Pepperoni Rigatoni with Italian Chop Salad

Wine Pairing: Shiraz or Syrah

Ingredients for the Pepperoni Rigatoni:
1 pound rigatoni
½ pound pepperoni, chopped
1 jar spaghetti sauce (or use my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe)
¼ pound of Italian four cheese blend (or you can use mozzarella)

Ingredients for the Italian Chop Salad:

• ½ head of lettuce, chopped
• 1 cup of spinach, chopped
• ¼ cup of Italian dressing
• ½ cup of mozzarella cheese, grated or cut into small chunks
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• ½ cup of red onion, chopped
• Optional: ¼ cup of chopped pepperoni

Cook the rigatoni in a pot of boiling salted water.
Mix the lettuce and spinach together and toss with the Italian dressing.
Place in a salad bowl and top with the cheese, then celery, onion, and tomato.
Place in the refrigerator until dinner is ready.
Drain rigatoni. Pour the spaghetti sauce over it and stir.
Add the chopped pepperoni and keep on low heat for a few minutes till it warms through.
Serve the pasta and salad with a Shiraz wine.

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Find more recipes and menus with the Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner and wine pairings with the Sacramento Budget Wine Examiner.

Spaghetti Pie

Don't throw away your leftover pasta again! This recipe is the perfect way to use up leftover spaghetti and sauce. The kids will love it, and they might not even realize they're eating leftovers. Of course, you can make this dish out of fresh ingredients as well.

Ingredients for the crust of the Spaghetti Pie:
2 to 3 cups of cooked spaghetti
2 eggs, beaten till frothy
1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese

Spray a pie plate or an 8x8 pan with cooking spray. If the pasta isn't hot, warm it in the microwave. Mix the heated spaghetti with the eggs and cheese and press into the bottom of the pan.

Filling ingredients:
1 cup of cottage cheese (use low fat or fat free to make this dish lighter)
2 eggs
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup of Parmesan cheese

Place the ingredients in a blender or mini-chopper. Whip together until well blended. Pour the cheese mixture over the spaghetti crust.

Topping ingredients:
1 cup of spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup of Mozzarella cheese

Top the cottage cheese mixture with 1 cup of spaghetti sauce. If you have some leftover All Day Italian Spaghetti Sauce in the Slow Cooker, wonderful! The second day after marinara sauce is made, it is more flavorful. If you don't have any leftover sauce, you can use a jar of sauce. I like the Classico brand and the Barilla brand of sauces.

Top the sauce with grated Mozzarella cheese. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Si mangia e si gode!

Photo/Mr. Joro on Flickr

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Find more recipes and menus with the Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner.

All Day Italian Spaghetti Sauce in the Slow Cooker

This is as close to the traditional, cook all day marinara sauce as you’ll find. I add crushed garbanzo beans (chickpeas) to my sauce to up the protein content. Serve it up with Barilla spaghetti, angel hair, or any other type of pasta you desire. After trying many different boxed pastas, my family seems to prefer Barilla. You may have another favorite brand.

Just an FYI...this recipe makes a full crock pot of sauce. We had it this week, and we had our spaghetti, then I made a Spaghetti Pie with it, I reserved some of the sauce for my Garden Veggie Pizza, and I still had sauce left over to freeze for another meal. Make sure you have plenty of dishes to store the sauce in before you make it!

Ingredients for all day Italian spaghetti sauce

• 1 onion chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of basil
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ½ cup of red wine
• 1 can (28 ounces) of tomato sauce
• 1 can (6 ounces) of tomato paste
• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and crushed with a potato masher
• 1 small can chopped black olives
• 1 pound of Italian sausage links

Preparation:
Place all ingredients in a crock pot or slow cooker.
Cook on low all day. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
In the afternoon, cook the pasta according to the package directions.
Fry the sausage. Cut on the diagonal into slices and add to the sauce.
Serve the spaghetti with parmesan cheese and sliced black or green olives for topping.

Photo/Foodista

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Find more recipes and menus in my articles as the Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner.