Thursday, April 22, 2010

Delicious Dinners: Fusilli Pizza

I've written about it before, and I'll write about it again... After working a full day, I'm continuously challenged with getting a meal on the table on week nights before 8PM. Fear not, my friends, there is good news. I'm up for the challenge, and this recipe kicks butt in the following departments:

1. Doesn't have a million ingredients that I've never heard of and therefore usually skip... oops
2. Fast, and super easy to make
3. Something MrMarried can help with-- huge bonus if I'm running late and can call to ask him to get things moving

All pluses in my book!

This recipe comes from TheNest.com, who I must say, has some tasty dishes in their archives! So, what am I waiting for? Let's get to the recipe.

 

Makes: 4 Servings... Finally (!) a recipe that I don't have to do math and halve everything
Prep time: 20 Minutes... Finally (!) a dinner that I can whip together after just walking in the door!

Ingredients:
Butter, for greasing
14 oz tomatoes, peeled and chopped-- I used canned tomatoes, and it was delicious
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Pinch of dried oregano-- I love oregano, so I interpreted a pinch as a generous pinch and used 2 or 3 pinches
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
12 ounces Fusilli or other short pasta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese- eyeball it
3 1/2 ounces mozzarella cheese- eyeball it
Salt
Optional- 1 pound Ground Turkey or Ground Beef-- The original recipe doesn't call for the meat, but MrMarried tends to get too hungry later in the evening if he only eats pasta for dinner without an additional protein. I like my pasta with meat in it, so we both win. 

Directions:
**Optional 1st Step if you are using ground beef/turkey: Brown the meat, drain any fat, and set aside.** 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an ovenproof dish with butter.

2.Process the tomatoes to a purée in a food processor or blender.

3. Heat the olive oil in a low skillet pan. Add the puréed tomatoes and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until thickened. Stir in the oregano and basil and remove from the heat.

4. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, return to the pan, and pour the tomato sauce over. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and toss well to mix.

5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish, top with the diced mozzarella, and drizzle with oil.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the mozzarella starts to melt. Serve immediately straight from the dish.

Enjoy! We really loved this dish and there was plenty left over for me to take to work the next day.

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