Ziti Lasagna

Giorgio Celmo

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked ziti

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 can Tomato Sauce, 8 ounces

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 garlic clove minced

Dash pepper

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, 4 ounces

Directions

Cook ziti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook the beef, onion, garlic and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Drain pasta. Spread half of the meat sauce in a 1-qt. baking dish coated olive oil. Top with half of the ziti, ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Bake uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  Makes 2-3 servings

Cheese Crisps

Giorgio Celmo

Ingredients

1 /2 Cup finely crushed potato chips

1 /2 Cup Shredded cheddar cheese

4 Tablespoons All purpose flour

2 Tablespoons soft butter

1 /8 Teaspoon Cayenne pepper

Directions

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and combind. Shape into 3 /4 inch balls and place on a ungreased baking sheet, flatten slightly. Bake in a pre heated 350 oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Ultimate Oven Fries

Giorgio Celmo

I haven’t found a single bag of frozen fries worth eating. If you look at the ingredients most of what I can’t pronounce, it makes you wonder “where’s the potato”. McDonalds will tell you that the best potato for fries is the russet potato, don’t matter where it’s grown just make it a russet. Cutting the potatoes and cooking in the deep fryer or oven will yield a better tasting fry than the ones in the bag, but still tough on the outside and mushy on the inside. I have learned that soaking the fries in tap water releases some of the starches resulting in a lighter creamier and crisp fry. Through research and trial and error; hot tap water reduces the amount of time needed to cloud the water, releasing the proper amount of starches in about 10 minutes. Use a heavy duty non stick pan and don’t line with aluminum foil.

Ingredients

4-5 Russet potatoes (8oz each serving) Peeled and cut into even size wedges

5 Tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions

Pre heat oven to 475; place rack in lower part of the oven.

Place peeled cut potatoes in large bowl of hot tap water; set aside for 10 minutes until water turns cloudy. Meanwhile coat non stick 12X18 baking pan with 4 tablespoons of oil, sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper, set aside. Drain potatoes and dry on paper towels or kitchen towels removing as much moisture as possible.

Place potatoes back into the bowl and toss with remaining tablespoon of oil until well coated. Place potatoes on the backing sheet evenly add additional salt and pepper as desired, cover with foil and place in oven for 5 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Check the potatoes they should be a an even spotty golden brown, if not rotate tray and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove tray from the oven and using a spatula or thongs flip potatoes and return to the oven cook until golden brown 5-15 minutes. Remove from oven place on a paper lined platter and add additional salt and pepper to taste.