Mexironi and Cheese

Although I’m pretty sure this dish probably falls into the casserole category, since Hubby and Seeley are both casserole-phobes, I will avoid using the dreaded c word.  To be fair, I think cans of crap thrown into a dish and baked, ruined that word for a lot of people.  Call it what you will, it’s easy and tasty, and that’s what matters. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• ½ lb. pasta
• ½ lb. ground beef
• ½ onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons green chilies  
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 2 Tablespoons sliced green onions
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ½ cup water 

Since this recipe uses half of a lot of things (½ lb. pasta and meat, ½ of an onion, ½ can of tomatoes and green chilies, and ½ pkg. of cream cheese) it is very easily doubled.  It makes quite a lot, though, so just be sure you have a large enough vessel for it.

First up, get your pasta boiling.  Cook it according to the package directions, minus 2 minutes, then drain it and rinse it with cold water.  You want it to be a little underdone because it will soften up more during the baking process.  I used one called mezzi rigatoni, which is basically half length rigatoni, but any large-ish pasta will work.  Next, place a tablespoon of oil and the onion in a pan over medium heat. 

Sprinkle on ½ teaspoon salt, and cook the onion until it’s translucent, then add the garlic. 

Cook that for another minute or two, and then add the ground beef. 

Break that up with your spatula as it cooks.  When it’s browned, sprinkle on the chili powder and cumin.  (I use extra lean beef, but if you use something with a higher fat content, you’ll want to drain any excess rendered fat first.)

Stir that in and add the tomatoes. 

After those come the chilies. 

Stir that all together then reduce the heat a bit and pop a lid on for about 10 minutes.  Stir every couple of minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn. 

During that time, cut your cream cheese into cubes.  After the 10 minutes, turn off the heat and add the cream cheese. 

It will slowly melt as you stir it in.  (I know, it doesn’t really look that pretty at this stage, but trust me, it gets better.)

Add ½ cup grated cheese along with the green onions and cilantro.  Because cass… I mean dinners like this… are meant to be easy, I used pregrated cheese.   

Once all of that is incorporated, it’ll be a bit on the thick side.

Stir in ½ cup hot water.  There, that’s better. 

Add your cooked pasta.  Oops.  See what I mean about a large enough vessel.  Imagine if I had doubled it. 

Stir that together.  Somehow I managed it without making too much of a mess. 

Pour the whole thing into a buttered baking dish.  A 9x13 works great. 

Spread it around and cover with foil.  Now, at this point, you can go ahead and bake it, or you can make it ahead of time up to this point, refrigerate it, and continue on from here when you’re ready.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Bake, covered, for 25 minutes.  (if it’s been refrigerated, add 10-15 minutes)  Uncover, and sprinkle on the remaining half cup of cheese. 

Back into the oven for 15 minutes.  By then it should be nice and bubbly and just starting to brown on top. 

Sprinkle with a bit of fresh cilantro and dig in.  Even if you have casserole haters in your family, give this a try.  I bet they’ll like it.  Hubby even had seconds! 

What was the best/worst casserole you grew up on? 

Spinach Pesto

I should have timed myself because I know this took less than 20 minutes to make.

Last night's dinner was a horrible fail. How bad was it? I wouldn't even post it as a fail, that's how bad. I've had quite a few fails lately and I really needed to do something to redeem myself. Pretty sure this did it.

Colourful, fresh, fast. Perfect spring dinner.

Spinach Pesto

• 3-4 cups fresh spinach
• 1/2 c grated parmesan, asiago, or romano cheese
• 2-3 tbsp nuts, I used cashews because I had them
• 1 large garlic clove
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt
• olive oil

Dinner was tasty, but I still didn't get all the ingredients in the picture though.

No oven to preheat this time. But getting the water boiling now helps. Grating the cheese too.

Dump the spinach leaves into the food processor.

Sprinkle on the cheese, nuts, garlic, lemon zest, and salt.

Squeeze in the juice.

A few pulses will get it looking like this.

This recipe makes enough for 4-6 servings of pasta, but if you want to make a double batch, just add another set of everything to the bowl, and do it all over again.

Scrape down the sides and this time, when you turn it on, pour in a tablespoon or two of olive oil, until it just turns pasty. 

At this point, you can use it as a pasta sauce, an ingredient in a dip, a sandwich spread, or even in soup.

A bit more oil will make it very saucy, but it will store and freeze just as well as it is now.

Besides, a bit of cream will make it saucy too.

You can make pesto with anything leafy and green. Spinach is very brightly coloured, but mildly flavoured. Even kids should eat this. But if they don't want to, add some prosciutto , tell them it's green noodles and ham and they don't get to say they don't like it until they try it. SamIAm.

Okay, there we go. I made dinner. I really can cook.