Memorial Day is coming up. To me, that means only one thing – a cookout! Even though we are not going anywhere or having any friends over, we will still cook out. But, man cannot live by meat alone – you have to have sides. If you are looking for a wonderful side dish to help enhance your meal or to take to someone else’s house, look no further than this recipe:
Triple Cheese Pasta Casserole
For this recipe, you will need 12 ounces of tri-colored corkscrew macaroni, a 16 ounce pack of yellow, green, and red peppers for stir-fry, all purpose flour, ground nutmeg, dried oregano, milk, smoked Gouda cheese, one 4 ounce package of cream cheese, shredded Parmesan cheese, and plum tomatoes (optional).
Add the 12 ounces of corkscrew macaroni to a Dutch oven that contains lightly salted water. Let this boil for about 7 minutes. Add the 16-ounce package of peppers and let that boil for a couple of minutes or until the pasta is done. When that is cooked, drain well.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut up the 4 ounces of cream cheese into small squares. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of dried oregano, 14 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour. Once that starts to bubble, add another 2 1/2 additional cups of milk and stir. Slowly add 8 ounces of smoked Gouda cheese, 4 ounces of cream cheese squares, and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheeses are melted. Add the tri-colored pasta/pepper mixture to this and stir. Place in a 3-quart baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. When finished, you can garnish with sliced plum tomatoes or snips of fresh oregano or basil.
You can mix everything up the night before the party, and then cook it the next morning in a 350-degree oven for 40 minutes.
Other great side dish recipes from Families.com:
Grilled Aparagus
Stuffed Mushrooms
Grilled Artichokes
Green Salads
PotatoSalad