Mystery Spice Monday! #2

I know, I said I'd post this up last night. Unfortunately I was pretty sick last night and ended up taking 2 naps before finally going to bed early. I'm feeling better today... I think. :P

As always, if you have any questions about Mystery Spice Monday you should consult the rules Here.

So without further delay...

Today's Mystery Spice is Nutmeg!



But not just any ol' Nutmeg... WHOLE nutmeg. Now let me tell ya, if you don't have one of these Nutmeg kits in your house you really should run out and buy one. The flavor of freshly grated nutmeg is just about a million times better than the pre-ground stuff you can buy. Don't believe me? Try it. You won't be sorry.

I know, you're wondering why I chose nutmeg rather than that exotic Greek mountain tea that came with no instructions. Well, Hubs and I have started a new Mystery Spice Monday custom, he picks the spice and then determines that I should ONLY make an entree, not a desert. Just wait till you see what he picked out for me for next week's Spice... *rolls her eyes*... But don't worry, I'll slip in some vials of sex tea or other such nonsense in the midst of his picks... it should be very entertaining.

Obviously since I was only allowed to make an entree with the nutmeg my choices were fairly limited. But thanks to the search by ingredient tool on Recipezarr.com I was able to come up with something that sounded really goood... and got a bunch of other ideas for future meals too!

I ended up picking Fake-baked Ziti! I know... YUM!!!

So first you boil your noodles per package directions.



Then you get some parmigiano-reggiano cheese and some ramano cheese... and try not to drool all over them before you get them out of their packages...



Then you grate each one in your food processor.



Until they each look like this:



Then you start working on the cream sauce. I think there's a fancy name for this type of sauce... bechamelle or something or other... they say it on the Food Network but I have no idea how to spell it.

You melt 2 T of butter and then you add 2 T of flour and stir it constantly for about a minute.



Then you add some salt and pepper and grate in some nutmeg. I probably put in about 1 teaspoon nutmeg total.



Then you pour in 2 cups of milk. And whisk it constantly, you want to make sure you don't have any flour lumps in there.



Keep stirring, eventually it'll come to a simmer, and you'll keep stirring and simmering for another 5 minutes.





Then it's time for the cheese! Be still my beating heart...





Look at how thick and dreamy it gets!



Now it's time to put this dish together. Put your noodles in some sort of dish and then pour 2 cups of jarred marinara sauce over the top.



Mix it until the noodles are completely covered.



And then pour the cream sauce over the top..... oooooh baby!



Then if you're smart you'll buy one of those big balls of fresh mozzarella cheese, if you're not, you'll buy small ones like me. Either way, slice them and put them all over the top.





Toss it under the broiler for about 3-5 minutes...



We pretty much died and went to heaven when we tasted this for the first time... and then we revived ourselves to proclaim how amazing it was.. and then we died again and again.. totally delicious!

You actually CAN taste the nutmeg in this dish, and it's basically a hint of "Hm... what's in this sauce?"

We're thinking that next time we make this we'll use 1/2 as much noodles and use the same amount of sauce, but we're huge sauce fans in this house.

The girls really liked it too.





For the complete recipe including a printable format click HERE.


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