Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Recipes of the Week

The votes are in, the recipes for the week of June 11th. Because of the close amount of votes for the cheesecake and cookies, the cookies will be next weeks baking recipe of the week.

The easiest way to do this I think, is to make the recipe when you like, changing what ingredients you like, adding what you like etc. Then make a comment in this blog with the changes you made and a link to your blog (if you have one), and if people want to read your recipe exactly they can. Also, please save the above picture and put it in your blog with the recipe, it will be an easy way to track the recipes. Happy Cooking and Baking to everyone!

Cooking Recipe:

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomato, and Cheese
(Source: Cooking Light)

1 (1-pound) package uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)
1 pound hot turkey Italian sausage links
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Cooking spray
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain the pasta, and set aside.

3. Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil.

4. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Combine cooked pasta, sausage mixture, and basil. Place half of the pasta mixture in a 4-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Top with half of mozzarella and half of Parmesan. Repeat layers. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield
8 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 413(26% from fat); FAT 11.8g (sat 6.1g,mono 2.2g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 24.1g; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 265mg; SODIUM 941mg; FIBER 4.5g; IRON 7.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 53g



Baking Recipe:

Chocolate Caramel Nut Cheesecake
(Source: Allrecipes)


3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon white sugar
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
3 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (2.16 ounce) bars chocolate-coated caramel-peanut nougat candy, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and 1 tablespoon sugar. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.

3. In a large bowl, cream the 3/4 cup of sugar and cream cheese together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Stir in chopped candy bar, and pour into baked crust.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Let cool and carefully remove the springform pans side.

9 comments:

Gillian said...

wow! Look at that :) I love making cheesecake from scratch so this one will definitely be going on the to-do list :) I have the summer off work so I'll have plenty of time for playing around in the kitchen!

Carrie said...

I made the cheesecake tonight, it was really good, I used a store bought pie crust, and served it with whip cream on top. I have pictures etc up on my blog... http://adamswife.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I made this last night. It turned really good despite my initial concerns regarding the MAJOR crack on top. Dh loves it, but next time I will use a water bath.

CharlottsWeb said...

Ok, the last comment regarding the crack on the cheesecake was from me. I am now official.
I also made the ziti tonight. I thought it was very very good. I did make some changes though. I used Al Fresco Itlalian style chicken sausage (which was surprisingly very good!) and instead of 2 cans of diced tomatoes used one can of crushed tomato and half a can of diced. Dh doesn't like the texture of tomatoes.
The changes I would make for next time would be more cheese and more meat. But really this was a very yummy dinner and will definitely be made again!

Julie said...

(ladychicago) I won't be making the pasta dish this week, because I just made it not that long ago. In fact, it has been a regular part of our dinner rotation for the last 6 months ago. dh LOVES it and the leftovers are awesome. I end up eating it for lunch for the rest of the week. i usually use jenny-o hot italian turkey sausage. My only change is that I usually end up almost doubling the amount of cheese, and I throw in one can of petite diced and one can of diced with garlic and basil (or other italian flavors). my favorite are the noodles on the top that get all brown and crispy on the top... yum...

Renea said...

I made the cheesecake recipe today. It turned out so awesome!! I used a store bought crust as well since I don't have a springform pan.

sweet-savory-southern.blogspot.com

Carrie said...

I made the pasta tonight, it was really good! I added more cheese and use some crushed tomatoes intead of diced. You can view my changes in my blog... adamswife.blogspot.com

Cara said...

I made the pasta tonight, well, sort of :) I made a spaghetti squash spin-off. Check it out if you like!
carascravings.blogspot.com

That Girl said...

Just finished making the pasta. DH helped himself to seconds - that's always a good sign! I used whole wheat pasta, canned plum tomatoes with basil, spicy Italian chicken sausage, and sliced mozzarella. I think it came out really well!
http://katorade.blogspot.com/2007/06/dude-im-totally-baked.html