Pasta e Fagioli

This recipe is one of my very favorites. Serves a small army (or gives lots of leftovers, which freeze very well) is surprisingly healthy, and easy to make.

I reverse-engineered this recipe from the Olive Garden's dish of the same name. When Rebecca was pregnant with Sydney she craved pasta e fagioli constantly, and I'm not really a big fan of Olive Garden. After several long waits for a table at the nearest franchise I said to myself 'surely I can figure out how to cook a soup' and after a couple of tries, I came up with this.

Hardware:
Large 12-quart stock pot with lid
cutting board
chef's knife
colander
garlic press (optional)

Software:
1lb ground beef
several stalks celery
several cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
1.5 cups matchsticked carrots (I buy them pre-cut in a bag)
1 cup orzo pasta
2 cans red kidney beans
1 large 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 jar marinara pasta sauce
1 quart beef broth
1 teaspoon tabasco pepper sauce (optional)
3 bay leaves
several pinches each dried basil and thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Dice the onion and celery, crush or mince the garlic, set aside. Pour a splash of oil in your stockpot and add the beef, garlic, salt, pepper. Brown over medium-high heat. Add celery, onion, carrot and continue cooking until slightly softened.

Drain and rinse the beans in a colander. Drain the tomatoes. Add beans, tomatoes, pasta, beef broth, and pasta sauce to the pot, stir to combine. Add bay leaves, tabasco sauce, other spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 to 2 hours. Serves 6-8 adults as a standalone dish, or serve as a soup course before your favorite Italian entree.

Surprisingly, a 1.5 cup (12oz) bowl of this only has about 300 calories, and it is VERY filling.

Baked Ziti

Unlike King Ranch Casserole, this is one my kids will actually eat. On the other hand, they can't do much of the work on it either...

This is a delicious, easy, fairly quick meal that serves a lot of people - easily 5 or 6, maybe more. It reheats best in the oven (cover with foil and bake at a low temp.)

Hardware:
9x13 baking dish
foil
large pasta pot
colander

Software:
1lb penne pasta
2 jars pasta sauce of your choice (I like to use a basil, garlic and olive oil tomato sauce, but any tomato-based sauce will work)
4 cups shredded italian cheeses (mozzarella, parmesan, asaigo, romano, etc)
(Optional) 1 cup ricotta cheese
(Optional) 1 teaspoon red pepper flake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pasta pot, boil 6 quarts of water and a pinch of salt. Cook penne pasta, drain. Return to pot and stir in pasta sauce, 1/2 the shredded cheese, and the ricotta and/or red pepper flake (if using.) Spoon the pasta mixture into the 9x13 dish and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour or until the center is thoroughly heated. Remove foil and top with remaining cheese; return to oven for 10-15 minutes. Allow to rest 15 minutes before serving.

Pro Tips:
I find that the ricotta adds calories, and little else.
The red pepper flake adds some needed zing to the dish, which can taste flat without it.
Some recipes for this use a ragu (meat sauce) or add finely diced pepperoni or some other cured meat to the dish. I have tried this but found the final product to be way too greasy.