Mmmmmmmmeat sauce!

You can't go wrong with spaghetti and meat sauce. It is so simple, classic and delicious. I made a big pot of sauce a few weeks ago and froze some of it to use this week. We're going on vacation tomorrow so I wanted something easy to make tonight. My meat sauce is very basic:

2 links turkey Italian sausage

1 lb. of ground beef

couple cloves of garlic

1 bottle of marinara sauce (my husband only likes Ragu)

1 big can crushed tomatoes

Seasonings (oregano, basil, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes).

I remove the sausage from it's casings and brown in a pan with the ground beef and garlic. In the meantime, I start a pot going with the marinara sauce and tomatoes. I season the sauce with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little Italian seasoning mix. Once the meat is browned, I add it to the sauce mixture, cover and then let simmer for about an hour and a half. The sauce is better if you let it sit overnight and serve the following day for dinner.

Zucchini, Sausage and Feta Casserole

After seeing some good reviews on WC for this, I decided to give it a whirl. All the ingredients are things I love and it seemed simple enough for a weeknight meal. It turned out very good but DH and I both agreed that it had too much zucchini. It calls for 1.5 pounds, which was 3 medium sized zucchini. I would definitely reduce it down to 2 next time and also use more of the broth/flour combo. Perhaps use a full cup of broth to make it a bit saucier. The overall taste was very good and I would definitely try it again with the above modifications.

Zucchini, Sausage and Feta Casserole (courtesty of Cooking Light)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)

8 ounces chicken sausage (I used turkey italian sausage)

Cooking spray

1 teaspoon olive oil

5 cups thinly sliced zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)

2 cups vertically sliced onion (about 1) (I omitted as we don't like onion)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes, omitting salt and fat; drain.
Remove casings from sausage. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan. Heat oil in pan. Add zucchini, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and zucchini begins to brown, stirring occasionally.

Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute. Combine zucchini mixture, pasta, sausage, and feta cheese in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Yield 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)