Celebration Meal: Baked Whole Wheat Rigatoni

Baked Whole Wheat Rigatoni

Happy (few weeks after his) Birthday to the male half of this couple!

One of his favorite foods when he lived on the mainland was Baked Ziti...there was a woman who ran a restaurant near his work and once a week he would go in for her Baked Ziti.  He claims it was inexpensive and the best Baked Ziti ever...he had it so often when she saw him walking towards the restaurant she would start making his plate!

I am still in Cruise, but the male half doesn't care for the Shirataki pasta noodles, so I made him a whole wheat rigatoni for his birthday (because I just made him whole wheat penne and he likes variety).  We used the Pioneer Woman's recipe for Baked Ziti as our base but altered it a bit.  We didn't use as much mozzarella to cut down on the amount of cheese we used -- I still have mixed feelings on whether I should have used the full amount.  It definitely wasn't as cheesy as we would have liked it, but it wasn't terrible either!  We baked ours for 30 minutes (Pioneer Woman's recipe says 20 minutes or until bubbly) but 30 still wasn't enough.

RECIPE:
Serves: 6 to 8
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 20-30 minutes or until cheese is bubbling

1 - 40 oz jar of Victoria All Natural Marinara Sauce
16 oz. whole wheat rigatoni, cooked until not quite al dente
1 - 15 oz. tub of low fat ricotta cheese
up to 1 1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 c. romano cheese, grated (we used the one that looks like powder -- you can use parmesan, but we prefer the taste of romano and there's less fat)
1 whole egg
salt and pepper

Start cooking your pasta.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare your baking pan, we used a 9x13 pan lined with foil because I don't like scrubbing pans.   In a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella, romano cheese, egg, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir together a couple of times (do not mix completely).  When draining your pasta, rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process.  Drain completely.  Pour pasta into your cheese mixture and toss to slightly combine (there should still be large lumps).

Add your marinara sauce to the cheese/pasta mixture.  Toss to combine.  Add half the coated pasta to your pan.  Top with half the remaining mozzarella cheese.  Add the rest of your coated pasta to the pan and cover with the rest of the mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbling.  Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.  (if you have fresh parsley, you can sprinkle that on your finished pasta)

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Crock Pot Bolognese

Crock Pot Bolognese

(NOTE: This is a scheduled post)

We loved this recipe.

The male half of this couple loves pasta, especially tomato (not chunky though) sauces and we haven't had a whole lot of pasta (not even whole wheat pasta) since we started the Dukan Diet.  After finding this recipe on one of our favorite low fat recipe blogs, decided we should pull our crock pot and try it out.

It is relatively more work in the kitchen, especially since we've been making easy stir fry dishes and this is not a "throw everything in the pot and press start" recipe, but it was worth the labor.  It made enough for 5 servings.  We served this with a small Caesar salad.

We made a couple changes to the recipe - used whole wheat thin spaghetti, fat free half and half and turkey bacon.  We are posting the recipe without the carrots.  Oh and we only made half the recipe which was a tight fit in our 2 quart crock pot, but too little for our 4 quart crock pot.  A 3 quart would have been just right!  If you're in Cruise, you may want to omit the oil and have the sauce over Shirataki Tofu noodles.

FYI - Bolognese is traditionally served over tagliatelle, but we already had the whole wheat thin spaghetti.  Leftovers can be frozen.

For Skinnytaste's stove top version, click here.

RECIPE:
Serves 5
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes on stove, then 4 hours in the crock pot

1 1/4 lb. ground turkey, lean (or 1 lb. lean ground beef - the local market here sells 1 1/4 lb. prepackaged)
2 oz. turkey bacon, chopped
1/2 T. olive oil (use cooking spray if you're in Cruise)
1/2 red onion, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1/8 c. dry white wine
1 - 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 T. dried parsley (if you have fresh, 1/8 c. chopped)
1/4 c. fat free half and half
whole wheat pasta (your choice, but if you're in Cruise, use Shirataki Tofu Noodles)

In a large pan, saute bacon over low heat about 4-5 minutes.  Add olive oil, onions and celery and saute for about 5 minutes over medium heat.  Increase heat to medium high, add turkey, season with salt and pepper and saute until browned.  Drain the fat, add the wine and cook until it reduces down, about 4 minutes.

