Instant Pot Spaghetti

Let me start by sharing that I've always considered spaghetti to be a quick and easy weeknight meal.  I'm not Italian (although I do love some Italian food) and for me, it was a matter of boiling water and heating some sauce while the pasta cooked.  But then along came the boyfriend and he wanted more (ground beef or meatballs, peppers, and onions) and it became much more effort.  However he loves the way the sauce comes out in the instant pot (in this recipe from TheKitchn, so I am back to it being a quick and easy dinner!  Yay!  Now this is the part where I say, if you have an all day Sunday sauce that you make, you probably aren't going to be as happy (I find that if you have a really good recipe for anything and then try an alternate, you're never as happy with it).  And yes, it's not really *faster* than boiling water and cooking the pasta while you heat the sauce.  But it is simpler since it's all in one pot.  You brown the beef and then add the sauce and pasta and seal and you can go sit while it comes to pressure and cooks.  Or you know, make garlic bread if you want.


INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups water, divided
1 (24-ounce) jar marinara or tomato-based pasta sauce
8 ounces dry spaghetti
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Turn an electric pressure cooker on to sauté. Once heated, add the olive oil and beef. Break the beef up into large pieces with a wooden spoon and season with the salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Cook, stirring and breaking the beef into smaller and smaller pieces, until cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Turn off the sauté function and add 1/2 cup of the water to the pot. Scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any stuck-on bits. Add the sauce and stir to combine well.

Break the spaghetti strands in half and spread them in one or two layers over the ground beef mixture. Do not stir from this point on.

Rinse the pasta sauce jar with the remaining 1 1/2 cups water (pour the water into the jar, twist on the lid, and shake gently) and then pour the water over the pasta. Remember — no stirring here.

Seal the pressure cooker. Set to cook on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes. The cooker should take between 10 and 12 minutes to come up to pressure.

Open the pressure release valve (quick release) as soon as the 8 minutes cook time is up. Open the pressure cooker and stir the spaghetti into the sauce. Turn off the pressure cooker and remove the insert from the pressure cooker. Serve immediately with a flurry of grated Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Parmesan Soup

This recipe is a home run!  It smelled divine cooking all day, and was well worth the wait when it was FINALLY dinner time!

I found this on Pinterest.  Click here for the original website where it was posted.

I added some chopped tomatoes because I had frozen chopped peppers and tomatoes together that were leftover from a recipe I made at Christmas.  I used dried spices -- 1 tsp basil and about 3/4 tsp oregano.  I had half a red onion so I chopped that instead of a white onion.  I skipped the red pepper flakes.  And I picked gemelli for the pasta because I think it's fun.

It was absolutely fabulous!  I served it with mozzarella stuffed breadsticks from Schwann's (thank you Grandma!) and a salad.

Chicken Parmesan Soup

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1/2 pound (raw) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups chicken broth, plus additional if needed
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy!)
4 ounces (uncooked) dry gemelli or penne pasta
Chopped fresh basil or parsley, for garnish

In slow cooker, stir together garlic, bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, chicken, broth, onion, 1/2 cup cheese, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cook on high 3-1/2 hours or on low 7 hours.

Transfer chicken breasts to cutting board and coarsely shred; return to slow cooker. Stir in pasta. Cook on high 30 minutes longer or until pasta is cooked al dente. If soup becomes too thick after pasta is cooked, stir in additional broth until desired consistency is reached, and warm through.

Serve garnished with extra Parmesan cheese and chopped basil or parsley.

Baked Ziti (aka Rosemary Ziti)

The boyfriend found this recipe about three years ago and it's now our default baked ziti recipe.  We love the touch of rosemary in the dish.

1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork sausage
1 1/2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
salt to taste
1 (6 ounce) package provolone cheese, sliced
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1 (6 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese


1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook onion in oil until tender. Stir in rosemary and garlic. Transfer to a small bowl.
3. Place ground beef and sausage in the skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Stir in the onion mixture and the spaghetti sauce. Season with salt. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. In the prepared dish, layer 1/2 of the cooked pasta, provolone cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, and a little less than 1/2 of the meat mixture. Then layer the rest of the pasta, mozzarella cheese, remaining meat mixture, and Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated through and cheeses are melted.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

I pin a lot of recipes.  But for some reason, I never think to check my Pinterest boards when I'm planning my week's menu.  Last weekend, I did.  And I discovered I had pinned this GEM of a recipe!

