Okay, will do. And I found this on the Food Network site. With all the other side dishes that they will be able to eat, maybe this would do the trick and others might like it too. Added bonus — it can go into the oven and won’t require a lot of attention:
Spicy Baked Macaroni
Ingredients
* Salt
* 1 pound elbow macaroni pasta
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/2 pound assorted mushrooms, quartered
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained of excess liquid
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/2 cups bread crumbs
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup
* 1/4 cup Romano, plus 1/3 cup
* 2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons
* 12 ounces mozzarella cubed (about 2 cups)
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms are tender and the onion is golden, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, spinach, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup Romano. Spread the softened butter in a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish and sprinkle half of the bread crumb mixture inside the dish to coat.
In a large bowl combine the vegetable mixture with the cooked macaroni, cubed mozzarella, the remaining Parmesan and Romano cheeses, and the nutmeg. Spoon into the prepared baking dish, top with the remaining bread crumb mixture, and dot the top with the remaining butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes.
My favorite part of any recipe...especially on T-day. I discovered make ahead gravy last year. It changed my life.
BOOKMARK!
Tomorrow I’ll post some filling vegetarian recipes that might be good for Thanksgiving.
Don’t have time at present, but have some written up, all I have to do is find ‘em.