Bake Your Pasta

I used to think red sauce was the only thing you put on pasta. I sure loved my spaghetti and meatballs! As I got older, I discovered the joys of white sauce. In fact, I even eat Donato's "Chicken Spinach Tomato Alfredo" pizza!  This particular recipe can be a relatively easy fix for those who don't love to cook or you can tweak some of the ingredients and really make it your own. The hardest part is stuffing the manicotti shells.  It takes both red and white sauce, so you are already off to an interesting flavor!

Three Cheese Manicotti Florentine

Ingredients:
1 jar marinara sauce (or your fabulous homemade sauce)         12 uncooked manicotti shells
1 jar creamy Alfredo sauce                  1/4 c. water                      1 c. shredded mozzarella

Cheese Filling: 15 oz. ricotta cheese      2 c. chopped spinach       1 c. shredded mozzarella
1/2 c parmesan     1 egg, beaten            1/2 tsp. salt                       1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Spread marinara sauce over bottom of a greased 9x13 dish.
3. Combine filling ingredients and put in a gallon food storage bag.
4. Press out air and seal.
5. Push filling toward bottom corner of bag
6. Snip off corner and squeeze mixture into manicotti shells.
7. Arrange the manicotti in the baking dish.
8. Combine alfredo sauce and water; pour over manicotti.
9. Sprinkle with 1. c mozzarella.
10. Cover with aluminum foil. 
11. Bake for 60 minutes; uncover and continue baking for 10 minutes.
12. Let stand 5 minutes.

Easy, right? If you wanted to add some fun .. sub in red pepper flakes for the black or add some garlic to one or both of your sauces.  You could even try and make your own alfredo sauce to go along with your fabulous homemade red sauce. This recipe is high in yum factor!

As always, have fun!

Asian Chicken

Yes, I've not run out of chicken wings yet. Have you found your favorite yet that you want to try? Hopefully so because the list is not infinite and I wrap up tomorrow. Today's menu has more of an Asian flair with a little bit of zing. I was nervous about trying this one because Jeremy's not high on onions but he really enjoyed it!

Sticky Onion Crunch Wings

Ingredients:

3 lbs. chicken wings           vegetable oil         1/2 c. french fried onions        1 c. hoisin sauce

1/2 c. pomegranate juice    1/4 c. dark brown sugar      2 garlic cloves        1 tbsp. horseradish

4 scallions

Directions:

1. Combine hoisin, pomegranate, sugar, garlic, horseradish and scallions
2. Cook over medium high heat.
3. When sauce begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Fry the wings at 360 in oil until golden brown (12-14 minutes).
5. Toss wings in the sauce.
6. Roll wings in crushed fried onions to thoroughly coat.

Soba Noodles with Gingered Sesame Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 c. soy sauce         1/4 c. brown sugar        2 tbsp. rice vinegar        2 tbsp. oil

2 tbsp. orange juice    1 tbsp. minced ginger   1 tsp. sesame oil           1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp. sriracha            1/2 lb. uncooked soba noodles or whole wheat linguini     

14 oz. coleslaw mix    1 c. shredded carrots      1 c. green onions        3 tbsp. sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk the first 9 ingredients and set aside.
2. Cook soba noodles and drain. 
3. Rinse noodles in cold water and drain again.
4. Combine coleslaw mix, carrots, green onions and noodles.
5. Add dressing and toss to coat.
6. Garnish with sesame seeds.

As always, have fun!