Day Two Hundred and Ninety Nine - Pasta Bake and Salad

Dear all,

We are entering another cold snap so what better way to spend the evening than cooking with Darren so I plunged my head into our cupboards to see what I could find. Darren then suggested 'an experimental pasta dish' so I got my thinking cap on and started to bake!

I decided on a pasta bake found online but from the onset *completely* changed the recipe and the results were pretty good!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/BAKED-PASTA-WITH-FETA-AND-BACON-1200472

I defrosted and fried up a ton of bacon and [at the last minute] and also fried up some extra hot Italian sausages ( already going WAY off-piste from the recipe) to put in the bake.

I then made up Darren's special tomato sauce using chopped tomatoes, onion garlic and some Orgasmic Onion and popped in some chilli's for good measure.

Once the tomato sauce was simmering, I found a baking pot and started to layer the pasta, tomato sauce and meat inside, also putting in a generous helping of feta and cheddar cheese (this had all the makings of a very hearty dish).

I then throw on a LARGE bowl of mixed cheese onto the top of the pasta concoction and popped it in the oven. Hey Presto! A very filling dinner and extremely tasted to boot.

As always, I had shunned any reference to portion control so I had a load of pasta left. I threw together this pasta salad for lunches for the next couple of days (with a couple of extra jalapenos to tastes) http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1563/gazpacho-pasta-salad.aspx

Both were a triumph and gobbled up in now time. Another culinary success!