Pepperoni and Ziti Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 lb uncooked ziti
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 (26.5 oz) can prepared spaghetti sauce
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 (8 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 (9 oz) package frozen, chopped spinach - thawed & drained
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 oz mini-pepperoni

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside to cool.
2. Brown ground turkey over medium heat until no longer pink - then drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine: browned ground turkey, large can spaghetti sauce, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, chopped spinach, cottage cheese, Italian seasoning, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and pepper. Mix well.
4. Fold drained pasta into the turkey mixture.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Prepare 2 baking dishes with cooking spray. (One to bake, one to freeze - if desired.)
7. Fill both baking dishes with ziti-turkey mixture.
8. Combine water with regular tomato sauce. Pour that combination equally over both pasta dishes.
9. Top with remaining shredded mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and mini-pepperoni.
10. Bake the casserole at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes - OR - cover and freeze until ready to use.

Pesto Chicken Pizzas

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh cilantro, minced
• 1 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• pizza crust (home made or store bought)
• 1 cup diced, cooked chicken
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 can (2 1/4 oz) slice ripe olives, drained
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. (Making the pesto.) In a blender: combine the cilantro, parsley, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, and garlic cloves. Cover and blend well. Once fully processed, add olive oil in a steady stream while continuing to blend.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
3. Place pizza crust on prepared baking sheet. Top pizza crust with about pesto, spreading with the back of a spoon.
4. Next, sprinkle with chicken, tomatoes, olives, and cheese.
5. Bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes - or until cheese is melted.

Hint: The original recipe called for flour tortillas as the crust - that is my favorite pizza crust! We had been traveling all day and I didn't realize we didn't have any tortillas. Apparently our oldest thinks flour tortillas make great late night snacks...Any whoo... In 15 minutes I prepared a home made crust (recipe to follow). Being flexible in the kitchen can be very rewarding! Another way to save time would be to substitute prepared pesto sauce - instead of making it from scratch. Enjoy!!

I'm sharing this recipe at A Little Nosh for the Tastetastic Thursday 4/19 party - go see what other great ideas are being shared!!

Bacon-Chicken Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a favorite at our house, especially when I don't really feel like cooking. Instead of just sending the boys into the kitchen to make a sandwich - I can score mom points for having a hot meal that is both hand-held and delicious.

We have experimented a lot with tweaking several staple recipes in our menu to "Buffalo Chicken" flavor, and last night we tweaked our Quesadillas in the same direction.

These were devoured. No leftovers. None.

I consider that to be a good sign!

Ingredients:

2 fajita size flour flour tortillas per person (10 in our case)
1 large can chicken breast, drained
1/2 cup bacon crumbles
1/4 white onion, diced
1/8 cup ranch salad dressing
2-3 dashes hot sauce
1/2-1 tsp southwest seasoning
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

* Combine chicken breast, bacon crumbles, diced onion, ranch dressing, hot sauce, and shredded mozzarella cheese in a mixing bowl with a fork.

* Prepare cooking surface, preferably a griddle or shallow skillet by preheating after ingredients are assembled and ready to cook. These cook quickly, so be prepared. (I use a double burner griddle.)

* Place 1 flour tortilla on hot cooking surface, then top with filling mixture. Filling should not quite cover the tortilla and make sure to spread it out so that it will melt evenly as it cooks. The more filling, the harder it will be to flip and the cheese will not melt completely. Top with 2nd flour tortilla.

* Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium-high heat on preheated griddle. Tortillas will become crispy and cheese will melt as they cook.

* Cut with a pizza cutter and serve with ranch dressing for dipping...if the kids wait that long!

Enjoy!!



This recipe is linked up to Friday Food at Momtrends - go check out the other recipes linked up today!

Pepperoni & Mushroom Stuffed Heart Pizza Bread

As Valentine's Day approaches, I've been looking around my kitchen for a package of heart shaped cookie cutters in graduated sizes. As of this post, those cookie cutters are still MIA. (Sounds to me like a good reason to head to Hobby Lobby!)

