Lasagna

1 box (9 oz) No-Boil Barilla Lasagna Noodles
1 lb Ground Pork
1/2 lb Ground Beef
1 jar (36 oz) Newman’s Own Marinara or Prego Spaghetti Sauce
2 eggs
1 container (15 oz) Ricotta Cheese (any brand)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese (don’t use the shaker stuff - get the Frigo from the cheese case)
1 lb Mozzarella cheese, shredded (I use the bags of already shredded cheese most of the time)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large skillet, brown the pork and beef. You can do them both at the same time, in the same pan. Drain the fat and crumble the meat in to small uniform pieces. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the 2 eggs lightly. Add the ricotta, parmesan and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Mix to combine and set aside.

Spray a 13×9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour 1/2 of the jar of sauce on the bottom of the pan and spread evenly. Place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, covering completely. It’s okay if the noodles overlap slightly. Top with half of the browned meat and then half of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese.

Pour the other half of the jar of sauce on top and place another layer of noodles on top,covering completely. Top with the remaining browned meat, then the remaining ricotta mixture and finally the remainder of the mozzarella cheese.

Bake, covered with foil, for 50 minutes. It should be nice and bubbly. Uncover and continue baking until the cheese on top is melted and slightly browned - about 5 or so more minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

2 cups Ham, diced
6-8 medium Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 T Butter
3 T Flour
2 1/2 cups Milk
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a saucepan until bubbly (do not let it burn!). Add flour, stirring to make a paste. Add the milk and whisk until paste is completely mixed in and there are no lumps.

Add salt, pepper and onion powder to sauce. Simmer until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Lay potato slices in a casserole dish. Sprinkle diced ham between potato layers. Pour cream sauce over potatoes and ham.

Bake, covered for about 30 minutes; then uncovered for another 30-45 minutes until potatoes are tender and most of sauce has been absorbed by the potatoes. About 15 minutes before end of cooking time, sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over top of casserole.

Three Cheese Tortellini with Sausage & Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Barilla Recipe

1 8-oz bag Barilla Three Cheese Tortellini
3 oz Roasted Red Peppers, drained
1 cup Bertolli Alfredo Sauce
1 pkg Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage (use as much as you like - probably 2 or 3 links and freeze the rest for next time)

Remove skin from sausage links and cut into 1-inch pieces. Brown in skillet over medium heat. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Cook tortellini according to package directions. While tortellini cooks, puree red peppers in mini-chopper or food processor. Add Alfredo sauce and pepper puree to skillet, scraping bottom to loosen sausage bits. Add sausage pieces to sauce and heat through while tortellini finishes cooking.

Drain tortellini and stir in sauce.

Serves 4 generously.

Four-Pepper Pork
Pillsbury Classic Cookbook

1 T Cooking Oil
1 lb boneless Pork, cut into 2x½x½-inch strips
2 medium Onions, sliced , separated into rings
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 (14½ oz) can Beef Broth
1 Green Pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Red Pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Yellow Pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Jalepeno Chile Peppers, seeded, cut crosswise into small rings
¼ cup Tomato Paste
3 tsp Chili powder
½ tsp Salt
1 Bay Leaf
¼ cup Water
2 T Flour
3 cups hot cooked Rice

Heat oil in Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork, onions and garlic; cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until pork is no longer pink.

Add broth, bell peppers, chile peppers, tomato paste, chili powders, salt and bay leaf; stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 5 to 10 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender, stirring occassionally.

In a small jar or bowl with a lid, combine water and flour; shake well to blend. Gradually add to hot mixture, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove bay leaf. Serve over rice.

Serves 6.

Dry rub:
3 T Paprika
1 T Garlic Powder
1 T Brown Sugar
1 T dry Mustard
3 T coarse Salt

1 (5 to 7 pound) Pork Roast, shoulder or Boston butt

Mix paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, dry mustard and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork roast and marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it’s falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 170 degrees F.

Remove the pork from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While still warm, take 2 forks and “pull” the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other.

If everyone wants BBQ pork, put the shredded pork in a bowl and add a bottled BBQ sauce like Sweet Baby Ray’s to coat. There is a BBQ sauce recipe with this recipe on the Food Network site if you’d like to make it from scratch (follow the link above). If your family is like mine, some will want BBQ, some mustard and others will want ketchup. If that’s the case, leave the pork plain and serve the condiments on the side.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto buns. Serve with pickle spears and chips. A good slaw would go well with these too.