Add turkey mixture to crock pot.  Add crushed tomatoes, bay leaves and a little more salt and pepper.  Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Before serving, mix in the parsley and fat free half and half. Serve over hot pasta.

We like to cook our pasta about 10 minutes prior to plating our dinner.  We usually add a splash of olive oil, salt and garlic powder to the water and cook al dente. Do not rinse your pasta after cooking.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Cajun Inspired Chicken Pasta

RECIPE RATING:
We liked the sauce, but it wasn't spicy enough.

Cajun Inspired Chicken Pasta

This recipe needs a little work, but if you want a hint of cajun seasoning and are not big on spicy food, you may enjoy this.  We decided to give the House Brand Tofu Fettuccine shaped noodles another try and at first we were ready to swear them off.  We made this dish last night to take to work for lunch today....we sampled it last night, the noodles were rubbery like our first Fettuccine dish.  However, after microwaving the dish for almost 4 minutes on medium high heat, the noodles softened a bit and don't taste too bad.

The strange thing about the House Brand tofu noodles is they are a bit chewy and we're used to that taste/texture since as Asians we grew up eating konnyaku/shirataki noodles in Asian dishes.  We guess it's a mental thing!  Not sure we'll run out and buy more Fettuccine shaped noodles :-)

We were going to add 1/2 a red onion sliced, but we forgot to pick one up.  Also, the original recipe called for a medium tomato chopped, but since the male half of this couple doesn't care for chopped tomatoes, we left those out.

RECIPE
Serves 2
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken (thighs or tenderloins), cut into strips or 1 inch cubes
2 pkgs. House Brand Tofu Fettuccine Shaped Noodles, boiled for 5-8 minutes
Cajun seasoning (we should have used 3 t.), see below for recipe
1 small red bell pepper, sliced or chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. fat free evaporated milk
2 t. cornstarch

Boil pasta and drain.  Toss chicken with 3/4 of the cajun seasoning mix.  Stir fry chicken with a little bit of olive oil spray until no longer pink.  Remove and keep warm.  In the same pan, saute peppers (if you're using onions, saute them with the peppers) for about 1 minute.  Add garlic and saute another minute.  Stir in 3/4 c. of milk.  Bring to a boil.  Combine remaining cajun seasoning with milk and cornstarch until smooth.  Gradually stir milk mixture into peppers.  Cook for about 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Return chicken to the pan, heat.  Add pasta and toss.

Cajun seasoning recipe
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. cayenne pepper

Enjoy!

Dukan Angel Hair "Pasta" with Tofu Sausage and Veggies

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Pretty good for a low fat meal.
SHE SAID: Wow, loved it!

Angel Hair "Pasta" with Tofurky Sausage and Veggies

We've been trying recipes from a lot of Dukan diaries, but Dukanitout.com is our favorite so far.  Tonight we tried this recipe with a few adjustments.   We didn't use zucchini since the male half of this couple doesn't care for them.  Also used Japanese mushrooms since the male half will eat those but doesn't care for other types of mushrooms.  We added wine because we love cooking with wine and more red peppers because we both love spicy food.

Don Quijote in Hawaii sells the three types of tofu shirataki noodles made by House and they were on sale this week!  We also made ours with Tofurky sausages since we are trying to not eat sausages.  We loved the recipe.  The two bags of pasta made 3 large servings for us.

RECIPE
Serves: 2, plus a little leftovers
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

2 Tofurky sausages cut into small pieces (or 1 lb. italian sausage casings removed)
2 packages House brand Tofu Shirataki Angel Hair Noodles, rinsed and drained
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 or 1 package Japanese mushrooms (or mushrooms of your choice, slice the larger ones)
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1 - 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
3/5 c. red wine
2 T. dried parsley
1 t. dried basil
1 1/2 t. Italian seasoning
1 t. red pepper flakes
2 T. fat free cream cheese (or 1/2 c fat free sour cream)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, brown sausage with onions, bell pepper and garlic.  Add mushrooms and saute for approximately 5 minutes.  Stir in crushed tomatoes, wine, spices and pasta, stir, cover and cook for 5 more minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in cream cheese.  Return to heat for approximately 3 minutes or until hot.

We will definitely have this again and we may leave out the cream cheese next time.