What I did find in my cabinets were some heart shaped mini-cake pans, a silicone small hearts cupcake pan, a heart shaped cookie baking pan....and way back in the corner were the bread tubes that I fell in love with and never use but once in a blue moon. Why? Mostly because the recommendation for use is to buy the refrigerated bread dough to bake in them.

While I'll admit, I have in the past. I will also admit I don't like to buy the refrigerated bread dough in a can that costs more than a loaf of baked bread. It seems a bit over the top, so I just don't do buy it.

Then I came across a recipe for a basic bread dough that works beautifully in place of those store bought cans of dough, has many other uses, and doesn't cost nearly as much to make.

That allows to me to spend money on those other Valentine's Day specials: M & M's, candy sprinkles, conversation hearts, the boxed cake mix with the pretty Valentine colors and matching icing.



I decided to use that basic bread dough recipe with the heart baking tube, and experiment by making a Pepperoni & Mushroom stuffed Pizza Bread. I could have made cinnamon rolls in the heart tube with this same dough recipe, but I think I'll save that idea for this weekend!

Ingredients:

1 bread dough ball from Basic Bread Dough recipe
1 small can of tomato paste
1 small package of deli sliced pepperoni
1 small can of sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning blend

- Allow the dough to come to room temperature. On a well-floured surface roll the dough out to a large rectangle shape.

- Top first with tomato paste, spreading almost all the way to each edge. Next add pepperoni slices, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. Last top with Italian seasoning blend.

- Using a pinching method, roll the covered dough along the longest side until you have a tube shape pizza roll.

- Prepare bread tube by spraying inside, (including the lid). Make sure oven is preheated to 350 degrees F and the racks have been removed or lowered so that the bread tube can bake standing upright in the oven for 1 hour.

- Carefully slide the pizza roll into the prepared tube with one end capped. I folded the end of my roll so that it would be sealed. (As it cooked, the melted cheese and sauce escaped, so this really had no impact.)

- Bake for 1 hour in the 350 degree F oven with the tube standing up, open end of the tube toward the top of the stove. To prevent spills or leaks, putting an oven liner or cookie sheet below the bread tube is a good idea.

- After the pizza roll has cooked for 1 hour, allow it to rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the bread tube.

- This stuffed Pepperoni & Mushroom bread is great served with additional pasta sauce for dipping and will make a great after school snack for my kids.

Spinach & Ham Stromboli

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pizza crust (roll form)
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
3-4 slices provolone cheese
4-6 oz sliced deli ham
3/4-1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup sliced red onion
**Italian seasoning blend**

* Unroll pizza crust unto baking pan or stone

* Put baby spinach leaves down the center of the dough, lengthwise

* Top spinach leaves with provolone slices

* Top provolone with ham slices

* Top ham with shredded mozzarella

* Top mozzarella with red onion slices

* Lightly sprinkle with Italian seasoning blend

* Bring sides of pizza dough over the middle (fillings) and seal in the middle, by overlapping or squeezing dough together...if desired turn stuffed dough seam side down

* Sprinkle outer side of dough with additional Italian seasoning if desired

* Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 35-40 minutes

* Allow to rest about 5 minutes after removing from oven....slice and serve

Cheeseburger Pizza

1st - 1 seamless crescent roll

2nd - ketchup



3rd - Add some yellow mustard and smear - yes smear - around to all the edges with a big spoon

4th - top with cooked & drained ground beef



5th - a full 8 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese...you can add more if you like, I'll understand

(We sprinkle the cheese with garlic & herb seasoning too!)




6th - on top of the cheese some sliced red onion and...



7th - pickle slices

This is an ingredient I'm picky about. Must be good pickles, and we love the vlasic. I bought these instead of the hamburger slices last time so we cut 'em up. That works!



Ready for the oven!

375 degrees for no less than 25 minutes. We leave ours in the oven til the cheese is brown and the crust is brown around the edges. Burned? Not quite, just well done :)