Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

This is a variation on my stove top recipe. I actually developed it to enter into a contest, but then missed the deadline for submissions.

I love buffalo chicken, so for me this was a pretty natural step.

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless chicken breast, cut into small bites.
• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni or other pasta, uncooked
• 4 tbsp butter, cut into ~8-10 chunks
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk (You can substitute 1/2-3/4 cup skim milk and let it cook a little longer to thicken)
• 3 tbsp buffalo wing sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 3/4 tsp dry mustard
• 4 ounces Colby Jack cheese, shredded
• 6 ounces sharp white Cheddar cheese

Brown the chicken in a frying pan with a little salt and pepper, remove to a plate and set aside.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente and drain.

Combine the eggs, evaporated milk, wing sauce, salt, pepper and mustard in a bowl.

Return the pasta to the pot and add the butter, stirring until melted. Pour in the egg mixture and add the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted, then add the chicken and cook until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.

Stove Top Manchego Chorizo Mac & Cheese

This is a variation on my stove top recipe. I actually developed it to enter into a contest, but then missed the deadline for submissions.

For what it's worth, I also have this Manchego Chorizo Mac recipe, but I think this one is easier and turned out better.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb Spanish chorizo (the kind that comes in links, not a tube), sliced thinly
• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni or other pasta, uncooked
• 4 tbsp butter, cut into ~8-10 chunks
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk (You can substitute 1/2-3/4 cup skim milk and let it cook a little longer to thicken)
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 3/4 tsp dry mustard
• 8 ounces Manchego cheese, shredded
• 2 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese

Brown the chorizo in a frying pan, remove to a plate with a paper towel and set aside.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente and drain.

Combine the eggs, evaporated milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper and mustard in a bowl.

Return the pasta to the pot and add the butter, stirring until melted. Pour in the egg mixture and add the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Stir in the chorizo and enjoy.

Ravioli Pesto Lasagna

FOUND IT: At Stacey Snacks

MODIFIED IT: To incorporate the pesto and remove one ingredient that proved to be a little too much.

If you enjoy lasagna, this might be the easiest way I've found to make it. This was simple, flavorful and flexible.

Ingredients:

• 24 of your favorite frozen ravioli (for me this was two small packages. Your results may vary.)
• 2 cups pasta sauce
• 1 cup pesto (here's my pesto recipe), or another cup of pasta sauce.
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (more or less to taste)

Combine the ricotta, egg and salt and pepper and set aside.

Spread a cup of the pasta sauce across the bottom an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan. Then use a dozen of the frozen ravioli to create a single layer of pasta. Follow that with the pesto (or another cup of sauce), then half of the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle mozzarella over that.

Repeat with another layer of pasta, sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40 minutes, then uncover and continue to bake for 15 more. Let it cool for at least five minutes before serving.

Spinach Basil Pesto

FOUND IT: At Simplyrecipes.com
MODIFIED IT: A fair amount.

Pesto is pretty simple and flexible. In my household, there's usually three complaints about the traditional methods:

1) Using all oil makes it a little too greasy. I fixed that by combining oil and chicken stock.

2) Using all basil makes the flavor a little too strong for my wife. Spinach makes an easy substitute to knock it down a bit.

3) I'm not a big fan of pine nuts. I don't think they add much. Replacing some of them with roasted pistachios seemed to help.

This recipe makes about 3 cups. Feel free to cut it in half if you don't need that much.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed.
• 2 cups fresh spinach, packed.
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 1/3 cup pine nuts (toasting them before seems to help)
• 1/3 cup roasted, shelled pistachios
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper

Put the basil, spinach and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse it a few times to give yourself some room to work.

Then add the cheese, pine nuts, pistachios, garlic, salt and pepper and let the food processor run. Combine the oil and stock and slowly drizzle it in. Continue to process it until it reaches the desired texture, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.