Brittany's PantryCollege Pasta
Brittany wrote this on 7 March 2015
beef, cheese, cottage cheese, pasta, sour cream, tomatoes
Have you ever noticed that the dishes that grace your table are such a representation of your life that it is almost like a culinary scrapbook. Let me explain…
Years ago when I was in college (go figure), I lived in an old, yellow house just off campus. The floor was so slanted that when I walked across the kitchen, my ears would pop due to the change in elevation. My three roommates were also my three close friends and all of them were from Wisconsin. I tried not to hold that against them. We had a blast in that house and tried not to mind the lack of air conditioning or adequate heat.
I did my fair share of cooking and baking in that house and my roommates, none of them slackers in the kitchen, contributed quite a bit as well. My friend Tai used to make this pasta, cottage cheese, and marinara sauce thingy and I loooooooved it. I can actually remember the moment I walked into the kitchen and Tai handed me a hot plate of this pasta. I noticed was that it was made with these curly little lasagna noodles that I had never seen before. But let me tell you. They make all the difference in the world. I swear it doesn’t taste the same if you use a different kind of pasta. It was so easy and so scrumptious that we would all munch it down by the plateful. If I remember correctly, it was just a regular dinner her mom used to make but was easy and economical enough that it was perfectly practical for four, busy college women living under one roof. Mmmmm.
Like all good meals, this has stayed with me. I have tweaked the original a bit and made it more of a full dish, but to me, the essence is the same. The creamy tang from the white sauce on the noodles is incredibly fantastic with the red sauce. My husband and kids agree. And so, I serve this meal to my family and end up telling goofy stories about my college days because that is where it came from. Just like Lemon Bars can spark conversations about my Mother. Or the fact that I make roast beef in my slow cooker because of the recipe I got from a little old lady at the military commissary when we lived in San Diego. It is all a patchwork of our experiences and our personal history.
And I love to share mine with you. Curly lasagna noodles and all.
College Pasta
I have fancied up this dish a bit. The ingredient list was less than half of this when we made it way back when.
1 lb, curly, mini lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions
1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 quart store-bought or homemade marinara sauce
2 c cottage cheese
2 c sour cream
1 tsp dried italian seasoning
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat the oven to 350.
While the pasta cooks, brown the beef in a sauté pan with the onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. When cooked through, drain fat if needed, and add the marinara sauce. Stir to combine and set aside. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain and dump into a large bowl. Add the sour cream, cottage cheese, and italian seasoning, and stir well. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly spray or butter a large, rectangle baking dish and spread the pasta mixture evenly on the bottom. Pour the meat sauce over top and smooth it out to the edges. Bake in the oven just until hot all the way through, 20-30 minutes. When it is done, top with mozzarella cheese, return it to the oven, and then turn the oven off, allowing the heat to gently melt the top. Scoop and serve!
I have confessed previously-not sure when, but I know I did at some point in time-that I love all things citrus. I take after my Mother in that respect. It is true that I inherited her facial features and love of music, but my Mom also loves all things lemon, and that is what we are focusing on today kids.
When I was a young, we returned home from school to lemon bars, still warm on the counter, more times than I can count. If Mom was craving something sweet, she made lemon bars. They were the first treat I saw her make where you had to bake them twice and I thought that was just about the coolest thing ever. The bars were quick to throw together and it made a 9 inch square pan. With eight people in the family taking some, there were no leftovers for the next day. And she wouldn’t just make lemon bars. She made a killer lemon meringue pie (another scientific phenomenon that I though was so neat), but more often than not, she would pull out the recipe and just make the lemon filling. We would all spoon hot, freshly made lemon pudding into our bowls and rarely get around to actually rolling out a crust, or whipping up the egg whites she had saved after using the yolks in the custard. It was the rich, lemony-ness that she wanted and let me tell you. It is hard to beat a rich homemade lemon custard.
I still think of my Mom any time I see or eat a lemon bar. Which are generally at the same time because if I see it, you can sure as heck bet on the fact that I am going to eat it too. The smell of them baking reminds me of our family kitchen, and eating them almost always prompts me to turn to my children and say, “Do you know who else loves lemon bars? Namma!” The kids cheer and I laugh, hopefully passing along the same sweet memories I had as a kid. It is something special for my children to know; that they have things in common with their extended family, despite the dozen or so states that currently separate us. It makes them feel closer.
