Easy Mac for a Crowd, or Dinner for Two at My House
I cook lots.
For the sake of this post, I'm speaking to volume as opposed to frequency, which I also do; I cook L-O-T-S.
When I was a kid, The German wouldn't let anyone in her kitchen, although I can't complain because she mostly made German fare and who would want to mess up that delicious arrangement?
Under her direction, I learned how to iron, make beds, clean a house, mend socks (oh lawsy, I'm having a yarn darn flashback!), make a list for when your father gets home, and cuss in German. She did not teach me how to cook or bake. OMT was on her own, my babies.
So, learn I did.
~A bit of back-story: I have always believed, for as long as I can remember, that there was an old Italian Jewish woman in me and she would never let you go hungry. She would rather die first.~
When I was first on my own, I belonged to a wild pack of dingos, um, male friends, who ate like, well, wild dingos. When we cooked together, we cooked in large quantities. It became second nature to me.
Coming from a large family, I suppose I was always a little on the hungry side too. You gotta be fast with four other hungry siblings. As a result, my pantry is always stocked, my fridge is full and if you come to my house, I'll ask you if you'd like something to eat. When you say no, I'll wait the appropriate time...a few minutes...and then ask you again. Need a little something?
It's a family joke. There is always food and lots of it.
Recently, I thought I might try to cook a smaller meal for Husband and me. A meal for two. With no leftovers. An easy pasta dish (Italian. Did you see that coming?). You know, just to prove that I could do it.
I picked something simple, so as not to get distracted; just throw it together and BAM! dinner for two.
People.
What was I thinking?
Take a look:
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This is a giant 15 x 10 pan. I didn't mean for the meal to get out of hand....it just kinda did.
It started when I boiled water for the pasta. When the water was ready, I threw in the pre-measured pasta for two. It was then my old Italian Jewish woman took over. Before I knew what had happened, I had thrown in more pasta and made the sauce accordingly for an army. Once I drained the cooked noodles, but before I mixed everything together, I realized I had failed.
Dinner for two became a tailgate meal for a crowd.
Although, I can't complain. It was delicious, as will be the leftovers. Thank God we love leftovers.
What about you? You hungry? Need a little something?
Ingredients
- 1 package of 24 oz large elbow pasta
- 1 67 oz container of pre-made tomato sauce (like Ragu)
- ½ Rotisserie chicken, deboned and chopped
- 1 chopped onion
- 6 cloves chopped garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
Instructions
- Bring enough water to a rolling boil, in large pot.
- While waiting for water to come to a boil, place oil and chopped onion in another pot over medium heat and saute onions for about 8 minutes.
- When onion is translucent, throw in chopped garlic and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently so as not to burn.
- Once garlic is cooked, pour in about 60 ounces of prepared tomato sauce. (1) (2) (3)
- Add chicken.
- Season to taste and let simmer until pasta is ready.
- Once water is boiling, throw in pasta and cook for 6-8 minutes.
- Drain, but do not rinse.
- Pour cooked pasta into pot with tomato sauce and mix well.
- Spray a 15 x 11 pan with Pam, then pour in pasta mixture. (4)
- Spread evenly, then top with cheese.
- Cook for 20 minutes at 350°.
- Eat like kings.
Notes
1) Yes, you would have thought the copious amount of tomato sauce would have tipped me off that I was NOT cooking for two.
2) I froze the remainder (flat in a ziplock bag) to use on a giant pizza in the near future.
3) I buy the giant container of tomato sauce at Costco. Big surprise!
4) Gasp at the sheer volume of food.
"Well, maybe just a bite" she said, as she dumped most of it onto her plate. ♥
LOL! Time to EAT!
YUM! This looks amazing... don't fault you for making such a large pan of it 🙂
It's what's for dinner tonight! Pretty delicious for a FAIL!
Wow, that looks amazing!
Thank you! It's what's for dinner...tonight!
In my Maw-maw's house it was, "Can Ah fix ya' somethin'? In my Momma's house it is, "Y'all want somethin' t'eat?" In my house it's, "Y'hungry?" No matter how it gets said, it all means the same thing, "Eat something now or else I will continue to ask you the same question over and over until you finally cave and eat something later." 😉 It's that Southern hospitality thing.
You're totally right. Those who come here, usually get something sweet offered to them as well. If fresh cookies aren't on the counter, they're in the freezer
Love easy meals like this! I grew up with 3 younger brothers and when I first married my husband couldn't believe how much food I would cook. I have mostly gotten that under control....:-)
Three younger bothers...yep...can imagine how much they'd eat!
Thanks for the easy baked mac recipes. I pinned it! Thanks for linking up at Saturday Dishes.
Blessings,
Diane Roark
recipesforourdailybread.com
Thanks!
Perfect for our weekly Bible study and dinner (we have 10 people!!) I'd love it if you'd share this at my link party going on now! accidentallywonderful.blogspot.com
It would easily feed that many, especially is you throw in bread and a salad.
This looks like a great meal to make at the start of the week and enjoy the leftovers! Please feel free to swing by my blog and link up on my Tuesday Greens linky. I love finding new blogs with real food recipes. Have a great weekend!
It's perfect for leftovers. Thanks!
Ooh, this is a new approach to mac n' cheese! I'm excited to try it. Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome!