Gigi Pasta
Now I will be the first admit that there is nothing fancy about this recipe. But, for whatever reason, when my mom (Gigi) made this for us when we were visiting, my kids all loved and devoured it and asked me to make it immediately.
The thing I love it is that I can very easily make four dinners at once, because it meal preps like a dream.
So, if you have some pasta-loving kids, and you love a little meal-prep, go ahead and give this one a try!
A few notes:
1. I like to use the 9” roasting pans for the prep. The classic 8” aluminum pans work fine, but the 9” roasting pans give you a little more space to stir and mix up the ingredients.
2. Everything is easy and flexible and does NOT need to be followed to a T :)
3. I wrote the recipe for four meals, but you can easily halve it for just two meals, which is great too! But it takes almost no more time to make it into four meals, and then you have a freezer ready for a busy week or have meals to share with those who need one!
I like to use the 9” roasting pans for the prep. The classic 8” aluminum pans work fine, but the 9” roasting pans give you a little more space to stir and mix up the ingredients.
GIGI PASTA
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
2 lbs pork sausage
3-4 jars of pasta sauce of your choice
2 boxes of rotini pasta (Banza pasta is a great sub for GF)
3 5oz. containers of shaved parmesan cheese (you can use whatever works best for you)
1-2 c grated parmesan cheese
4 aluminum pans - 8” or 9” (See note above)
Olive oil
Gigi Pasta - a crowd pleaser!
Steps:
1. Brown your meat together in a large pan. My pan holds enough to cook 2 lbs of meat - 1 beef, 1 pork - so I do this in two rounds.
2. Add 1.5-2 jars of sauce to your meat and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes, while the pasta cooks
3. Set this meat and sauce aside in a large bowl and then repeat these steps (if only making two meals, no need to repeat this step!)
4. Cook your pasta until al dente. I cook two boxes of pasta at once in a large pot. Drain.
5. Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of each of your four pans
6. Divide the pasta evenly between the four pans
7. Divide the meat and sauce evenly between the four pans
8. Top each of the pans with about a cup of parmesan cheese (I used half shaved parmesan and half grated - you can use whatever you prefer or whatever you have on hand!)
9. Stir to cover the pasta with the meat and sauce and cheese
10. Top each pan with a bit more cheese - I grated a bit more fresh parmesan, but, again, you can use whatever you have on hand!
11. Wrap them well in aluminum foil to get ready to store in the freezer.
12. When ready to bake, fully thaw and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, until it is heated through.
There is not much better than having four nights of dinners done in less than an hour.
