Hamburger Cheese Bake

 Beef, Cheese, Grains, Macaroni, Meat, Pasta
Jun 242012
 
Hamburger Cheese Bake
 
Preheat oven to 350°F.
MACARONI
2 cups (8 ounces) dried elbow macaroni
2 teaspoons olive oil		 Cook macaroni in an XTREMA® 2.5-Quart Sauce Pot according to package directions; drain.
CASSEROLE PREP
2 teaspoons olive oil Rinse the XTREMA® 2.5-Quart Sauce Pot and lightly coat with 2 teaspoon olive oil.
MEAT MIXTURE
12 ounces lean ground beef
½ cup chopped onion, one medium		 In an XTREMA® 10-Inch – 100% Ceramic Open Skillet cook the ground beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender.
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper		 Stir in the tomato sauce, salt, garlic powder and black pepper.
Remove from heat.
CHEESE MIXTURE
1 cup cottage cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed and softened
¼ cup sour cream
1/3 cup sliced green onions (about 3)
¼ cup chopped green sweet pepper		 In a medium bowl stir together the cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, green onions, and sweet pepper until mixed.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
In the prepared XTREMA® 2.5-Quart Sauce Pot spread half of the macaroni.
Top with half of the meat mixture.
Then all of the cheese mixture, spreading evenly.
Top with the remaining macaroni and remaining meat mixture.
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese Sprinkle evening with Parmesan cheese.
Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes or until heated through.
If desired, top with fresh Italian flat leaf parsley.

Makes

 8 servings

Variations

 You can upgrade the elbow macaroni with bowtie, bell or corkscrew shaped pastas if you choose to kick this dish up a notch.

Tomatoes and Macaroni

 Macaroni, Tomatoes
Aug 132011
 

This week the 8 oz can of tomato sauce is not on sale, but go ahead and purchase the 15 oz can.  Just use the 8 oz needed for the recipe and freeze the balance for a later day!

Tomatoes and Macaroni Servings: 4
  Preparation: minimal
  Cooking: 25 minutes
 
Ingredients
1 ½ c water + 1 t salt 2 T Italian seasoning
1 ½ c macaroni ½ t garlic powder
1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes ¼ t basil
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
Instructions
In a PYREX® 3-Quart Stainless Steel Covered Saucepan, bring salted water to boil.
Add the macaroni and cook over medium heat until water is nearly gone. (approx 10-15 minutes)
Add chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and basil.
Simmer 10 minutes and serve.
Serve with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.

Classic Macaroni Salad is Great to make on July 3

 Macaroni
Jul 032011
 

It’s July 3, and everyone is getting ready for that July 4 picnic celebration!  This is a recipe I get request after request for and it’s so easy to make ahead and have ready to pull out of the fridge and take along.

Before you start, you will want to gather your ingredients.

There are 4 cups of uncooked macaroni in one pound.  The package directions say to use 4 quarts or 1 gallon of water.  If you’d like to use that much water you would need a MAXAM Steam Control™ 8-Quart Surgical Stainless Steel Stockpot/Spaghetti Cooker.

Once you start your water to boiling, it’s just a matter of following the directions…

Classic Macaroni Salad Servings: 10
 
Ingredients
4 c uncooked elbow macaroni ½ t ground black pepper
1 c mayonnaise 1 large onion, chopped
¼ distilled white vinegar 2 stalks celery, chopped
2/3 c white sugar or equivalent 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 ½ T prepared mustard ¼ c grated carrot (optional)
1 ½ t salt 2 T chopped pimento peppers (optional)
Instructions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.  Add macaroni, and bring to a second boil.  Reduce heat to medium (6-7 on a scale of 10) and cook until tender, about 8 minutes.
In the meantime, work on chopping the onion, celery, bell pepper, and carrot (if desired). By the time you have this step completed, the macaroni should be cooked and ready to rinse and drain into your colander.
Make the dressing by mixing together in a small bowl, the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Set aside.
Now, in a large bowl, combine the cooked macaroni, onion, celery, bell pepper, and if desired, carrot and pimento.
Once thoroughly mixed, pour the dressing over the mixture and fold together.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving, but preferably overnight.