Goat Cheese and Tomato Chicken Pasta Casserole

This is my first meat dish on the blog! I was challenged to make it by a large container of leftover chicken in my fridge. I wanted an Italian-spiced dish, but something that the kids would like (they prefer spaghetti to almost anything). This dish features a special mix of goat cheese, fresh mozzarella and lemon zest, paired with a simple garlic and herb tomato sauce. It’s easy, wholesome and offers lots of leftovers! (And my kids LOVED it!)

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 can tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups chopped chicken
2 cups grated fresh mozzarella, leave 1/2 cup to top casserole
1 package herbed goat cheese
1 pound spiral pasta

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Boil pasta until al dente, about 7 minutes.

3. In a sauce pan, saute garlic in olive oil until toasted, about two or three minutes.

4. Add tomato sauce, herbs and chicken. Simmer while pasta boils. Add salt and pepper to sauce to taste.

5. Drain pasta.

6. In a casserole dish, mix the cheeses and lemon zest together.

7. Add cooked pasta, chicken sauce to the casserole dish. Stir until well blended.

8. Top pasta with 1/2 cup mozzarella.

9. Cover casserole dish and bake for 20 minutes.

10. Uncover and bake pasta for 5 to 10 more minutes or until golden brown.

11. Let stand for about five to 10 minutes.

Serve with mixed greens salad and pears … yum!

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Cook Once, Eat Twice Pasta Dishes: Mac n’ Cheese and Spicy Peanut Pasta Salad

With school back in full swing and a fall full of festivals, weddings and showers, I’m always looking for ways to save time. These pasta dishes are the perfect things to cook once and eat twice. The mac n’ cheese recipe is so easy and yummy, I guarantee you will never eat boxed again! And the spicy peanut pasta salad is a great dish to bring to parties or serve on the side of this fantastic grilled portobello mushroom burger recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod.

These recipes also feature some of my favorite tips for getting kids to eat their veggies, and some cooking techniques and time savers. For example, the mac n’ cheese is served over blanched broccoli, which I’ve found pleases kids’ palates much better than the over-cooked mushy steamed broccoli. It also features Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta, which is enriched with fibre, protein and calcium.

I also share a way to blanch the broccoli without a lot of extra steps, and a new-found secret to taking the bite out of onions by “deflaming” them. Finally, I sneak some brussels sprouts into the pasta salad for good measure. Note that all veggies in the following recipes were bought at the Cedar Falls farmer’s market. NOTE: you can make these recipes individually, just cook half the pasta.

Shredding cheddar cheese.

Ingredients for Broccoli Mac n’ Cheese:

3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 box Ronzoni Smart Taste Elbow Noodles
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut up all of your veggies, keeping broccoli separate and in a strainer.

2. Cook one package of Ronzoni Smart Taste elbow noodles to al dente, according to package instructions. You will use half of the pasta in your mac n’ cheese and half in the pasta salad. (Use this tool to find Ronzoni pasta in a store near you).

3. Blanch broccoli by pouring the pasta water over the broccoli in the strainer. Cover strainer with pot lid and let steam for five minutes.

4. Drain pasta in a separate strainer. You can use half now for the mac n’ cheese and store the other half in a container to make the pasta salad later, if you’d like.

5. Melt butter in a medium-sized sauce pan over  medium-low heat.

6. When butter is melted, add flour one tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly. Whisk for about three minutes or until the “roux” is foamy.

7. Slowly add milk and half and half, whisking constantly until the sauce becomes smooth (this should look, feel and taste like a cream sauce).

8. Turn down heat to low and add cheese. Continue to whisk slowly until cheese is melted.

9. Add 1/2 of the cooked pasta to your cheese sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

10. Put desired amount of blanched broccoli in individual soup bowls or plates, then top with mac n’ cheese and serve.

Tip: We serve this dish at our house this time of year with sliced apples and a mixed greens salad.

Ingredients for Spicy Peanut Pasta Salad:

3/4 cup chopped brussels sprouts
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 small red onion, diced and deflamed*
3 tbsp. organic natural peanut butter (use this tool to find Smuckers Natural or Organic Peanut Butter at a store near you)
2 tbsp. Nayonaise
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1/2 small green pepper
1 red chile
3 tbsp. cilantro sprigs
1 tbsp. honey
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Directions for Spicy Peanut Pasta:

1. Chop veggies.

2. Deflame your onion. To “deflame an onion,” I follow the Rick Bayless method. Put onions in a strainer, then place the strainer in a bowl of cold water with a splash or two of vinegar. Soak while prepping everything else.

3. Put all other ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

4. Mix dressing, veggies and pasta well. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

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Veggie Skettie Soup

If there’s one comfort food every kid loves it’s pasta. They love it served with tomato sauce, cheese sauce, in salads, stir fries and yes, even soups. This recipe combines the Italian seasonings my kids love, plus noodles and A LOT of veggies. This soup, when made with Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta, is chock full of even more vitamins, fiber, protein and calcium!

I discovered Ronzoni last weekend at our cousin Margaret Buckton’s house. This pasta looks and tastes like regular old pasta, but has all the added nutrients of what you’d normally find in a whole wheat pasta, and then some. Add mozzarella or parmasan cheese and you’ve got a yummy, wholesome Italian dinner.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
2 tsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
5 cups chopped seasonal veggies of your choice: squash, zucchini, eggplant, brussels sprouts, carrots, green beans, broccoli, rutabaga
2 cups diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1 can garbanzo or white beans
1 tsp. dried basil (or use fresh if available)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. thyme
3 tbsp. fresh parsley
6 cups water
3 cubes low-sodium veggie bouillion
1/2 package Ronzoni thin spaghetti, broken in half
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Saute onions on medium heat for five minutes or unil clear.

2. Add garlic and saute two minutes.

3. Add spices, except parsley.

4. Add all veggies, tomatoes, bouillion and water.

5. Bring to a boil, then add spaghetti noodles.

6. Boil for 10 minutes, then simmer on low till veggies are cooked through.

7. Serve hot and garnish with parsley and grated mozzarella cheese.

I served this with some crusty Italian bread and olive oil!

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