Day 12 - Pasta on a Cold Night

Every other year or so, my little town of Buford, Georgia experiences a snow storm. (Having lived most of my life up north, I do need to qualify that term "snow storm". In the south, any amount of snow that covers the grass is considered a snow holiday LOL.) Whenever it snows, everything around us basically shuts down and it's an invitation to go back to childhood and have an epic snow day filled with snowballs, snowmen, and snow angles. We experienced one of those "storms" yesterday which meant at the end of the day, we all needed something warm and filling in our bellies. Luckily, Day 12's recipe for Macaroni with Sausage & Ricotta was on the menu and met that challenge.

A quick and easy pasta dish with only a few ingredients, this meal is perfect for a weeknight dinner or a fast fix after a fun snow day. Normally, I would shy away from this recipe simply because of the word "ricotta" as most in my family finds the cheese gritty and less than pleasant when it is in lasagna. But, in try anything January, I decided to give it a whirl and challenge our palettes.

While making the recipe, I did make a couple of modifications but will describe those changes below.

After putting on a pot of water to boil, I started by pulling together the easy red sauce. In place of onions, I used onion powder (mostly because I didn't have an onion on hand and there was no way I was running out to grab one in the snow). As I was browning the sausage and onion powder, I decided it didn't look like quite enough meat to me so I added another four ounces of meat to the pan - so I ended up preparing 10 ounces of sausage rather than 6 as called for in the recipe.

After the sausage was browned, I added the tomatoes, salt, and pepper. I really enjoy the taste of fire roasted tomatoes in my pasta sauces, and since you cannot find fire roasted whole tomatoes at my grocery store, I ended up substituting diced fire roasted tomatoes. After dumping in the first 14 ounce can of tomatoes, I decided it didn't look like enough so I added a second can for good measure. I gave everything a good stir and let it hang out and reduce.

Shortly after getting all of the ingredients put together for the sauce, my water started to boil. I added a good amount of salt to the pot and then added the pasta. In following the recipe, I did cook 12 ounces (3/4 of a box) and that was plenty for my group of three adults and four kids. I used penne pasta and cooked it for 10 minutes per the boxes instructions. Because you dump the finished pasta into the sauce at the end, you want to make sure you only cook your pasta to al dente, otherwise it will get over cooked and mushy.

When I had just a few minutes left on my pasta timer and my sauce looked nice and reduced with broken down tomatoes, I added the ricotta and basil to my pasta. The recipe called for 6 tablespoons of ricotta. Because I had added extra tomatoes and sausage, I ended up adding 10 tablespoons which was the perfect amount, in my opinion. After stirring in the ricotta and basil, I drained the pasta and added it to the pan to bring everything together. One final stir and some sprinkled parmigiana on the top, and dinner was ready! Super easy!

This pasta dish was a BIG hit in my house. Both my husband and nine-year-old asked for seconds, while the six-year-old cleared his plate of a big first helping. The pickiest eater, Bennett, ended up eating the pasta (no sausage or identifiable tomatoes) and I am taking it as a win since he cleared all of the noodles on his plate. While I was originally skeptical about the ricotta in the recipe, I was totally shocked how much I liked the meal. The cheese melted so smoothly and wasn't gritty at all. The sauce, while simple in ingredients, tasted balanced and warmed me up on a cold night.

Highs:

• We all tired ricotta cheese and REALLY liked it in this recipe.

• I served this with Cheddar Bay Biscuits which were perfect for slopping up any extra sauce!

• This simple sauce was the perfect mix of quick, easy, and tasty for the short amount of time needed to pull it together.

Lows:

• Ashlynn usually takes down red pastas and while she ate this, it took more convincing than usual.

The Scores:

Joel: 4.75

Parker: 4.75

Allison: 4.5

Lucas: 4.25

Bennett: 3.5

Ashlynn: 4