Baked Rigatoni

My neighbors just welcomed a new baby boy into their home. Poor thing, shes been having serious back issues so the other day I walked over and brought some dinner for them. I decided to make a pan of baked rigatoni, because lets be honest there aren't many things as comforting as a pan of baked pasta, are there? It takes less time than making a lasagne, without any sacrifice of flavor. I made this version meatless with 3 different cheese, mozzarella, ricotta with spinach and grated romano cheese, I've also made a meat version many many times in my life adding tiny meatballs between the layers, a big hit for a party because it all can be put together a day ahead of time and then heated right before serving. A big pan of baked rigatoni would also be a great addition to your Easter dinner, because you always need to have a little pasta, no?

I love the large ridged rigatoni it holds the sauce perfectly and visually it looks so good. The box says to cook the pasta for 14 minutes but you'll want to under cook it since it will be baking in the oven. I cooked the one pound box for 10 minutes then drained the water and tossed the rigatoni into a bowl and gave it a quick drizzle of olive oil with a couple of ladles of marinara. Be sure to have enough marinara made because you don't want the pasta to dry out in the baking process. If you're buying your marinara in a jar I would buy two, but please try and make your own if you don't normally do so, it's such a difference!

I make my marinara very quickly using 6-8 cloves of chopped garlic sauteed in about 1/4 cup of olive oil, sometimes I add a small onion, sometimes I don't, to that I add two 28oz cans of San Marzano whole tomatoes that have been squished beforehand, and my favorite ingredient of all time, fresh basil, lots of it! Let it simmer for 20 minutes or so.

I buttered the inside of a 13 x 9 disposable pan, ( since I was giving this dish away) spread homemade marinara sauce on the bottom and then 1/3 of the rigatoni, then with a make shift piping bag I added dollops of ricotta all around the layer of pasta as well as good sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, next added the grated romano cheese all over. Repeat 2 more times starting all over with the sauce again.

The ricotta mixture was made by folding a good handful of chopped spinach (squeezed and drained of all liquid) into a pound of fresh ricotta along with one egg, a healthy dose of grated cheese, salt and pepper.

I like to keep my baked rigatoni a little lighter by not covering the top with a layer of mozzarella, I think there's plenty inside, but that's just my preference.

Ready for the oven, lay a piece of foil on top and bake around 25 minutes at 360F, last 15 minutes remove the foil.

I found this bottle of wine, Rigatoni Red, I sure hope it was good because I strictly bought it for the label which I just loved, it was the perfect compliment to my dish don't you think?

Have a great weekend, and Buon appetito!

Comfort Food

It's cold here today! Chicago is in the single digits and that requires some comfort food and I can't think of a more fitting dish than Chicken with Fennel and Olives, and to make it even more comforting it's served on top of Creamy Warm Polenta.

This is a simple rustic dish, nothing fancy, cooked in one pan and packed with flavor, I guarantee it will make you all warm and cozy inside.

I used chicken thighs but you can use whatever chicken parts you like.

Here's the recipe.

Chicken with Fennel and Olives

6 chicken thighs

1 fennel bulb, sliced

1 onion, sliced

8 cloves of chopped garlic

1 14 oz can of cherry tomatoes ( or diced)

Jumbo green pitted olives

Parsley, thyme, oregano and basil

White wine
In a large oven proof skillet brown up your chicken which has been seasoned with salt and pepper until it has a nice deep golden color, remove and drain the fat. Drizzle in some olive oil and saute the garlic, onion and fennel and then deglaze with a healthy splash of white wine. Add in your herbs, salt and pepper then place the chicken back in. Spread your olives all around then place the pan in a preheated 375F oven for around 45 minutes uncovered.

Creamy Polenta

1 1/2 cups of half and half, cream or milk

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

3/4 cup of polenta, I used the instant kind

1 tablespoon butter

Grated parmesan ( a nice size handful) and chopped basil

In a deep sauce pan heat your milk and broth until boiling then whisk in the polenta until it starts to bubble and splatter, be careful! Take it off the stove add in butter, cheese, snipped basil, salt and pepper to taste. Tastes best when served immediately, if it thickens up just add more liquid to loosen it up.

Enjoy your weekend, we'll be home Sunday rooting for the Bears! Go Bears!

Neck Bones and Gravy

A big pot of neck bones simmering on the stove is comfort food for my husband. I usually make this for him about once a year, sometimes with pasta, or sometimes just with string beans.

Neck bones to us is like Italian soul food, not fancy by any means, but gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling every time you eat them as you recall memories and smells of your childhood.

This is truely recession food, cheap eats that cost only a few bucks and feeds many.

Having run 6 miles that morning my husband justified the meal that was to come. He quickly called his brother and invited him over for dinner who became giddy with excitement. I cooked up some bucatini, made a salad, and warmed up some nice crusty bread.

No fancy china here, just two brothers sharing a meal together recalling memories of their mom.

The table wouldn't be complete without a bowl for the picked over bones.

Of course there's always room for dessert, and if you haven't tried

Gina De Palma's Ricotta Pound Cake you're missing out. I've made this several times and it's always a hit.

Buon Appetito

Dinner for Two with an Italian Turkey Meatloaf

I brought this little care package over to the new parents the other day, a little comfort food to nourish them from lack of sleep, besides, it was great excuse for seeing my sweet little Granddaughter again!

I used ground turkey for this meatloaf, but you can certainly substitute ground beef. For 2lbs of turkey I used 2 eggs, a nice handful of grated romano cheese, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 of a chopped onion, 1/2 cup of grated carrot, 1 T. of basil pesto, 1/4 cup of white wine, 1/2 cup of diced fire roasted tomatoes, (drained of juice) panko breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup of small diced provolone or fontinella cheese, salt and pepper.


I baked 2 individual casseroles for my son and DIL and even had enough for me and the hubby for our dinner. Bake at 375F for about 1 1/2 hours or when thermometer reaches correct temperature. The sauce on top was a quick roasted red pepper sauce made by blending in a food processor, leftover roasted peppers, a small amount of marinara and a clove of garlic. If you haven't tried a meatloaf with turkey yet you really should it's so good!

I'm still getting some zucchini from my garden so I made this and it was delicious! Zucchini layered with roasted tomatoes, basil, panko breadcrumbs, and feta.

I've been seeing these square cut potatoes all over in the blogosphere, they're called potato dominoes, check out Steamy Kitchen for a great step by step on how to make these. For mine, I decided to add a sweet potato along with the baking potato for a different twist, olive oil instead of butter, fresh snipped rosemary, salt and pepper. I will be making these again after I perfect my mandoline skills!

Enjoy your weekend, and Buon Appetito!