Rachael Ray's Pizzagna



I first started getting interested in cooking and food in 2003. I used to watch Rachael Ray religiously. This meal is supposed to be a cross between pizza and lasagna. My family and my boyfriend at the time loved it, so I made it quite frequently. This is still a really delicious dinner, especially with a side salad.

Now that I actually care with what I eat, and portion control, my issue with this is the number of servings that she says that you get out of this. She says you get six, and that is absolutely ridiculous. This recipe calls for one pound of pasta, which in and of itself is eight servings. Not to mention you're adding ricotta cheese, a ton of vegetables and 28 ounces of tomato sauce. I baked this in my large lasagna dish, and Graham and I had TWELVE meals out of this. Twelve. I figured out the nutritional information for this today on My Fitness Pal. Calculating it with twelve servings, it's less than 300 calories per serving, and 8 grams of fat per serving.

So make this. It's tasty. But bake it in a large lasagna pan, and either share it with 11 other people, or be prepared to eat leftovers for days.

Pizzagna
(Adapted from here.)
Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. of olives; sliced.
• 8-10 slices of pepperoni; sliced.
• 1 bell pepper; diced into bite sized pieces
• 1 large onion; thinly sliced
• 1 package (I think it's 12 ounces) of sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced.
• 1 cup of part skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 c. of grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of reduced fat mozzarella cheese
• 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 14.5 ounce can of whole tomatoes, drained
• 1 t. of red pepper flakes
• 1 lb. of a short pasta (I used cellantini from Barilla)
• 2 T. of olive oil

 
Directions

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Boil pasta in salted water. When finished, reserve 1/2 a cup of cooking water and drain.
3. While boiling water, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onions, bell pepper, mushrooms and garlic until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, the whole tomatoes (break them up a little with a spoon), and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat to low.
4. When pasta is done, add the reserved liquid to the ricotta in a large bowl, and mix until smooth. Then add the parmesan, olives and pepperoni. Mix until well combined, and then toss the cheese mixture with the hot pasta. Pour into the bottom of a large baking dish (I used a large lasagna dish) and then top with an even layer of the tomato sauce.
5. Sprinkle with mozzarella and place under broiler until cheese is golden and bubbly (mine took about 2-3 minutes).

Enjoy!

 



Six servings? Really?