Date Night Dinners - Valentine's Day Pasta

2/20/2015 tringel 0 Comments

Valentine's Day came a little late for Brenden and I this year. Besides the fact that we are both a little anti-Vday (him more then me), we were too busy celebrating, and then nannying and dog sitting to fully prepare the for the holiday that was upon us. We decided to "celebrate" a few days later, in our own special way...the date night dinner way.






For us, Valentine's Day was pretty much like any other. It fell on a weekend, so Brenden worked while I sat at home procrastinating on all that I should do. When Brenden did get home, I gave him his not so expensive surprise of Andes candies, we snacked and relaxed some more. Later in the week, Brenden surprised me with a late V-day gift of sushi for dinner. I love sushi! But the real Valentine celebration did not occur until date night dinner. After all, who says we have to show our love on a specific day of the year, and so brought our inspired pasta bake.

The best part about this meal is that, even though we have labeled it "Valentine's Day Pasta Bake" and it is decked out with hearts, it would be great to eat any night, any time of the year. Just leave the fresh mozzarella slices in their usual circular form and you have a super easy, flavor-filled dish.














Brenden and I (okay, really just I) got a little out of hand when preparing for this pasta bake. I found a recipe online and was inspired by it. It pretty much called for tortellini, pasta sauce and cheese, baked in the oven for 30 minutes and then eaten warm. Well, when I made the trip to the store, my short list of ingredients got a tad bit longer. But then again, it usually does.

First, I decided we need to add a little protein, and by a little I mean 2 pounds of meat. Then I got to the refrigerated pasta section, and I just could not decide. Do I go with my usual favorite tortellini or try something new? Those raviolis looked so good. It was torture, and anyone who knows me will attest that if I had to make a decision, I would have been there for at least 30 minutes, back and forth, back and forth. So I decided to quicken the process and just get both. I had added meat to the mix after all, that must mean we would need extra pasta to balance it out. Luckily Brenden was there to talk me down from the plethora of cheeses I wanted to add.

Once I was facing all of the ingredients I had gotten for this dish, reality hit me. We had a lot of flavors, two types of sauces, two kinds of meat, a variety of pastas. I was a little nervous. But then again, what is cooking without a little daring adventure?! So we continued with the plan. We mixed together the two types of sauces we had gotten, (I liked doing this in high school, how much could my tastes have changed?) and then combined it with all of our other prepared ingredients. It looked decadent. It smelled rich. We popped it in the oven, crossed our fingers, and waited in hopes that this wasn't another cucumber crab salad fiasco.
It turned out really good. As you can expect, there were definitely a lot of flavors going on, but they all melded together quite well. The cheesy, creaminess from the alfredo sauce balanced out the robust tomatoes in the marinara, both complementing the variety of cheese filled pastas we incorporated, and the melty, gooey layer of mozzarella that had formed on top.

As usual some of the best parts of this recipe is it is easily customizable - leave out the meat if your going vegetarian, switch up the pasta if tortellini or ravioli aren't your thing, or change the type of sauce you use to help adjust the flavor - and it made enough to give us both meals for a week. Seriously, this batch made a ton, and I will be enjoying it for lunch every day until it is gone. So, make some hearts, show your love, and share this enjoyable and rich pasta bake...all year long.

Valentines Day Pasta Bake
Recipe inspired by pipandebby.com, Easy Cheesy Tortellini Bake
Ingredients

• 1 lb hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2.5 lbs refrigerated tortellini or ravioli, or a combination of the two
• 24 oz marinara/red pasta sauce
• 14 oz alfredo sauce
• 4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced (and cut into the shape of a heart (optional)

Directions

1. In a large saute pan, cook the turkey sausage, ground chicken, and onions until the meat is mixed together and fully cooked and the onions have become translucent.
2. While the meat and onions are cooking, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
3. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes (about half the time instructed on in the package directions).
4. Drain pasta and pour into a large mixing bowl.
5. Add the meat and onion mixture and two sauces to the pasta, and mix well but gently (you don't want to rip the pasta open) so that everything is combined and coated with sauce.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
7. Spray a large glass baking dish with cooking spray and pour the pasta mixture into the dish, spreading it evenly.
8. Top the pasta mixture with slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.
9. Bake, uncovered in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the pasta mixture is heated through and the mozzarella cheese is melted.
10. Remove from oven and serve.