Category: Pasta

Johnny Marzetti – Updated

One of my mom’s favorite meals was Johnny Marzetti. When I was Googling the history of the name of Johnny Marzetti, I noticed a lot of the recipes bake it. The difference with my recipe is that I don’t. My recipe is more of an American goulash.

It was named after a restaurant in Columbus that shut down in 1972 when the owner died.

When I made it this week, I modernized or added some depth to the spaghetti sauce that I used in the dish. I added a splash of dry red wine while the sauce was simmering. So delicious!

It’s a simple pantry item dish. Here’s what you need to make the dish.

  1. ground beef – I know the price for ground beef has increased. I get the frozen ground beef at this current time because it is cheaper.
  2. spaghetti sauce – I used a simple spaghetti sauce from Aldi. Less than a dollar for the jar.
  3. dry red wine – Doesn’t need to be expensive. Or use beef broth for a deeper flavor.
  4. onions
  5. elbow macaroni – Aldi has 3 pound boxes for less than $1.50
  6. shredded cheddar cheese
  7. Spices: Dried oregano and Italian seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste
  8. optional: mushrooms and green peppers

Johnny Marzetti

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 pound of ground beef
  • 1 small onion, chopped or 1/2 of a medium or large onion, chopped
  • 1 (24 to 26 oz) jar of spaghetti sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. dry red wine or beef broth
  • 1 lb or 2 c. dry elbow macaroni
  • 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
  • Optional: 1/4 c. white or Bella mushroom, chopped
  • Optional: 1/2 green pepper chopped

Steps:

  1. Cook the elbow macaroni according to directions. Drain and set aside.
  2. Brown the ground beef in a medium sized pot on medium heat. Drain and remove from pan. Set aside.
  3. Add the onions, mushroom (if using), and green pepper (if using) to the pan. Add some oil to the pan if needed. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
  4. Add the cooked ground beef, spaghetti sauce, and red wine to the onions. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes.
  5. Add the pasta and shredded cheddar cheese to the pot. Stir to combine.
  6. Enjoy with garlic bread and a salad.

You can leave the wine out if don’t want to use wine. I just used it to add some depth to the dish.

Printable Recipe

Stay kind!

Have a magical day,
Traci

Pressure Cooker Spaghetti (DF)

Jump ahead to the recipe

The boys do not like when Hubby makes pasta dishes because he doesn’t always drain the pasta. He’ll rather use a slotted spoon to get out the pasta. Needless to say, it becomes very mushy.

So whenever we do have any pasta dishes, I’m the only one who cooks or if he cooks the pasta, he needs to be reminded to drain the pasta. I know us bugging him drives him crazy.

Making the spaghetti in the pressure cooker eliminates the need to drain the pasta because all of it is made in one pot.

Youngest is not always the best eater. He doesn’t always eat a lot of food at meals. When he ate 2 servings of the spaghetti, I knew this recipe was a keeper.

Hubby doesn’t always want to eat leftovers even though I plan for them during the week. He actually volunteered to eat the leftovers the next day. This also told me that this recipe was a keeper.

What you need for the recipe
  1. spaghetti noodles
  2. ground beef
  3. jar of spaghetti sauce
  4. water
  5. Italian seasoning
  6. optional: diced onions

Pressure Cooker Spaghetti

Pressure Cooker Spaghetti

  • Servings: 5
  • Difficulty: extremely easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 0.5 pound of spaghetti noodles
  • 0.5 pound of ground beef
  • 1 (26 oz.) jar of spaghetti sauce
  • 1 (26 oz.) jar full of water plus about 2 to 3 Tbsp. more of water
  • 1 small or 1/2 large onion, diced – optional
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil – optional

Directions

  1. Set your electric pressure cooker to saute.
  2. If you are going to add onions to your spaghetti, add the oil and then the onions. Cook the onions for 4 to 5 minutes or until translucent. Remove from the pot.
  3. Add the ground beef to the pot. Cook until no longer pink. Make sure you break up the ground beef so the pieces are equal pieces. (About 5 minutes) Drain the fat from the ground beef.
  4. Add the spaghetti sauce, water, Italian seasoning, and onions, if using them. Stir.
  5. Add the spaghetti noddles. (Break them in half.) Make sure the noodles are covered with sauce and water. Add a little more water, if needed.
  6. Set the pressure cooker to manual 8 minutes. Put the lid on the pressure cooker making sure the valve is set to seal.
  7. When it’s done cooking, quick release the valve.
  8. Stir the spaghetti.
  9. Enjoy with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Notes:

  1. You can use ground turkey instead of ground beef.
  2. If you want to make it vegetarian, you can use the beefless beef from Trader Joe’s. Just start with step 4 unless you are adding the onions.

Stay kind!

Have a magical day,
Traci

Sundried Tomato Garlic Noodles – A pantry meal (Vegetarian)

My aunt came into town and helped me rearrange my pantry. Once I knew what was in my pantry, it was easy to decide what to make for dinner.

