Cooking With FRIENDS!

Cooking is something that I really enjoy, more and more and more and more. It can also be a really great thing to do with friends. You get to spend some (forced) quality time with them and everyone is rewarded (bribed) with a great meal!
Disclaimer: I only hang out with people who are wearing the same colored sweater as I am.

Self timer makes everyone look great!

Special Guest Stars: Ben C. and Kate S. yeah yeah yeahhhh.


 What's in the garbage bag, you ask? All the veggies and cheese and delicious sea salt brownies that Ben brought with him.

We decided to make a baked pasta dish because it's easy and delicious.
Ingredients: 

The most important step is to put the uncooked pasta in the baking dish.

• Cheeses: we used, shredded mozzarella (later discovered to be slightly moldy), ricotta inside the pasta and some shredded hard cheddar and parmesan for the top
• Pasta Sauce: we had some vodka sauce lying around, anything would work. More is definitely better because it was a liiiitle dry.
• Vegetables! Onion, mushrooms, carrots
• Spices: cumin, salt, pepper, basil, rosemary, red pepper flakes, a few cloves of garlic
• Pasta: we used a little less than a box and a half of pasta

Multi-tasking

Step 1: Cook the pasta. Subtract about three or four minutes from the recommended cooking time on the box because the pasta will continue to cook in the oven.
Step 2: Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and ...cook them. Add the garlic and assorted seasonings and spices... wash and cut the mushrooms and carrots, add those to the pan as well.
Step 3: The hard part is done! Now you just have to put it all in a baking dish, for a little over a box of pasta a 9x13 worked well... you can make it bigger and smaller based on how much you want to make. Mix the pasta in with the veggies and the sauce. Layer some pasta into the baking dish, add cheese, layer some more pasta, layer some cheese ETC ETC ETC.

Step 4: For the topping, use the harder cheeses and some breadcrumbs (yeah!) for a nice crunchy effect.

oh yeah!

Drizzle with some olive oil and put in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 mins. Ours was a little... overcooked (crunchy) and could have used some more sauce. But it was still delicious.

YUM WE LOVE OUR FOOD!

 

I'll just leave you with this.