Baked Ziti

I love Italian food, but with the exception of a simple Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti & Meatballs, it's not usually on our weekly menu. I love Trisha Yearwood's Cowboy Lasagna, but rarely ever make it. (By the way, that post has received the most hits of all my posts with a whopping 19,715 - that is, if Blogger's stats are truly accurate.) I discovered The Pioneer Woman's recipe for Baked Ziti a few years ago, but have only made it a couple of times. Last week, I decided it was time for some gooey, cheesy, yummy pasta and Baked Ziti was at the top of my list. The first time I made this recipe, I used a regular 9x13 glass dish, which was fine, but it was very full.

This time around, I decided to use a disposable aluminum pan, which is a bit deeper. It is definitely better for this huge batch of pasta, but you really have to be careful and support it with a cookie sheet or baking pan. This recipe weighs a ton!

Baked Ziti

The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole large onion, diced
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 lb. ground beef
1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes with juice
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) tomato sauce or marinara sauce
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper, to taste
16 oz. Ziti or Mostaciolli 
1 container (15 oz.) whole milk ricotta cheese
1 and 1/1 lbs. mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Fresh parsley, minced

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for several minutes. Once the onions have softened a bit, add the Italian sausage and ground beef. Cook until browned. Drain the fat.

Add the tomatoes (with their juice) and tomato sauce, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Stir and simmer for 30 minutes. After that time, remove 3-4 cups of the meat sauce to a separate bowl and allow it to cool.

While the meat sauce is simmering, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Do not overcook. Drain the pasta and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process. Allow it to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a separate (large) bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, 2 cups of the grated mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper. Stir together until just slightly mixed. Add the cooled pasta and toss until slightly combined. Add the 3-4 cups of reserved meat sauce, which should now be cool.

Prepare a large casserole dish with olive oil spray or PAM. Add half the coated pasta to the dish. Spoon half of the remaining sauce over the top, then top with half of the remaining mozzarella cheese. Repeat with another layer of the coated pasta, the sauce, and the mozzarella. 

Bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes (or until bubbling and the cheese is just beginning to brown). Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Yield: 12

My Notes:

Ziti vs. Mostaccioli vs. Penne. I don't think it really matters which you use. I usually have Penne Pasta on hand, so that's what I used. 

I blended the whole tomatoes just enough so there weren't a lot of big chunks in the sauce.

I allowed the sauce to simmer for a couple of hours rather than just 30 minutes. 

This really makes a lot, so once the dish had completely cooled, I put a couple of servings in quart-size freezer bags for future meals. We ate some of the leftovers (that weren't frozen) over the next few days and while the sauce was a little bit drier, it was still delicious. You can probably just add some marinara to your leftovers, if you like.

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Lumpia!

The first time I tasted lumpia was at my wedding reception when I married my first husband. One of my stepdad's co-workers made dozens of this delicious Filipino version of the egg roll and I was instantly hooked. It was 1981 and I wasn't exactly an adventurous eater; I doubt if I had ever even tried an egg roll, but these crispy little pork-filled rolls, which looked a lot like taquitos, won me over with a single bite. 

It wasn't until a few years later that I got another chance to taste these savory little rolls of goodness. My sister-in-law made a batch for a small family gathering and I watched and listened, but wasn't much of a cook back in the early 80s, and thus, never attempted to make them myself. 

Now, after over 30 years (and many family gatherings that included Ana's lumpia), I asked her if she would teach me once again and this time I paid close attention. I don't know why I thought they were so complicated to make! Cook the meat and onions. Chop and cook the veggies. Roll the mixture in lumpia wrappers. Fry in oil. It's pretty easy, especially if you have time to prep the veggies a day in advance. You can even make the filling ahead of time and freeze it. For that matter, you can make and freeze the assembled lumpia (wrapped in wax paper and stored in freezer bags) and fry them whenever you're in the mood for a yummy appetizer.

This past Christmas, Ana and I made 30 lumpia (a dozen of which went straight to the freezer to be fried up at a later date). We served them with a delicious Asian slaw, a few pot stickers and some Panko shrimp from Costco. Who knows, maybe next year I'll learn how to make pot stickers!

Lumpia

Ingredients

1 lb. ground pork
1/2 medium onion, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, julienned
8 oz. French style green beans (I used frozen)
1/2 small cabbage, sliced into 1/4-inch slices, then in half
Salt & pepper to taste
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 30-count package of spring roll/lumpia wrappers (frozen)
Vegetable oil for frying (I used canola)
Egg white

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet (or dutch oven) over high heat. Add the chopped onion, garlic and celery, cooking until tender. Add the ground pork and cook until browned. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add carrots and green beans, cooking until just tender-crisp. Add the cabbage and mix well. Cover, lower heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before handling. 

Note: At this point, you can either make the lumpia or refrigerate (or freeze) the filling until you are ready to assemble them.