Although I can’t help but wonder if my Mom somehow just knows when I pull a fresh pan of lemon bars, hot out of the oven, and set them on the counter as my kids arrive home from school…
Lemon Bars
I have said it before and I will say it again-I LOVE LEMON BARS. I have been making different versions of them for as long as I can remember, but only recently settled on this recipe. Go figure, it was the first one I ever scribbled down for myself to test, hoping that they would turn out since I had completely guessed at all the measurements. Over the years I started adding a bit of cream to the filling, trying to mellow out the tang a bit. I know there is no zest in here but trust me when I say that you won’t miss it. These are not a super crazy, take you an hour to make, kind of bar. They are as streamlined and simple as I could make them, without sacrificing flavor. I may post another recipe sometime, making a fancier, more involved bar. But for now, when I want lemon bars, I make these. They never disappoint.
Crust:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 stick of butter, barely melted
Filling:
2 eggs
1 c sugar
1/4 c lemon juice (taste testers surprisingly preferred the flavor of the batch made with bottled lemon juice instead of fresh, but its your call)
1 T flour
1 T heavy cream
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray or grease a 9X9 inch pan, preferably glass.
Combine all the of the crust ingredients and press into the prepared dish, making sure the crust is even. Bake for 15 minutes. While the crust bakes, whisk all the filling ingredients together until smooth. When crust is done, remove the pan, give the filling one last whip, and pour the lemon mixture over the hot crust. Return the pan (carefully) to the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the filling is JUST SET! Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Cut into bars and dust with powdered sugar if desired. Store bars in the fridge for 2-3 days, tightly sealed.
Watergate Cake
Brittany wrote this on 23 February 2015 pistachios
Once upon a time, there was a wonderfully sweet and precocious, curly haired little girl who had gone to visit her Grandmother’s farm.
This farm was a very special place. It was often the location of summer family reunions and get togethers; the yard and nearby orchard overflowing with Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. During one such visit, the little girl’s Aunt Mary handed her a small, white plate with a big square of moist, green cake on it. It was covered with a fluffy cream that looked so light and airy it seemed to have been pulled right from the clouds above! The girl slowly picked up a fork and took a bite. As the rich, sweet confection hit her tongue, the little girl’s eyes grew round with wonder and delight!
“Aunt Mary! Pray tell, what is this amazing treat you have passed to me that is the color of spring leaves and 70’s avocado kitchen cabinets?! What angel led you to this enchanted cake made from magical ingredients?”
Aunt Mary smiled angelically and leaned down close to the little girl. “My sweet, sweet child,” she said. “This is, Watergate Cake.”
All of a sudden, the clouds parted and sunshine streamed down on us. The chorus of ‘Hallelujah’ began to play and soon rose to a thundering crescendo of praise! Watergate Cake! The little girl’s life was forever changed for the better and from that day on, she would remember that day as ‘The Day of the Watergate Cake.’
True story.
All right.
So maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that. But its pretty close to my first taste of this fantastic dessert. It doesn’t get much more retro and nostalgic than green cake made with instant pudding, so if you ever wondered about that dessert you ate years ago at the potluck in the church basement, this is probably it. It is another one of the ‘cheater’ recipes, as I call them, because it is made with boxed ingredients. However, in this case, there just is not a substitute. The very essence of this cake is rooted in childhoods of my generation and one bite will give you flashbacks of denim bell bottoms and polyester collared shirts. The fact that it tastes incredible is not lost on me and I STILL bring it to potluck dinners and serve it to crowds.
I also can still hear angels singing when I take my first bite. I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but I bet I am not the only one. 🙂
Watergate Cake
I usually cut this cake into 15 pieces.
Cake:
1 box white cake mix
1 (3 oz) box instant pistachio pudding
3 eggs
1 c oil
1 c gingerale, Sprite, or 7-Up
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray a 9X13 inch baking pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat all of the above ingredients for a solid minute until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. COOL COMPLETELY. While the cake cools, make the frosting.
Frosting:
1 (3 oz) box of instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 c of milk
1 (8 oz) container of whipped topping, such as CoolWhip
chopped pistachios for garnish (optional)
Whisk the pudding and milk together until smooth and thick. Fold in the whipped topping. Pour it over the cake, spreading it smooth, and chill the whole she-bang until ready to serve. Top with chopped pistachios if desired. Enjoy!
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