Pizza Pasta

INGREDIENTS

1 lb pasta

52 oz spaghetti sauce

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped pepperoni

2 links Italian chicken sausage, cut into pieces

1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

3 wedges Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese, cut into pieces

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
seasonings of your choice - I used garlic powder, Italian blend, garlic and basil blend, salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Boil pasta until almost done.
Cook hamburger meat, add seasonings, pepperoni and chicken sausage.
Add 26 oz of spaghetti sauce to meat mixture and let it simmer.
Drain pasta, add meat mixture to it and add the other 26 oz of spaghetti sauce.
Stir in pecornio romano and laughing cow cheese.
Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish, top with mozzarella cheese and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes.

Green Olive Tapenade

Sorry I didn't get an after picture...but this was SO good. I got the recipe from Katie at Good Things Catered.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups pitted mild brine-cured green olives, rinsed thoroughly and patted dry
1 1/2 Tbs. coarsely chopped freshflat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

In a food processor, combine the olives, parsley, garlic, lemon juice and white pepper.
Pulse a few times to combine roughly.
Add the olive oil and pulse briefly, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The texture should be chunky, rather than a smooth puree.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

INGREDIENTS

1 (12 ounce) package vanilla wafers
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line miniature muffin tins (tassie pans) with miniature paper liners.
Crush the vanilla wafers, and place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed vanilla wafers into each paper cup.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Fill each miniature muffin liner with this mixture, almost to the top.
Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Top with a teaspoonful of cherry pie filling.

My Notes: I would let the cream cheese soften before you use it so you don't end up with lumpy batter. I did not need a full box of vanilla wafers...you may want to start out with grinding up half. This recipe is from Allrecipes.

My First Risotto

INGREDIENTS

1 cup arborio rice
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup pecorino romano cheese
ground white pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a heavy sauce pan, saute rice in butter stirring constantly.
Add garlic powder.
Slowly add 1 cup of stock, stirring frequently.
As the liquid cooks down continue to add the chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time until the mixture is very creamy.
Stir in white wine.
Fold in cheese.
Serve immediately and top with fresh ground pepper.

This recipe was adapted from the "S&W Italian Arborio" rice bag.