Celery & onions (chopped finely in the food processor);

carrots (julienned by hand); cabbage (thinly sliced by hand).

When you are ready to roll the lumpia, remove the wrappers from the freezer. Gently (they tear very easily) peel one wrapper from the stack and place it in front of you so that it looks like a diamond. Put one tablespoon or so of the filling in the middle of the wrapper. You don't want to get any of the liquid from the pot mixed in with the filling or the wrapper will get soggy and tear. Use your fingers to spread the filling so that it is in a tube shape. Take the corner nearest you and pull it up over the filling making it snug around the filling. Now the wrapper should almost be triangular in shape.

Take the right hand corner and pull over the filling and the left hand corner doing the same. These folds should be snug against the filling and begin to look like the final lumpia shape. 

Dip the first two fingers of either hand into the egg white and brush it on the edges of the wrapper before making the final roll toward the last corner. Roll the wrapper up toward the final corner. It should now resemble that familiar lumpia shape.

Place the lumpia on a large cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper.

Look how easy this is!


Once you have rolled all of the lumpia, they are ready to be fried. Heat 1/2-inch depth of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Gently lower 4-6 lumpia, seam-side down, into the hot oil, turning with tongs to evenly brown the wrappers, cooking for about 1-2 minutes. Be very careful with the temperature of the oil. If it gets too hot, the outside cooks too quickly and the inner wrapper won't get crispy. 

Drain the cooked lumpia on paper towels and serve with sweet chili sauce (or sweet & sour sauce, if you prefer something a bit more mild).

Note: When freezing lumpia prior to frying, wrap about a half dozen in wax paper and place them in a freezer bag. When frying the frozen lumpia (you don't need to defrost them), be very careful as the oil will splatter from the ice crystals. You will also need to fry them a little bit longer in order to thoroughly heat the filling.

Yield: 30-40

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.

Sloppy Joes

If you've been following this blog for the past few months, you know that my husband and I bought a travel trailer this summer and have had a lot of fun exploring the Pacific Northwest. Our trailer is outfitted with a large refrigerator, microwave and two-burner stove. We also have a toaster oven, portable grill and Coleman campstove, so there are plenty of cooking options when we're traveling. I love to cook, but cooking while camping is not how I choose to spend my time. I'd rather relax outside with a book or go for a hike or explore a new town. Cooking is a necessity, so I needed to find a solution to get me out of the "galley" while adding more options to our meals. Burgers, hot dogs and grilled chicken are fine every now and then, but would surely get old during a two-week trip.

Enter Make-Ahead-Meals.

When fixing dinner at home, I've recently begun to freeze half of a given recipe to take with us when we head out on a camping adventure. Soups, stroganoff, chili, Sloppy Joes, etc. I can't say that I remember ever having a Sloppy Joe until recently, but it tasted so good I decided to make a batch for our recent trip to Bandon. I froze enough of the recipe so we could have it for dinner one night and lunch later in the week. Served with chips, salad or fruit it worked out to be a nice alternative to a cheeseburger. And, the best part? Not only was I able to heat it up in a skillet in just a few minutes, but there were very few dishes involved. (Always a big plus when camping!)

Remember Hunt's Manwich? I can honestly say I've never tried one and I doubt I ever will. This Crock-Pot recipe for Sloppy Joes is so easy, I don't know why anyone would opt for a canned variety. I'm not sure if this recipe tastes like a Manwich, but it's certainly filling and yummy, especially after a day of exploring.

Manwich is the brand name of a canned sloppy joe sauce produced by ConAgra Foods and Hunt's, introduced in 1969. The can contains seasoned tomato sauce that is added to ground beef cooked in a skillet. It is marketed as a quick and easy one-pan meal for the whole family. Manwich's slogan is, "A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal." (Wikipedia)

Crock-Pot Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 (16 oz.) package ground pork sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 medium-sized green bell pepper, chopped (optional)
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 hamburger buns, toasted

Brown beef and sausage with onion and bell pepper in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring 10 minutes or until beef and sausage crumble and are no longer pink. Drain well.

Place beef mixture in a 4 1/2 quart slow cooker. Stir in tomato sauce and next 9 ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH for four hours.

Serve on hamburger buns.

Stove-Top Method

Proceed with recipe as directed in Step 1, returning drained beef mixture to Dutch oven. Stir in tomato sauce and next 8 ingredients, omitting flour. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

Note:

To freeze leftover Sloppy Joe mixture, let cool completely. Place in zip-top plastic freezer bag; lay bags flat, and stack in freezer. Freeze up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in refrigerator or defrost in microwave.

My Notes:

I made this on the stove, rather than in a Crock-Pot. I think either method is fine, but since it's just ground beef and pork sausage, slow cooking isn't necessary for tenderizing the meat.

I don't care for green bell peppers, so I left those out and reduced the amount of chili powder to 1 teaspoon.

Please visit Beth Fish Reads for Weekend Cooking.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.