Garden Veggies

Garden Veggies
Made into tile for my stove backsplash

Portland Rose Garden

Portland Rose Garden
Mike and my 2 youngest sons Ian and Leif

Grandson Michael's Birthday 2014 throwing water balloons

Grandson Michael's Birthday 2014 throwing water balloons
With son Beau, Grandson Luke and his mom Jennifer

Maren

Maren
I cut this out of a wedding line. I must take more pictures of her.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH RIGATONI

I am in love with Rigatoni!  I can't believe I have gone my entire life not cooking with it.  I always thought it was too big.  But I started using it in my Cheesy Pasta dish, which is a favorite, and realized that it is especially good in a pasta dish where you want the noodles to stay firm and meaty.  I made this dish for Mike and I last Sunday, which would serve about 8, and then ate the leftovers for lunch the rest of the week.  It was heavenly.  I baked it in a casserole that is a little smaller than a 9x13.

Boil: 1/2 box of rigatoni until it is still a little chewy.  Drain and hold.
Melt: 2 T. butter in a saucepan and cook until very brown but not burned.
Add: 2 1/2 C. Milk
         5 T. Flour
          3/4 tsp. salt
           Some generous grates of fresh ground pepper
Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat
Add: 1/3 C. sour cream
          1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese
           1/4 C. Mozzarella or Monterey Jack Cheese
Stir until well blended.  Set aside until you roast the squash.

Cut up 4 generous cups of butternut squash to a good bite-size piece.  Pam a large cookie sheet and toss the squash with 2 T. melted butter, 1 large clove of grated garlic and 2-3 T. grated onion and some dashes of salt and pepper.  Broil on high, on the top rack, for about 10 minutes, until the edges start to brown and the squash begins to get tender.  Don't get mushy.  Stir in the pan after 5 minutes. 

In a bowl toss all the elements together (be sure to scrape out all the little bits left on the cookie sheet into the mix), stirring gently so as not to break up the squash too much.  Pour into your greased baking dish and bake 350, for 15-20 minutes.  Sprinkle on 1/2 C more Mozzarella cheese the last 5 minutes. (Next time I am going to sprinkle with some soft buttered bread crumbs before baking)