I had some Pasta Roni’s Butter and Garlic noodles, sundried tomatoes, black olives, chickpeas, and canned chicken in the pantry. What could I make for dinner?

I cooked up one box of the butter and garlic noodles and added the drained chicken to the noodles.

Once I cooked up the other box of the noodles, I placed half of it in the other bowl. With the other half, I added sundried tomatoes, black olives, and drained chickpeas. YUM! It sort of reminded me of my favorite dish at Piada.

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Sundried Tomato Garlic Noodles

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: very easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1 box of Pasta Roni, Butter and Garlic
  • ¼ c. sundried tomatoes
  • ¼ c. black olives or Kalamata olives
  • ¼ c. drained and rinsed chickpeas
  • 1 to 2 tsp. grated Parmesan cheese, optional


Directions

  1. Make the Pasta Roni according to the directions on the box.
  2. Once the Pasta Roni is cooked, add the sundried tomatoes, olives, and chickpeas.
  3. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.
  4. Enjoy!



Happy eating,
Traci

Cheesy Orzo Pasta (Simple Side Dish)

The Imaginative One turned 13 last month.  A tradition in our house is for me to cook one of the birthday boy’s favorite meals for their birthday.  We had the Imaginative One’s dinner the day after his birthday because we had planned to be out on his birthday. Continue reading “Cheesy Orzo Pasta (Simple Side Dish)”

Sundried Tomato, Chicken, & Feta Cheese – One Pot Pasta Dish

Last weekend I found a blog that gave the exact portions to make a one pot pasta dish.  I decided to attempt to use the guidelines to make my own dish.

I’ve been loving sundried tomatoes lately.  So it was only logical that I used sundried tomatoes in this recipe.  Yum!

This dish would be good topped with Kalamata olives.  Or your favorite type of olive.  The rest of the family does not like olives so I didn’t top it with olives

IMG_0221Sundried Tomato, Chicken, & Feta Cheese
One Pot Pasta Dish

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb. chicken breast, diced into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1 c. chicken broth
  • 1 c. milk
  • 2 c. small pasta (I used bow tie pasta.)
  • 1/2 c. sundried tomatoes, cut into smaller pieces
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. dried basil
  • 1/2 c. Feta cheese
  • 1/4 c. sliced Kalamata olives
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Steps:

  1. Heat up a large skillet.  Add the extra virgin olive oil.
  2. Add the chicken breast.  Brown the chicken for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic.  Cook for a minute.
  4. Add the milk, chicken broth, and pasta.  Turn up the heat up to high.  Allow to boil.
  5. Turn heat to medium low.  Cover.
  6. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes.  Remove the lid.
  7. Add the sundried tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper, and olives.
  8. Serve!
  9. Enjoy!

The blog I found out the correct portions for one dish pasta dishes.  Recipe Rebel

Happy eating,
Traci

Aunt Missy’s Easy Skillet Chicken Parmesan

A few years ago, my aunt sent me a little stand up photo album with family favorite recipes.  When I was menu planning this week, I decided to check out those recipes.  I ended up choosing to make her chicken Parmesan.  It’s a one skillet recipe and done in less than 30 minutes.  Score!

I was so excited about the recipe that I’m already putting it on the blog!

Hubby loved it!  In fact, he had seconds.

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Aunt Missy’s Easy Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Stars of the recipe:

  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch. cubes
  • 1 (14 oz.) can or 1 & 3/4 c. chicken broth
  • 1-1/2 c. spaghetti sauce (Hubby suggests a spaghetti sauce that is cheesy flavored.)
  • 1/2 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 3 c. dried small cut pasta such as penne
  • 1 c. grated Parmesan (& more for serving)

Steps:

  1. Heat a skillet to medium high heat.
  2. Melt the butter in the skillet.
  3. Add the chicken.
  4. Cook until pink.
  5. Add the chicken broth, spaghetti sauce, basil, and oregano.
  6. Turn up heat to high.  Allow the spaghetti sauce and chicken broth to boil.
  7. Add the pasta.  Stirring until pasta is coated.
  8. Turn down heat to medium low.  Cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.  Stirring occasionally.
  9. Sprinkle cheese over the pasta.
  10. Enjoy!  Add more cheese to the pasta when serving if desired.

Thank you Aunt Missy for the recipe!

miz-helen-badge-alt5

Happy eating,
Traci

Pressure Cooker Mac and Cheese

One of my favorite comfort food is macaroni and cheese.  I have shared my favorite slow cooker mac and cheese, healthier mac and cheese, and make over mac and cheese.  Now I’ve found another favorite macaroni and cheese.

This recipe takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.  Yum!

I use an electric pressure cooker.

