The Sopranos is coming back on April 8th

Of course we don't have HBO (wahh) but I am looking forward to seeing what is going to happen in this final season. If you are an avid fan like myself you must drool over the many dishes that they make in the show. I actually bought the Sopranos Family Cookbook a year or so ago and while I haven't attempted to make any of the dishes, I love the history and the pictures as well as the recipes in there. I'm dying to bake Carmela's Pineapple Ricotta ("Rigot") Pie. I am not a fan of Ricotta's texture, but this sounds like a recipe I can't pass up. I also recently bought Entertaining with the Sopranos on eBay for a heckuva deal, am waiting for that to show up in the mail now.

Another favorite recipe I have tried to replicate on my own (and am actually making for my husband's company's potluck on Friday night) is the Ziti al Forno. I found a recipe on Recipezaar and here it is:

1 lb, ziti pasta, cooked
salt
pasta sauce
meatballs ("Sunday Gravy" with meatballs, there is a recipe for their "Sunday Gravy" in the book but I've never made it)
1 cup freshly grated romano cheese or parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese (diced up)
grated cheese to sprinkle on top

1. put all the ziti in a large bowl.
2. toss ziti with 3 cups of the gravyand half of the grated cheese.
3. spoon half of the ziti into a casserole dish.
4. spread the ricotta over the top of the ziti.
5. sprinkle with the mozzerella and rest of grated cheese.
6. pour on 1 cup of sauce.
7. top with remaining ziti and rest of sauce (it will be almost overflowing) sprinkle with more grated cheese.
8. bake covered with foil for 45 minutes and then uncovered for 15 minutes.
9. let stand 15 minutes.
10. tell me immediately how it was! (That's per recipezaar's instructions!)

That's probably the one dish I don't mind making and while it is a bit time-consuming, I enjoy making and eating it. I can never find actual ziti pasta in any of the grocery stores here, so I generally use penne pasta or sometimes even rigatoni and do a variation with that.

I can't wait to read reviews after April 8th's season premiere!

Rigatoni bake

I made this on Sunday night, but I decided to make a Rigatoni bake. Here's what I did:

4 Italian Sausage links (Mild)
1 lb lean ground beef
Spaghetti Sauce (see this entry for the recipe)
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese (to your likings)
Shredded Mozzarella cheese (to your likings)
1 shallot or white onion, chopped
Garlic Salt for ground beef flavoring
1 package (16 oz I believe?) Rigatoni

1. Begin by making your spaghetti sauce and browning ground beef in a different pan (make sure you season it first) and cook/brown Italian sausages thoroughly (also in another pan). Before the ground beef is thoroughly cooked, add the chopped onion. Let the onion wilt and then put the burner on simmer. Tend to your sausages and when thoroughly cooked, let cool off for about 15 minutes and then dice up into bite sized pieces. Add the sausage and meat mixture into the spaghetti sauce and let simmer while you prepare the Rigatoni.

2. Begin boiling water and when it comes to a boil add your Rigatoni and cook for 10-12 minutes to your preference (I don't really care too much for Al Dente so I go in between Al dente and soft). Drain and set aside. Get out a casserole dish (non-stick is great, if you don't have non-stick use PAM so the noodles won't stick) and put all of the pasta in the dish and then add the spaghetti/meat mixture on top. Then add your shredded cheeses and put in the oven at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes til the cheeses are melted.

3. Let cool for about 15 minutes and serve!

It is a bit time consuming but it's well worth it. I was hoping for leftovers but my husband liked it a lot and basically took the rest to work with him. And that makes me more happy than anything!!! (Speaks volumes for me!)