Baked Ziti

This is a fun twist on the regular spaghetti dish. My family loves it and it is really easy to have a meat and vegetarian meal at the table at the same time:

you can leave it like this:

or top it with sauce (our family uses meat sauce, but you can do it without meat if you want)

1 box ziti noodles, cooked al dente (you can use penne or rigatoni noodles also)

1 red pepper, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

6-8 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese

6-8 oz. of shredded monterey jack cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. pepper

½ cup Italian bread crumbs

1 cup half and half

spaghetti sauce (desired amount)

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 13x9x2 baking dish. Combine ziti, peppers, cheeses, and spaghetti sauce. Pour half and half and salt and pepper evenly over mixture. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, top with breadcrumbs and bake additional 30 minutes.

Serve as is, or top with more spaghetti sauce.

Louisiana Chicken Pasta

I went to the Cheesecake Factory the other day and tried some of their "Louisiana Chicken Pasta" and it was AMAZING! So I of course googled it, found a similar recipe, made some changes here and there, and in my husband's words "You did it again Kylee." (I love trying to copy the delicious restaurant meals at home... and there are a couple that I can do pretty good now.) I don't mean to brag, but it did taste pretty good, and it was pretty easy to make, so try it out.

Chicken:
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour

Seasoned Salt (or if you like it spicy, add a little crushed red pepper or the Tony Chachere's Spicy seasoning...it's one of my favorite seasonings)

Cajun Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 whole garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/4 pints whipping cream
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (make sure to not use shredded, I always get them mixed up)
1 package bow-tie pasta
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (I omit because I hate mushrooms)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Seasoned Salt (to taste)

Cajun seasoning (to taste)

Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add yellow and red bell peppers, mushrooms, and onion to same skillet and saute until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.

Add minced garlic and crushed red pepper to skillet and saute 2 or 3 minutes.

Add whipping cream and chicken stock. Simmer until sauce re-heats and thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

Add basil and 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring to incorporate. Season sauce to taste with seasonings. Reduce heat to low, simmer. Sauce will reduce and thicken.

Cook chicken:
Wash and drain chicken breasts. Pound until very thin, as thin or thinner then 1/4-inch thick (the thinner the chicken breasts the better).

Mix breadcrumbs, flour, Parmesan cheese, and seasoned salt together. Place milk in dish for dipping.

Dip chicken in milk and then in breadcrumbs mixture.

Place in fry pan that the oil has been heated and fry at medium high temperature until golden, crisp, and cooked through. Add more oil as needed. Remove and drain chicken. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook bow-tie pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain and return to pot. Add sauce and toss to coat.

Place pasta with sauce on plate, and top with chicken breast.

*The easiest way to make this is to first read the recipe through, and then kind of do everything at the same time. I started the peppers sauteing, then started pounding out the chicken, then started the water boiling, ect. I think it is easiest to kind of do the first step of each one at the same time, then they will all finish at the same time.