Justin was out of town last week and Thursday and Friday I spent cooking and preparing for the party without Eneye's help watching Ashlynn (she was home with her ill daughter). It was busy and I knew I had to use all my time efficiently to get my too-long-list done before the party on Saturday (which was a hit by the way). I enlisted Addie to watch Ashlynn in the living room while I worked in the kitchen and ran around like a mad woman during Ashlynn's naps trying to accomplish tons while I had both hands free. Once I had the girls all asleep for the night I completed my baking and cleaning and decorating. Phew! I was so happy to see Justin when he returned late on Friday night.
Friday afternoon it seemed the girls started to get cranky earlier than normal. I looked at my watch and was surprised to see that it was already 4PM. I had completely forgotten to plan something out for dinner with all the hustle of trying to get the cooking for the party done. Last minute I threw a pan of baked rigatoni (essentially baked ziti) together and surprisingly, it was a huge hit.
Here's my deal with baked ziti. I've never made it before because it's never been my favorite pasta dish. I think of it mostly as a kid friendly dish people bring to parties or work potlucks usually over-baked bland and dry. When Ashlynn was born our sweet neighbors and friends from Addie's preschool in the U.S. brought over casseroles and 3 out of 4 were baked ziti with varying degrees of dryness and grossness. We were so thankful to have food pre prepared that we initially didn't care what it was, but after a few weeks we were so sick of baked ziti I vowed to never eat it again. That is until this last Friday night.
Here it what I frantically threw together that evening while my kids melted down around me.
I boiled a bag of rigatoni (since we didn't have ziti and it's basically the same thing) and threw it in a 9x11 pan. I sauteed chicken sausage and sliced it in rounds. In a bowl I combined a cup of ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In a larger bowl I combined spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, oregano and garlic powder (if I had more time I would have minced fresh). Then I combined the pasta, sausage and sauce in the pan. Fold in crumbled ricotta and lastly top with ricotta and Parmesan cheese. I baked this covered at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. It was delicious and moist and the ricotta added a rich creamy texture. I would say it was better than the average baked ziti I've tasted and a huge bonus was the girls devoured it. But, typically they will devour anything when they are super starving.
I was also really happy to have leftover baked ziti for Saturday evening dinner after the party. There was no way I was cooking dinner after everyone left and the house was cleaned up. Reheated with a bit of water in the bowl and a moist paper towel on top kept the ziti nice and moist. Yum! And double yum after how easy and quick this meal was to prepare.
Friday afternoon it seemed the girls started to get cranky earlier than normal. I looked at my watch and was surprised to see that it was already 4PM. I had completely forgotten to plan something out for dinner with all the hustle of trying to get the cooking for the party done. Last minute I threw a pan of baked rigatoni (essentially baked ziti) together and surprisingly, it was a huge hit.
Here's my deal with baked ziti. I've never made it before because it's never been my favorite pasta dish. I think of it mostly as a kid friendly dish people bring to parties or work potlucks usually over-baked bland and dry. When Ashlynn was born our sweet neighbors and friends from Addie's preschool in the U.S. brought over casseroles and 3 out of 4 were baked ziti with varying degrees of dryness and grossness. We were so thankful to have food pre prepared that we initially didn't care what it was, but after a few weeks we were so sick of baked ziti I vowed to never eat it again. That is until this last Friday night.
Here it what I frantically threw together that evening while my kids melted down around me.
I boiled a bag of rigatoni (since we didn't have ziti and it's basically the same thing) and threw it in a 9x11 pan. I sauteed chicken sausage and sliced it in rounds. In a bowl I combined a cup of ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In a larger bowl I combined spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, oregano and garlic powder (if I had more time I would have minced fresh). Then I combined the pasta, sausage and sauce in the pan. Fold in crumbled ricotta and lastly top with ricotta and Parmesan cheese. I baked this covered at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. It was delicious and moist and the ricotta added a rich creamy texture. I would say it was better than the average baked ziti I've tasted and a huge bonus was the girls devoured it. But, typically they will devour anything when they are super starving.
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