Pizza Spaghetti

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
8 oz. pkg. button mushrooms, sliced OR 2 more bell peppers, chopped
26 oz. jar pasta sauce
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 lb. spaghetti pasta, broken into 2" pieces
3/4 cup whole milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 (5 ounce) package sliced pepperoni
1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to boil for cooking spaghetti. Cook ground beef, onion, green pepper, and mushrooms in heavy skillet over medium heat until beef is browned, stirring to break up beef. Drain well and add pasta sauce, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning; stir well and let simmer while preparing spaghetti.
2. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine eggs and milk in large bowl and beat until blended. Drain spaghetti and toss with egg and milk mixture. Spread half of spaghetti/egg/milk mixture in a 13x9" glass baking dish. Top with half of sauce and beef mixture. Repeat layers. **
3. If baking without freezing or refrigerating, bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until hot and bubbly. Top with pepperoni, then cheese, return to oven, and bake for 10 minutes longer to melt cheese. Let stand 5 minutes to set, then cut into squares to serve. 10 servings
**To freeze, cool casserole in refrigerator at this point. When cold, wrap well, label, and freeze up to 3 months. To thaw and reheat, thaw casserole overnight in refrigerator. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes until thoroughly heated. Uncover, top with pepperoni and cheese, and bake 10-15 minutes longer until cheese melts and edges of casserole bubble.
**To refrigerate overnight and bake the next day, cover the casserole and chill for 2-24 hours. When ready to eat, bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes until hot. Then uncover, top with pepperoni and cheese, and bake for 10-15 minutes longer until cheese melts.

Sicilian Casserole

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
2 cups elbow macaroni
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, cubed
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef and onion in heavy saucepan, stirring to break up ground beef. Add green bell pepper when beef is almost cooked; continue to simmer until beef is done. Drain well. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, and dried Italian seasoning and stir well to blend. Let simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors.
2. Meanwhile, cook elbow macaroni as directed on package. While macaroni is cooking, combine cream cheese and milk in medium bowl. Cook in microwave on medium power for 2-3 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking. Remove from microwave and stir with wire whisk until sauce thickens and blends to form a smooth sauce. Drain noodles and add to cream cheese sauce along with sour cream and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; stir to combine.
3. In 2 quart casserole dish, place all of cream cheese mixture. Top with all of the ground beef mixture and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until casserole is bubbly.
--You can bake now then cool and put in fridge and reheat for dinner. Or you can put in fridge now then bake at dinner time. Remove from fridge 45 minutes before you cook if you do it this way.

Chicken Tetrazzini

Serves 8

1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup water
1 ½ cups grated parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. dried thyme leaves
½ pound linguine, broken in half
½ of a rotisserie chicken, skin removed and meat shredded (about 2 cups) (you can also use canned chicken)
½ package of a 10oz. frozen peas

1. Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for pasta).
2. In a large mixing bowl add the cream of mushroom soup, and water mix well. Add 1 cup of parmesan cheese and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook pasta 2 minutes less than package instructions for al dente; drain and add to sauce in the large mixing bowl. Add chicken and peas then toss well to combine. Place this glop (cause that’s what it looks like) in a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake at 400 until brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Or let cool, then put in fridge, then at dinner time, just warm up a serving at a time. Remove from fridge 45 minutes before you cook if you do it this way.

Baked Ziti

8 oz. ziti rigate (ridged) or other short pasta
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup finely grated parmesan
1 cup shredded park-skim mozzarella
1 jar (24-26 oz.) best quality tomato sauce (about 3 ½ cups)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and reserve.
2. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, egg, ¼ cup parmesan and ½ cup mozzarella. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pasta and toss to mix.
3. In the bottom of a 9x13 serving dish, spread ½ the tomato sauce. Top with the pasta mixture then top with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup parmesan and remaining ½ cup mozzarella.
4. Bake at 350 until top is browned (20 -25 minutes)
-- You can bake now then cool and put in fridge and reheat for dinner.
Or you can put in fridge now then bake at dinner time. Remove from fridge 45 minutes before you cook if you do it this way.

Easy Pasta

6 servings

6 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 c olive oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (or Tabasco sauce)
1 tsp dry basil
3/4 tsp salt
1 15 oz can Italian tomatoes, diced
8 oz fettuccine
1/2 lb fresh shrimp (optional)
1. Cook pasta.
2. Simmer crushed garlic in oil over low heat until golden brown.
3. Add other sauce ingredients and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes Add shrimp and simmer until pink.
4. Combine with cooked pasta and serve with Parmesan cheese.

Italian Sausage Pasta

6-8 servings

1 lb Penne rigata or rotini pasta
1 lb Italian sausage (mild or hot)
1 lb Mozzarella cheese
20 oz pasta sauce (mushroom and roasted garlic recommended)

1. Crumble sausage and brown. Grate cheese.
2. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.
3. In large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients in 9x13 baking dish
4. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover loosely with foil for first 20 minutes
**This makes a generous amount, so you may want to half the recipe. Goes well with tossed salad and garlic bread.**

Lasagna

1 ½ lb gr beef
18 oz tomato paste
1-2 cans stewed tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
12 noodles (4 layers)
12-16 oz cottage cheese
3 eggs
1-1 ½ lb cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Cook beef, tomato paste, tomatoes, onion and garlic with little bit of salt and more pepper. If using fresh onion and garlic, cook with beef and simmer. If with powder, use some tomato sauce when cooking. Keep warm while doing other steps.
3. Grate cheese and cook noodles.
4. Spray a casserole pan and layer the ingredients in following order: noodles, meat sauce, cottage cheese, and cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
5. Cook for 20 min at 375.