Macaroni Pie-tooie!

Happy tomato found here

It was about 3 o'clock yesterday when I started thinking about dinner.  This is unusual for me.  Most days I start thinking about dinner around 5.  Which probably explains why we've been eating a lot of simple, fast to make meals.  Yesterday though, I realized early on that we had done all of our quick go-to meals in the last week!  The last week of summer infected the whole family with a bad case of the lazies. We had pizza (twice), hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled cheese, cheese and crackers...so I figured it was about time to actually make something a little more complicated.

As with many things in my house, complicated is risky.  Chances are good that the more work I put into a recipe, the more likely the kids are to reject it.

Tonight's recipe experiment: Macaroni Pie  (adapted from the Deceptively Delicious "Spaghetti Pie" recipe)

6 oz uncooked macaroni (or any other shape pasta)
8 oz (about 1/2 package) Yves Meatless Ground
1/2 cup broccoli puree
1 large egg white
2 tbsp parmesean
2 cups bottled marinara sauce
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, and cook until al dente.  Drain in a colander.
3. In a small bowl, mix the Meatless Ground with the broccoli puree, egg white, and parm.
Form the mixture into 1/2 inch balls.
4. In a large bowl, stir the cooked pasta, marinara sauce, cottage cheese, carrot puree, and salt and pepper.  Spoon the mixture into the pie plate and smooth the top.  Place meatballs on top (the recipe says "scatter", but how do you scatter meatballs?), and sprinkle cheese on top.
5. Bake, uncovered, until the center is firm and the cheese is bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.

Not surprisingly, this didn't go over well with the littles!  #4 only ate the macaroni, #3 refused to touch anything but the garlic bread I served it with, and #2, although she ate it, she protested loudly about the "icky" tomato sauce.  Husband and #1 actually really liked it...in fact, my husband ate the leftovers the next day for lunch!

Official tally: