This weekend I asked my Facebook followers, “what is your favorite Fall comfort foods.” All of the answers sounded incredible. My personal favorite is pumpkin bread! So, I took my Mom’s recipe and added a cheesecake center! Pretty good combination if you ask me! Then my next comfort would be a pasta casserole. Simple and easy to make!
Spinach Pasta Bake
8 ounce package rigatoni, cooked al dente
1 cup chopped onion
1 (10 oz) pack frozen spinach, thawed
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken breasts
1 cup cooked Schwab’s smoked sausage
1 (14 oz) can Red Gold Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz) container chive & onion cream cheese
salt and pepper
1½ c shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Saute onion while cooking chicken and italian sausage. While the meat is cooking make sure and drain the spinach well. In a large bowl, combine the rigatoni, spinach, meats, Italian tomatoes, and cream cheese. Spoon the mixture into the baking pan and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and continue baking 15 additional minutes.
Cheesecake Stuffed Pumpkin Loaf
1 (15 ounce) canned pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 container pre-made cheesecake filling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, milk, eggs and sugar. Stir together the baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet one cup at a time stirring till combined. Stir in the butterscotch chips. Add one cup of batter to each of the loaf pans. Then place the pre made cheesecake filling in a ziploc bag and snip the end. Squeeze the cheesecake filling down the center of the batter until all of it is used. Then place equal amounts of the remaining batter in the pans. Sprinkle with pecans and bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked through. Cool and slice.