Friday, November 12, 2010

Best Ever Pasta Salad and Upside-Down Pizza



Forgive me for the photo.  These weren't the most photogenic of dishes, but they were worthy of sharing the recipes.  I don't know if this is really the best ever pasta salad, but it is very good.  Shane flipped over it.  Turned cartwheels in the kitchen and everything.  Ok, I lie, but he did tell all his buddies at work about it.  The pizza casserole was a hit with both Kat and Shane.  I thought it was good, but not as good as an actual pizza.

Both of these recipes came from a free booklet from Benefiber and called for an amount of the fiber powder, which I just omitted. 


Best Ever Pasta Salad

1/2 lb. white rotini pasta, uncooked (as you can see, I used multi-colored bowties instead)
3/4 cup Italian dressing (I used the kind that stays blended)
3 green onions, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/4 bunch chopped cilantro (Omit, or use as much as you like. I used "some".)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sliced, drained black olives
1/2 cup sliced, drained stuffed green olives
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I forgot to add this and didn't miss it)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta; drain and rinse. Mix with Italian dressing and green onion pieces. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Mix in remaining ingredients.

Makes about 6 servings.


Upside-Down Pizza

1/2 pound bulk sausage(I used ground beef)
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, sliced (I omitted for Kat, much to my dismay)
1 tablespoon mixed Italian seasoning (I used equal parts basil and oregano)
1 (8-ounce) jar pizza sauce
8 ounces sliced pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I omitted because I didn't have any, but Kat asked for some; apparently it needed it)
2 cups buttermilk baking mix*
2/3 cup water*
Flour

*I used 1 cup self-rising flour, 1 tablespoon oil and enough milk to make a soft dough.

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Spray an 11 x 7-inch cake pan with pan spray.  Brown sausage, onion, green pepper and Italian seasoning.  Drain.

Put sausage mixture in prepared pan.  Top with pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella  and Parmesan cheeses.

Combine baking mix and water.  On floured surface, roll out dough to an 11x7-inch rectangle.  Place over cheese.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes. 

Serves 6.

3 comments:

McVal said...

Ooh! Both those sound good! Have you ever put a little pasta salad on a chef salad? yummo!
I make pizza every weekend it seems like, so I might have to try this out! Thanks!

Alea Milham said...

These both sound and look delicious! Sometimes the best dishes are not the most photgenic. :)

Frances said...

Oh great! Now I am starving. These sound delish!