Layered pasta bake

 

What I had:

• 8-10 ounces (roughly half the container) of cooked angel hair pasta
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 lb hot sausage, cooked
• 1 lb butternut squash, sauteed and mashed a little
• 1 large white onion, sauteed
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Honestly, once you have the base, you can use whatever meats and veggies you want!

What I did:

• Mixed the cooked pasta, eggs, and parmesan cheese
• Spread it evenly in a 9X13 pan
• Baked at 350 for 10 minutes
• Spread the cream cheese over it (some recipe I saw said to use wax paper to roll the cream cheese, didn't work for me. I think it would be better to heat it up and pipe it over the base)
• Layered the squash, onions, and sausage
• Sprinkled the mozzarella cheese evenly on top
• Tented aluminum foil over the pan
• Baked for an hour at 350
• Moved pan up to top shelf, removed foil, broiled on low for 5 minutes

Hey, the kid and husband loved it, so I can it a winning experiment!

Sausage, kale & tortellini stew



As part of my 40 by 40 in 40 weeks, I have new recipes I want to try. However, me being me, I don't follow the recipe to a T ever. I found this stew recipe in a Family Circle magazine, and then lost the clipping, so I did what I could from memory and taste!

I also used a new vegetable - lacinato kale - which counts as 1 of the 40 new veggies or fruits to try.

What I had:

• 1 lb sage flavored ground sausage
• 1 large red onion sliced
• 5 cloves of garlic minced
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 8 cups of lacinato kale chopped
• 4 cups water
• 1 package of frozen sausage tortellini
• salt & pepper to taste
• Italian seasoning

What I did:

• browned the sausage in a big stock pot
• took it out, leaving the sausage droppings in the pot
• sautéed the garlic and onions till soft
• added the sausage back in
• added the broth, kale, & water in & bring to a boil
• lowered the heat and added the tortellini
• let it simmer till tortellini is warmed through
• served with some warm bread

Smoked bacon explosion

Bacon explosion!

I made this bacon explosion years ago, but in the oven. After experimenting with the smoker for a while, I thought how much better this would be slow smoked? And, I tweaked the recipe a bit.

What I had:

• 2 packages of 12 oz bacon
• 1 lb hot pork sausage
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• dried parsley
• paprika

What I did:

• Browned one of the bacon packages
• Used the second bacon package to weave a tight mat

• Sprinkled the seasonings on the bacon mat
• Layered the pork sausage over the bacon mat
• Sprinkled the chopped onions and browned bacon on top of the sausage
• Sprinkled some more seasoning

• Rolled the sausage, without the bacon mat, backwards, trying to keep all the ingredients inside
• Then, rolled it back with the bacon mat

• Put it on the smoker at 225 degrees, bacon seam on the bottom

• Take it off the smoker when it reaches 165 internal temperature. Let it cool, slice it as thick or thin you want.

Gluten free sausage cheese balls

What I had:

• 3/4 cup Bisquick Gluten Free Baking & Pancake mix
• 16 oz hot Italian sausage, raw
• 1 1/2 cup your favorite shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, all to taste

What I did:

• Pre-heat oven to 350
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl by hand
• Rolled 1 inch balls and placed on baking sheet (I got 30 balls by the end)
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Serve with dipping sauce of choice

This was a hit at a party!