Pressure Cooker Mac and CheesePressure Cooker Mac and Cheese

adapted from Dad Cooks Dinner

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 lb. elbow macaroni
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 Tbsp. mustard
  • 1 – 2 tsp. salt
  • 4 c. water
  • 1 (12 oz.) can of evaporated milk
  • 2 c. cheddar cheese (I used sharp cheddar.)

Steps:

  1. Place the macaroni, butter, mustard, salt, and water in the pressure cooker.  Put the lid on the pressure cooker.
  2. Set it to pressure cooker for 5 minutes.  When it’s finished, quick release the pressure.
  3. Switch the setting to saute.  Add the evaporated milk.  Taste one the macaroni noodles.  It should be al dente and cooked through out.  If not, let it simmer for a few minutes.
  4. Slowly add the cheese.  Stirring each time you add the cheese.
  5. After adding all the cheese, let the macaroni and cheese sit for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

This post has been linked to Miz Helen’s Cottage’s Full Plate.

Happy eating,
Traci

 

 

Sausage Pasta Skillet

Here is another easy recipe that I found in my Evernote account.

This is an easy skillet dish.  Enjoy with easy peasy garlic bread.

sausage skillet pasta

Sausage Skillet Pasta

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1/2 box of penne pasta or any other small pasta
  • 1 pound sausage (Italian, mild, or hot)
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 (15 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1/4 c. sliced black olives
  • 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 c. Italian cheese blend or Parmesan cheese, for serving

Steps:

  1. Cook pasta following directions on box.  (Can use any small shape)
  2. In a separate pan, brown sausage.  (I used mild.)
  3. After it’s almost fully browned, add diced onions.  Cook until the sausage is fully browned.
  4. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes, 1 Tbsp. of Italian seasoning, and sliced black olives.
  5. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
  6. Add the cooked pasta.
  7. Sprinkle Italian cheese blend or Parmesan cheese over pasta and sauce.

Happy eating,
Traci

Crockpot Lasagna

Soon after I was married in 1999, my mom gave me a recipe for lasagna that involved no boiling of the noodles.  I’ve made it that way for the past almost 17 years.

I can’t believe I haven’t shared the recipe for my lasagna before.  It takes a while to prepare it but it’s worth the preparation.

I used my casserole crockpot for this recipe.  You could use an oval one but may need to break up the lasagna noodles.

All of my measurements for the layering of the lasagna are estimations because I typically don’t measure how much of each ingredient I use on each layer.

crockpot lasagna

Crockpot Lasagna

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 lb. ground beef or sausage, browned and drained
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
  • 1 (16 oz.) container of ricotta cheese or small curd cottage cheese (I suggest using ricotta cheese.)
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce or 2 c. homemade spaghetti sauce
  • 2 1/2 c. shredded Italian cheese
  • 1 box of lasagna noodles

Steps:

  1. Combine the ricotta cheese or small curd cottage cheese with the eggs in a mixing bowl.
  2. Spray your crockpot with cooking spray.
  3. Spread 1/4 c. of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the crockpot.
  4. Place lasagna noodles over the spaghetti sauce.
  5. Then layer in this order:
    1. 1/3 c. of the ricotta cheese mixture
    2. 1/3 c. of ground beef or sausage
    3. 1/3 c. Italian cheese
    4. 1/3 c. sauce
    5. noodles (I use 3 on each of my layers.)
  6. Continue layering the noodles, ricotta cheese mixture, ground beef or sausage, Italian cheese, and sauce. (I had 4 total layers.)  When you get to the last layer, save a little of the ricotta cheese mixture.
  7. One the last layer, place noodles, the rest of the ricotta cheese mixture, and the rest of the Italian cheese.  Sprinkle Italian seasoning over the cheese.
  8. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or until the noodles are cooked.

IMG_0038

Happy Eating,
Traci

Pressure Cooker Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

The other day I went an event.  They served frozen lasagna.  It made me crave homemade lasagna so I decided make some.    I asked Hubby to get me the ingredients for my lasagna.  Rather then using store bought sauce, I decided to use my spaghetti sauce recipe.  I adapted the recipe for the pressure cooker.

The kitchen smelled amazing as it cooked!  This is an easy recipe to put together.  If you don’t want to use the pressure cooker, click on the link to the original recipe.

I use an Electric Pressure Cooker.Pressure Cooker Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Pressure Cooker
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 (28 oz.) or 2 (14.5 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1/4 c. water
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
  • 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1 Tbsp. beef granules
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. white sugar or shredded carrots (reduces acidity and adds sweetness to the sauce)

Steps:

  1. Combine all the ingredients in the pressure cooker.
  2. Place the lid on the pressure cooker.
  3. Set the setting to pressure cook and the time to 10 minutes.
  4. After the sauce is done cooking, allow the pressure cooker to release the steam naturally for 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
  5. Carefully remove the lid to the pressure cooker.
  6. Enjoy over your favorite pasta!
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