Quick and Easy Lasagna.. thanks to Barilla Pasta!

Lasagna is almost a sacred word in my house. My own personal lasagna takes hours to make and it is a labor of love well worth the time. However, I cannot do this dish on a regular weeknight. I'm a mom, I have teens and they would probably eat the paint off the walls by the time it was out of the oven- not to mention it would probably be close to midnight.

Thank goodness for the wonderful folks at Barilla Pasta! #Barilla.   As an Allrecipes Allstar, I was given the great opportunity to work with these folks in June and July, testing out some wonderful pasta recipes and giving my thoughts on them.

I made the Wavy Lasagna with Meat sauce tonight and it was a hit. Low work, low prep but huge on flavor.

The time it takes to boil the lasagna noodles is about the time it takes to make the filling. Check out the recipe here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Wavy-Lasagna-with-Meat-Sauce-Fresh-Ricotta-and-Spinach

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do and keep on cooking!! More pasta recipes to come!!

Ziti, Oh, you crazy Ziti!

Anyone who knows me knows I love pasta. Stuffed manicotti, lasagna, marinara, spaghetti.. it all sings to me.

Tonight, I made a Soprano worth dish of Baked Ziti. I cannot claim the recipe as my own as my own ziti is only red sauce based. This recipe came from the great folks at Barilla Pasta, one of the best pasta makers around.

It starts out by making a bechamel sauce which, for some, may sound tricky. Bechamel is not hard but it does take babysitting.  In its simplest form, it is melted butter that has flour added to it and whisked constantly until the flour light browns.  Boiled milk is added in a cup at a time and gently whisked until a sauce is formed. From there,  cheeses and spices are added to make an unbelievable cheese sauce of which there is no comparison.

The recipe follows and the end result was delicious.  Thank you to the great folks at #Barilla for letting me be part of their campaign this June!

#Allstars- recipe to follow..
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Ziti-with-Cheese

Happy Eating!!!