It was absolutely fabulous!  And so very easy.  I love a casserole that calls for raw chicken so I don't have to take the time to cook it first.

I used garlic cheese croutons, but any flavor would be delicious.  I didn't have fresh basil, so I used dried.  I might use garlic powder next time. It's hard to "sprinkle" minced garlic.  I skipped the red pepper flakes and used black pepper instead.

The only thing I had to change was I had to cover it about half way through because the top was getting pretty brown.  I was worried to bake it for 20 more minutes without covering the top.  Next time I will cover it first for 20 minutes, then uncover it for the rest of the baking time.

Here is the original link, in case you're interested.  It comes from emilybites.com.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

2 lbs raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cups marinara/pasta sauce
1 ½ cups 2% reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, divided
3.5 oz garlic croutons, roughly crushed, leaving some larger pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Spread the cubed pieces of chicken across the bottom of the baking dish in a single layer. Sprinkle the minced garlic, red pepper flakes and basil evenly over the chicken. Spread the sauce evenly across the top.

On top of the sauce layer, sprinkle ¾ cup of the Mozzarella and one ounce of the Parmesan evenly across the dish. Sprinkle the crushed croutons across the top and follow with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Lanny's Famous Five Cheese Lasagna

Chris and I went to Cooperstown this past weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our alma mater, the Cooperstown Graduate Program!  Pot lucks are a Thing at CGP, and when we were students we had a lot of Lanny's Famous Five Cheese Lasagna.

Tragically, Lanny died in a car accident several years ago. The Program was kind enough to provide us with his recipe:

We also got the recipe for Lanny's Egg Nog.

Two Sauce Lasagna

I absolutely LOVE this recipe!!  I cut it out of a Classico ad years ago.  I don't like meat in my lasagna, so I've always skipped that part.  However, it recently came to light that CHRIS loves lasagna with meat!  So I'm making it half and half from now on.  I cut up homemade meatballs for his side instead of sausage.

The only thing I changed in this recipe is I mix the spinach into the cheese mixture.  It's easier to deal with that way instead of trying to spread spinach over cheese.

I usually make my own sauce, but you can easily use jarred sauce instead, as the recipe calls for.

Two Sauce Lasagna

12 lasagna noodles
1 15 ounce container ricotta
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
2 eggs
1 26 ounce jar tomato sauce
1 10 ounce package chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
1 lb Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 16 ounce jar Alfredo sauce

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, 2 Tbsp Parmesan and eggs.  Mix well.

In a 13 x 9 inch baking dish, spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce.  Layer 4 lasagna noodles over sauce.  Top with half each of cheese mixture, spinach, tomato sauce, and sausage.  Repeat layers.  Top with 4 remaining lasagna noodles.  Spread Alfredo sauce over the top.  Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.

Cover and bake 350 for 40 minutes.  Uncover.  Bake 15 minutes more or until bubbly.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Rigatoni Roasted Red Pepper Bake

I cut this recipe out from a can label for something made by Contadina.  I made it once awhile back and made a few notes on it.  I tweaked it today and really liked it!

I thought it was to dry as written.  So I doubled the diced tomatoes to two cans (undrained) and skipped the water.  I also buy plain tomato paste and doctor it up myself.  In addition to the salt and pepper listed, I added basil and oregano.  Just add a little and keep tasting it until you get it how you like it.  I can't find diced peppers with roasted peppers in it, so I dice some up myself and add it separately.  I used about 1/2 cup.

This recipe is budget-friendly and is made with ingredients you're likely to have on hand.

Rigatoni Roasted Red Pepper Bake

8 oz dry rigatoni
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 gloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) Contadina Recipe Ready Diced Tomatoes, Roasted Red Pepper (I used 2 cans)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste with Italian seasonings (I bought plain and added my own)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook 2 minutes.

Combine undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, plus 3/4 cup water (I skipped the water).  Add to skillet.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in pasta, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.  Pour into baking dish.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

My mom's sauce is my favorite!  And mine tastes just like hers.

