Blueberry Crumble

As I have said a few times already...get out there and take advantage of the rich summer fruits and vegetables. Hit your farmer's market weekly which allows you to support local farmer's, provides better produce, and is overall, tastier than anything from the store!

Right now, the midwest is seeing a rise in blueberries, and when Jon was visiting I was able to try all kinds of new things, including this throw-together Blueberry Crumble.  Folks, it doesn't get any easier to make a simple, fresh, delicious dessert with little sugar.

Equipment:

Mixing bowl

8" x 8" Pyrex baking dish

Pastry cutter, or I just use my hands

Ingredients:

5 cups blueberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

2/3 cup of flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

6 Tbls unsalted butter, diced and chilled

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands.

2. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.

3. Whisk granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt together.

4. Toss blueberries in the sugar-cornstarch mixture and pour into pyrex dish.

5. Combine flour, oats, light brown sugar, cinnamon.

6. Add the butter and use your hands or pastry cutter to create a coarse crumble.

7. Scatter the crumble overtop the blueberries.

8. Bake @375F degrees until bubbly and the crumble is golden brown, approx 30 minutes.

9. Let cool x 20-30 minutes.

10. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipping cream.

Creamy Pasta Bake

Talk about needing comfort food in the middle of January when it's -40F windchill and snowy weather in the Midwest!  But this might just be the solution to the bitter cold: Creamy Pasta Bake.

Make this on the weekend, invite a few friends, and have enough for leftovers.

Really...throwing a meal together couldn't get any easier as you are getting home from campus. Boil pasta, mix sauces and bake in a dish. That's it!

Try this out, another great recipe from 'Baking With Blondie' blog!

Equipment:

5 quart sauce pan 

Mixing Bowl

PAM Spray

9" x 13" x 2" Pyrex dish

Collander / Strainer

Ingredients:

4 cups of small pasta (macaroni, penne, rotini)

1-2 tsp salt for boiling pasta

15 oz jar of 'Alfredo' sauce (I used Paul Newman's)

24 oz jar of Marinara sauce (I like RAO's Marinara)

2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2-3 Tbls basil, chopped (or parsley)

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands.

2. Spray your pyrex dish.

3. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

4. Bring SALTED water to a boil in your saucepan and cook the pasta until "almost" done, or better known as 'al dente'. Do not cook completely since this will bake another 25 minutes in sauce.

5. In a large mixing, combine the marinara, alfredo, 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella, 1 cup parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.

6. Drain the pasta and add to the mixing bowl.

7. Pour the mixture into the prepared and sprayed pyrex dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

8. Sprinkle with parmesan, pepper, and basil / parsley.

9. Cover with a piece of PAM sprayed tin foil (only on inside-touching-cheese side of the foil)

10. Bake x 25 minutes, then remove foil and broil briefly until cheese golden brown.