salt
9 oz. fontina cheese, cut into 1/2-inch thick strips

SAUCE
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c chopped carrot
1/4 c chopped celery
1/4 c minced shallots
1 tsp minced garlic
1 (14.5-oz.) can Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes
1/3 c water
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 350°F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium skillet over medium heat until hot.


Cook onions 4 minutes or until soft.

The extra-virgin olive oil I picked up at Costco is green.

Add 2 tablespoons garlic; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Place in large bowl; cool.


Combine bread crumbs and milk in small bowl; let stand 15 minutes. Squeeze and discard excess milk from bread.


Ha! It looks like one of my oatmeal posts!

Add bread and all remaining meat loaf ingredients except fontina cheese to onions and garlic. Gently combine until well-blended.


Form half of the mixture into 14x5-inch rectangle on large rimmed baking sheet.


Arrange fontina cheese lengthwise down center of meat, leaving 1-inch border on edges.


Cover with remaining meat mixture, making sure edges are well-sealed. Plump up loaf with your hands.


Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.


Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium saucepan over medium heat until hot.


Cook carrot, celery, shallots and 1 teaspoon garlic, covered, 6 to 10 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.


Add tomatoes and water; reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.


Stir in 1 teaspoon rosemary and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper; cook 5 minutes.


Puree in blender or food processor, adding additional water if too thick.


Serve warm over meat loaf.

6 servings

This meat loaf is freaking incredible!  I could not stop eating it. The flavors are layered, so you notice them almost individually and combined, well, just miraculous. Tasting this, it is as though I have never experienced a meat loaf with both beef and pork, but that isn't true, having had Meatloaf Bolognese. And funny, this time the Italian sausage is a must have! Both Italian-style meat loaves, this stuffed loaf blows that Bolognese loaf, either take, out of the water.

The ingredients are just fantastic, oozing cheese offering a definite hearty, savory, and indulgent factor while the spinach and rosemary give the dish an appeal of freshness. The sauce turned out fairly thin and provided even more of a freshness, even though the tomatoes were from a can. As I am not a huge fan of sauces, the majority of the sauce was not consumed with the leftover meat loaf, but what I did eat was exceptional when poured over cold meat loaf slices and the meat and sauce were reheated in the oven (at 350°F). Baking the sauce on the meat loaf helped keep the meat loaf moist while the sauce was reduced - just divine!

Of all the meat loaves I've ever had, this one is by far the best; I find it hard to believe that any other would top it. You've got to try it!

Cost:

• extra-virgin olive oil: $0.72
• onions: $0.64
• garlic: $0.41
• bread crumbs: $2.50
• milk: $0.30
• ground beef: $2.99
• bulk mild Italian sausage: $3.99
• frozen chopped spinach: $2
• eggs: $0.73
• parmesan cheese: $2.79
• fresh rosemary: $0.65
• fontina cheese: $6.99
• carrot: $0.25
• celery: $0.99
• shallots: $0.65
• Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes: $1.59

Total: $28.20 or about $4.70 for each of 6 generous servings.