We used to have spaghetti sauce at least once a week when I was a kid.  It reminds me of cold Saturday nights in the wintertime, when my entire family gathered together to eat dinner.  Those were good times.  We usually had leftover sauce once during the week too.

My mom always makes her famous meatballs in the sauce, and she adds links of sweet Italian sausage.  Even though Chris and I don't even like the sausage, I always put it in so the sauce will taste right!

Making sauce actually isn't that difficult.  You just have to be sure to stir it every 15-20 minutes so it doesn't burn.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

1 medium onion, pulverized (use a food processor - I use my Pampered Chef chopper)
1 tsp minced garlic
olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pot)
6 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes (I use Red Pack)
Parmesan cheese
basil
parsley

one batch of Mom's Meatballs
4 links of sweet Italian sausage, cut in half (use hot sausage if you like that better)

Heat olive oil in a very large Dutch oven.  Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil for 20 minutes.  If the garlic or onion begins to brown, add a spoon or two of crushed tomatoes.  Continue to simmer for the full 20 minutes.

Add 6 cans of crushed tomatoes.  Add the equivalent of 1/2 can TOTAL of water by rinsing each can with a small stream of water.  You should be dumping in what looks like thin tomato juice from each can, not just water.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, basil and parsley over the top and mix in completely.  I would guess I use about 1 tsp of each spice and maybe 1/4 cup of the cheese.  Adjust to your taste.

Stir sauce often until entire pot heats up.  It might take about 20 minutes or so before the mixture heats through.  Once heated, turn it down to one notch above Lo.  Stir every 15-20 minutes for 2 hours.

Add raw meatballs and sausage.  Turn temperature up briefly, as the cold meat will cool down the sauce mixture.  Turn back down to one notch above Lo.  Stir VERY gently every 15-20 minutes for at least an hour.  I like to cook mine for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve over pasta of your choice!  Add a salad and fresh Italian bread or garlic bread for a complete meal.

This is what the sauce looks like before you add the meat.  The meatballs and sausage bring it right to the top of my pan!

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmesan

We just love chicken Parmesan!  This tomato sauce is so good, it would stand alone with pasta.  Of course, without using the oil the chicken was cooked in, it would change the character of the sauce.

One thing I need to learn to do is trust that the chicken is done!  I overcooked the smaller pieces a bit.  I have finally discovered the secret to keeping fried chicken from sticking -- it's a combination of oil and butter!  This is the second time I've tried a recipe that called for both, and it worked like magic.

The recipe appeared in Parade on Sunday February 26, 2012.  It comes from the amazing Pioneer Woman.

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parmesan

1/2 cup flour
8 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to uniform thickness
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup wine (white or red - I used a pinot noir)
3 14.5 oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 chopped fresh parsley, divided, plus more for garnish (I used about 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning in the sauce instead)
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb linguine or any other pasta, cooked al dente

Combine flour with salt and pepper to taste on large plate.  Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.  Dredge them in seasoned flour, set aside.

Heat oil and butter in a skillet on medium-high.  Fry chicken until golden, about 3 minutes per side.  Remove from skillet, keep warm.  Add garlic and onion to pan.  Cook for 2 minutes.

Pour wine and scrape skillet, getting flavorful bits off bottom.  Cook for 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.

Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 30 minutes.  Add 1/8 cup parsley and 1/2 cup Parmesan.

Arrange chicken on top of sauce.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.  Cover skillet and simmer until cheese melts and chicken is hot.  Sprinkle with 1/8 cup parsley.  Put pasta on plates, top with chicken, sauce and parsley.

Not-sagna Pasta Toss

From Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals. I've been meaning to make this for nearly a year now. And I finally did. Not exactly like lasagna in that in could've had more cheese (mmm, cheese!), but otherwise, it did have the flavor, and even though I'm not as speedy as other cooks, it really did come together in about a half hour.

Easier than lasagna, because it's not, this pasta, meat sauce and ricotta toss-up is just as hearty and comforting as the layered Italian fave, but it's ready in a fraction of the time and with much less effort.

Ingredients

• 1 pound curly short cut pasta (recommended: campanelle by Barilla, fusilli or cavatappi
• Coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, eyeball it in your palm
• Black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice, eyeball it in your palm
• 1 teaspoon, several drops, Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup dry red wine, a couple of glugs
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup fresh basil, about 20 leaves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls, plus some to pass at table

Directions

Heat a large pot of water to boil for pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Heads up: you will need a ladle of the starchy cooking water to help form sauce before draining.

Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the meat and break it up into small bits as it caramelizes. Once meat has good color to it, 4 to 5 minutes, add garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and season with salt, pepper, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 5 minutes, deglaze the meat and onions with red wine, cook off a minute, then combine about 1/2 cup of stock into the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.
Place ricotta cheese in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Add a ladleful of boiling, starchy pasta water to the ricotta and stir to combine. Add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan to the ricotta and mix it in.
Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with cheeses. Add half the thick meat sauce to the pasta bowl and combine. Tear or shred the basil and add to the meat and pasta, toss again. Taste to adjust salt and pepper. Serve bowlfuls of Not-sagna with extra sauce on top and more grated Parmesan to pass at the table.

Spicy Tomato Vodka Sauce

Nothing beats my mom's recipe for homemade sauce.  But sometimes you want something that doesn't have to simmer all day!

This recipe is a wonderful vodka sauce.  Quick and easy.  It comes from the February 2011 issue of Cuisine at Home.

Spicy Tomato Vodka Sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I don't like hot stuff, so I just used a sprikle)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice (original recipe called for 2 cans of whole tomatoes and no crushed tomatoes, but I like the combination of the two better)
1/2 cup vodka
1 fresh bay leaf (I used dried)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Parmesan

Heat oil in large sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and pepperoni to oil and saute until onions are soft, about 4 minutes.  Stir in garlic, pepper flakes, and basil.  Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute  Stir in tomato paste to coat mixture and saute 1 minute.

Stir in tomatoes, vodka, bay leaf, and salt.  Crush tomatoes into chunks with a spoon.  Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until reduced by a third, about 30 minutes.  Discard bay leaf.  Stir in vinegar, cream and Parmesan.  Serve with your favorite pasta!

Mom's Meatballs

Placing raw meatballs into the sauce.

Do you have trouble making tasty meatballs everytime? My mother's recipe is foolproof and will give you delicious meatballs every time. The secret? LOTS of parmesean cheese!

Mom's Meatballs

2 pounds 85% lean ground beef

2 eggs

1 8 oz jar of Kraft parmesean cheese

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/8 cup milk

1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs

Let hamburger sit out on the counter for about 15-20 minutes to warm it up a little.  Place hamburger in large bowl. Add eggs. Sprinkle Worcestershire sauce over top.

Add entire canister of parmesean cheese. (Yes, the ENTIRE canister!) Sprinkle basil, parsley, and garlic powder over top. Add milk and breadcrumbs.

Mix by hand until everything is combined. The meat will be very cold! Continue mixing meat, gathering up all the dry ingredients that stick to the sides. (You may want to remove any rings to avoid getting meat stuck in them.)

Roll each meatball into desired size ball. I make mine a little bigger than an inch in diameter. Some people like very large meatballs.

Place each meatball into a pot of simmering tomato sauce. Push meatballs down into sauce gently with a large spoon.

Cook in simmering tomato sauce for approximately 2 hours, stirring every 15-20 minutes. Serve over a bed of spaghetti topped with sauce!

Spaghetti with Meatballs

From Everyday Food. This is good for those times you want to make spaghetti and meatballs a little more special than opening a jar of sauce and heating it while you cook the pasta (which I've done quite a bit myself!).

Ingredients

Serves 4.

* 1 medium onion, grated (1 cup)
* 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
* 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
* 1 large egg
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 1 pound ground beef sirloin
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 medium carrot, grated
* 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
* 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
* 12 ounces spaghetti


Directions

1. Heat broiler with rack 4 inches from heat source. In a medium bowl, mix 1/4 cup onion, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, egg, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until combined. Add beef; mix gently until combined. With moistened hands, form beef mixture into 16 balls (each equal to 2 level tablespoons). Place on a rimmed baking sheet, and broil until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add carrot, remaining 3/4 cup onion, and remaining 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning; season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and add meatballs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Ten minutes before meatballs are cooked, add pasta to boiling water; cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain and return to pot. Add meatballs and tomato sauce to pasta; toss to combine. Serve, with additional Parmesan if desired.