Attention, Please! This Baked Pasta Is What You Need In Your Life!

Some of my favorite meals are Italian.  I will eat just about anything that is pasta layered in gooey melted cheese.

Add in just about any type of sauce (I’ll pass on the spicy ones, though) and I’m in total heaven.  This dish right here is the perfect Italian flavors combined into one and makes for a completely impressive dinner. My husband and kids absolutely loved this recipe. In fact, they just couldn’t get enough of it. This baked rigatoni is a real keeper!

This meal here is completely amazing.  You take rigatoni pasta (already boiled to al dente) and then stacked on their ends in a round pan. After that, you take a delicious meat sauce and layer it so it falls through the little rigatoni and covers the top end.  Then, you layer that in cheese and bake it til it’s ooey and gooey over the top.  Simply the best.

If you’d like to get a feel of an authentic Italian meal, then this recipe is made for you. It is just as perfect for busy weeknights as it is for special occasions – this is actually my husband’s choice every time I ask him what he would like me to make for date night!

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Quick Tip: This recipe makes 8-10 servings.

Ditch every pasta recipe you’ve ever had and make this one instead!

I would love to travel to Italy! I’ve been dreaming about it for years, and I’ve read every single book about Italian cuisine and wine I’ve been able to get my hands on.

But even more than the food, I would love to experience the beauty of the Italian countryside. I’ve seen so many gorgeous photos and old movies that have made me long for those places I’ve never even been to. If someone asked me to move there right now, I would probably say yes without even thinking about it.

Since I haven’t gotten too many invitations (none, to be honest) and I don’t know anyone who lives there, I thought I should probably focus on the food instead. I’ve tried so many Italian dishes lately that I’ve lost count!

I have been saving all the recipes that turned out extra delish. This baked pasta with peas is one of them. We never have any leftovers when I’m making this!

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Quick Tip: Use any kind of pasta for this dish.

Hello, everyone! I don’t know about you guys, but I love cake. I love making cake, eating cake, and finding new and exciting cake recipes for my growing pastry collection. When I came across this Italian pear and ricotta cake, I just knew I had to make it for myself.

At first, I was apprehensive in terms of the ricotta filling, but wow, did it ever turn out good!  I suppose it’s no different than using sour cream in your cake batter. If you are looking for a new and simple cake recipe, look no further because this one is the cat’s meow. Will you be trying it any time soon?

Recipe courtesy of Food52.

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Quick Tip: For best results, use a high-quality, full-fat Ricotta.

Meat lovers beware! This vegetarian Eggplant Rollatini will have you reconsidering your carnivorous ways. This Eggplant Rollatini is very similar to Eggplant Parmesan. Thinly sliced eggplant are filled with ricotta cheese and then placed in a baking dish. Everything is covered with a marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Because this is made with eggplant instead of pasta, it’s very low in carbs, so it’s a great choice if you’re watching your carbohydrate intake. It also gets you another serving of vegetables the sneaky way. The eggplant should be young and tender, and you’ll never know that you’re not eating traditional lasagna.

Give this lasagna style dish a try – your whole family will fall in love with it!

Photo & Recipe Courtesy of 12 Tomatoes
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You might think the concept of lemon and cheese, sounds like a strange combination, but this creamy ricotta is remarkable against the citrus profile of lemon, in these easy-to-bake cookies.

I know what you’re thinking….citrus and dairy…do those even mix?  Let me tell you sister, you’re in for a real surprise!

Frosted in a zesty powdered sugar glaze, you’d never realize how amazing this combination truly is!

I made these for a bake sale at my daughter’s school, and even beside the brownies, they were a total hit!

Make two batches, because these won’t last on your counter top!

Not only are these cookies splendid on their own, the dripping lemon glaze sets everything off in a sweet and citrus dessert anyone can enjoy.  

This recipe makes about 44 cookies and is ready in under 2 hours.  Enjoy!

Perfect for a bake sale, or any sort of event, they are lighter than your average chocolate fare, and always at hit! 

Recipe and photo courtesy of Cooking Channel TV

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For as simple as it is, this Chocolate Italian Love Cake has a lot of complexity to it. And if you like chocolate, you’ll absolutely, well, love it. Love has many layers. Sometimes, it is light and airy; other times, it is a bit darker and more heavy.  It also shifts over time.  In that respect, you could say that this yummy love cake is a good metaphor for its namesake.  And you can have it prepped and baked in a little over an hour without too much hassle – unless you consider waiting on such deliciousness to set in the refrigerator a hassle, I suppose.

Yes, the layers actually shift during baking.  Nice trick, eh?  I really like the contrast of the chocolate flavor with the lighter ricotta and the basic but very flavorful Cool Whip frosting. And though it’s very much edible after a few hours’ refrigeration, I think that you will agree that it tastes better if you give it the full overnight chill time.  Oh, and great though this chocolate creation idea is, you can use this same basic idea for a variety of flavors; just adjust the flavor of the pudding you use in the frosting to fit the flavor cake that you decide to choose.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Chew Nibble Nosh

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Quick tip: Use your favorite instant pudding mix for a new flavor!

This Prosciutto-Wrapped Ricotta Chicken comes packaged with a delightful potato side, making it a nice one-pot meal – and a rather gourmet one at that. And you can have it ready in about an hour! I love prosciutto rolls as a snack, and they’re absolutely perfect on Triscuits. I have to admit, I hadn’t thought about using them as a part of a fancy chicken dinner.

Thanks to the use of ricotta, you have a nice, creamy flavor to go with the savory herbs and meat, but not so much creaminess that you feel really weighed down.  I suppose that some people might want to cook some sort of simple green vegetable to go with this meal, but with the delicious stuffed chicken, the prosciutto forming a savory crust, and those heavenly scalloped potatoes, I can’t say that you absolutely have to have anything else. This is a dish easy enough to have for a midweek dinner but fancy enough to serve when you have company over.

Recipe and photo courtesy of  RecipeTin Eats.

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Quick tip: If you’re serving these to a larger group of people, you can double or even triple the recipe. Just bake them in two or three pans instead of trying to make everything fit into one.