Easy Baked Ravioli

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 medium Yellow Onion, chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 ½ tsp Dried Oregano
1 cans (20 ounces) Whole Tomatoes
1 can (28 0unces) Crushed Tomatoes
3 pounds Store-Bought Ravioli
1 ½ cups Mozzarellla , shredded
½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add oregano and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.

Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving

More Crawfish Leftovers: Crawfish Stuffed Pasta

I promise this is the last crawfish recipe.  I was given the task by my lovely wife, Julee to develop a stuffed pasta recipe as she was tired of crawfish pie.  So, with some quick thinking I threw this together.  It is actually pretty painless and more simple than you think.  

Ingredients:
1/2 crawfish mixture (from crawfish pie post)
1 box large pasta shells
1 cup heavy cream
2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded


In a large pot bring salted water to a boil and cook noodles 12-15 minutes until cooked al dente.  Drain, return to pot and add a few ice cubes to speed up the cooling. 

Spoonful the crawfish mixture and place in a greased casserole dish.  

Pour heavy cream evenly all over and then cover with the cheeses.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.  

My editor and chief (Julee) wasn't home to proof read this so I apologize in advance for any misspellings or grammatical errors.

Nearly World Famous One Pot Spaghetti

This is one of my favorite go to weeknight dinner recipes.  From start to finish you're cooking for less than an hour.  Thats perfect for busy families on the go.  Not only is it quick and easy, but you will have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.  If I was to guess this could easily feed 8 average adults.  This is another step by step recipe because things can get lost in translation with this one.

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef (we used turkey this go round)
1 pound smoked pork sausage, chopped
1 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
12 ounces tomato paste
1 32 ounce box beef broth
16 ounces spaghetti noodles
4 cups water


In a large dutch oven over medium high heat, brown the meat and sausage for about 5 min.  Add chopped onion and mushroom and cook another 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.  Don't cook too long or the garlic will burn and become bitter.

Next add the oregano, basil, red pepper flakes and tomato paste.  Stir to combine.  The tomato paste will act as a binder and will hold everything together.

Add the beef broth and water. Bring to a boil.  Break the spaghetti noodles in half and add.   Stir while adding to make sure they don't stick together.  

Reduce heat and simmer on low UNCOVERED for 20 to 30 minutes until the spaghetti noodles are cooked.  Don't worry it will look soupy at first but it will thicken up as the noodles cook.

Top with parmesan cheese, pour your favorite glass of red wine and serve.