Food for Thought Friday

This recipe comes from one of my best friends in Oklahoma. It is one of those feel good meals and perfect one to take to new mother, or other people in your ward that might need a meal brought it. It makes a TON, but we always end up eating all the leftovers. This meal will always remind me of Oklahoma. :) It's definitely a 5 star meal in our house.

Italian Casserole

1 lb. Rigatoni (or pasta of choice, but this is the favorite)
1 TB Oregano (I actually didn't have any when I made it yesterday, or any parsley, so I used about 2 TB of some Italion Seasoning and it still turned out great)
2 TB Olive Oil
28 oz can of chopped tomatoes ( I just used two 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes)
1 Medium Yellow onion, chopped (Since I hate buying, chopping real onions, I just used about 1/3 cup of dehydrated onions)
1 cup heavy cream (Again, I was out of this, but I used a food storage recipe for sweetened condensed milk using powdered milk-which I can post if anyone really wants-and it made it a little bit sweeter than normal, but was still delicious, but for your first try I would use the cream)
2 Cloves Garlic (I just used 1/4 tsp of garlic powder...not a huge fan of real garlic)
1 lb. Mozarella Cheese (this is about 4 cups, but just use how much you like)
1 lb. Ground Italian Sausage
1/2 cup Fresh Grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh parsley (see note for oregano)


Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta as directed. Brown sausage, then add onions, olive oil. Saute for ~10 minutes. Drain fat, if you have enough to drain. Add parsley, oregano, & tomatoes. Bring to boil, simmer uncovered for ~15 minutes. Stir in cream & raise heat to boil. Remove immediately from heat, add any salt & pepper if you want. Mix with pasta, place in greased 9X13 pan by putting a layer of pasta, layer of cheese, remaining pasta, then cheese. Bake until cheese is melted ~15-20min