A Date To Remember!

I wanted to share one of my favorite dates with Quinn. I hope he doesn't mind, but I love this story.

We had only been dating a couple of weeks, and Quinn asked me out for a Friday night, and he said that he was going to cook me dinner. He brought over all of the stuff to my apartment, and told me about what he was making. I was a little worried because how he explained it to me, just sounded weird. Sometimes I am a picky eater if something sounds too different. But I really liked him, so I was willing to give it a try. The ingredients were: homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, ziti pasta, italian sausage, fresh spinach, roma tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. (I made this casserole a couple days ago and took these pictures, before and after baking it.)

Even though it sounded weird to me, we started putting the casserole together. We boiled 2 boxes of noodles, cooked about 8 sausages, cut several tomatoes, used a bunch of spinach, and a couple of pounds of cheese. I was very curious about how much we were making, but I was letting him take the lead since it was his recipe. But keep in mind, it wasn't a group date, just the two of us. We ended up with TWO 9x13 pans of this casserole, I guess one for me and one for him!!! I questioned why we were making so much, and he just said that "that's my recipe, and it makes that much". (As a sidenote, if you were to look at his recipe, which we still have, it has no amounts on it, just the ingredients listed. So now when I cook it, I have to just guess on the ammounts, but I have since figured out the amounts a little better.)

The last part of the story that makes it even funnier to me, was that he was leaving town the next day and was going to be gone for a week. Needless to say, my roommates and I were well fed that night and for the next week.

Quinn probably hates it that I talk about this story every time we make this recipe, but it truly is one of my favorite dating memories of him. I just love spending time with him no matter what we do, but especially in the kitchen. He also loves to cook, so it's fun to share in something I love. He's a lot more creative and daring when it comes to cooking than I am, so it helps me grow in my abilities. Thanks Quinn for making this recipe for me when we were dating, it's fun to have this special memory.

Here's the recipe for anyone that is interested.

Ziti Pasta Casserole
(makes ONE 9x13 pan)

1 box of ziti pasta (I think 16 oz.)
approximately 3 links of mild italian sausage or about 2/3 of a pound of ground italian sausage
3 roma tomatoes
2-3 cups fresh spinach leaves
4 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 a recipe of the following buttermilk ranch dressing recipe
Basil, Oregano, and Thyme
A little more mozzarella to sprinkle on top

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Brown sausage links and cut into slices, or brown the ground sausage. Dice tomatoes, and mix with spinach, cheese, pasta and sausage. Pour into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with basil, oregano, and and a little thyme. Drizzle ranch dressing over the casserole. Just do what amount looks good to you. Quinn loves ranch, so we put a lot on. Sprinkle with a little more mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

3/4 tsp onion salt
3/4 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp accent (if you have it, but I don't, so I leave it out)
2 Tbsp parsley flakes
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups mayonnaise

Mix together and chill.