Cooking for Babies

I love to cook for people. One of my biggest disappointments at this time is that I don't have anyone but myself to cook for on a regular basis. So when one of my coworkers decides to pop out a few babies, I get the opportunity to make casseroles. (By the way, Benjamin and Anthony are doing wonderfully well for being a bit early)

A casserole can be thought of more as a formula - sauce, pasta/tortilla, cheese. All good casseroles have this. If your casserole has pasta that needs to be cooked while in the oven, make sure your sauce is on the watery side. Otherwise a thicker sauce will hold your casserole together while it bakes. The other nice thing about casseroles is it is a good way to clean out the pantry.

Since my friend had 2 babies, I decided to make 2 casseroles. The first was a Poblano Corn Casserole and the second was a Ravioli Lasagna. Yum yum yum.

Poblano Corn Casserole (based on this recipe)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 poblano peppers, deseeded and diced
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 (18 oz) can Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ Creamy Three Cheese Cooking Sauce
• 9 six-inch flour tortillas
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray a 2-quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and place onto an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add poblano peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add corn and cook another minute. 

Turn heat to low then stir in Three Cheese Cooking Sauce and cook one minute. Ladle enough poblano and corn sauce into the bottom of baking dish to cover bottom. Arrange three tortillas on top then ladle more sauce to cover tortillas. Repeat until all tortillas have been used. 

Top casserole with leftover sauce and shredded cheese.Bake casserole 16-18 minutes or until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbling. Switch oven to broil then broil casserole 30 seconds to 1 minute until cheese on top is golden brown.

For some reason I had this cooking sauce in my pantry...so I specifically looked for a recipe using it. Sounded good to me! Hope it freezes well.

Next up is Ravioli Lasagna, based on this recipe from Taste of Home. Since I was in State College last weekend, I ventured to Fasta & Ravioli Co. for a three cheese ravioli. My friend, Patty, also bought chocolate gnocchi there and we made this...

Chocolate Gnocchi with Salted Caramel Sauce and Grand Marnier Whipped Cream

Ravioli Lasagna

1 lb ground turkey

1 pint roasted tomatoes (see here for recipe)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 package Fasta Three Cheese Ravioli

Shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Brown ground turkey. Meanwhile put canned and roasted tomatoes in food processor (or in Magic Bullet in 2 batches) and buzz until smooth. Add to turkey. Season sauce to taste with salt, pepper, dried herbs and sugar. 
3. Layer sauce and frozen ravioli in a prepared casserole dish. Top with mozzarella.
4. Bake 40-45 min, or until heated through and cheese has melted. (I would suggest that you cover the dish with foil for the first 30 min then uncover for the last 10-15 minutes).

**Word of caution** I have not actually baked these casseroles since I gave them away, so cooking times may vary from the posted recipes...now go cook!!