Pasta with Mushroom Garlic Sauce

An easy to prepare and comforting vegetarian dish. Use any combination of mushroom varieties and add extra spices if you like.

Pasta with Mushroom and Garlic Sauce

1 lb linguine, cooked and drained
6 T. butter, divided
10 cloves garlic, minced
6 c. mushrooms (any combination), washed and sliced
2 teas. dried basil
salt & pepper, to taste
3 T. olive oil
fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese for garnish

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned. Next, add the mushrooms, basil and salt & pepper, cook until mushrooms are tender. Add remaining butter and olive oil to the skillet and stir until butter is melted. Mix with cooked pasta and sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Serves 4.

Chicken Manicotti

A nice change from the ground beef version of stuffed manicotti. If you have extra filling left after stuffing the pasta, just spoon it on top of everything before covering with the sauce.

Chicken Manicotti

1 (32 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce
1 c. water
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1-1/2 lb. chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 c. ricotta
1 teas. Season Salt
14 uncooked manicotti shells
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute the onion, garlic and green pepper in a small amount of olive oil until tender. Mix together the spaghetti sauce, water, onion, garlic and green pepper Spread approximately 1/3 of the sauce into a deep baking dish.

In another bowl, combine chicken, ricotta and Season Salt. Mix to blend. Spoon some of the chicken mixture into each of the manicotti shells and place into sauce-lined baking dish. Pour remaining pasta sauce evenly over shells to cover completely.


Cover with aluminum foil and bake about 1 hour or until shells are tender. Sprinkle with cheese and bake, uncovered, about 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

Another version of a great American classic...this time made with cream cheese!

Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

8 oz. elbow macaroni
4 T. butter
3 T. flour
2 c. milk
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
2 teas. spicy brown mustard
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 c. crushed Ritz crackers

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add in milk. Bring to a boil, cooking and stirring for 2 minutes. Reduce heat; add cheeses, mustard and salt & pepper. Stir until cheeses are melted and sauce is smooth. Add drained macaroni to the cheese mixture and stir to coat.

Pour into a greased 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle top with cracker crumbs. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

You can freeze this unbaked. Defrost overnight in refrigerator and sprinkle cracker crumbs on right before you toss it into the oven. Add on a few extra minutes if still partially frozen and cover with foil the first half of baking time.

No-Boil Macaroni & Cheese

This is not a creamy version of macaroni and cheese, but it is still delicious in it's own right. The best feature about this recipe lies in the fact that you don't have to boil the macaroni. Terrific comfort food.

No Boil Macaroni & Cheese
2 & 1/4 c water
1/4 c butter, cubed
16 oz shredded cheddar cheese
2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
8 oz small curd cottage cheese
pinch of salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
Pour into a greased 2 quart baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, until bubbly.