Bisquick Impossible Quiche

I hope everyone is well and staying safe during these trying times. I’ve been home and “sheltering in place” for almost four months now, and as such, cooking up a storm. The plus side to this pandemic is that I’m eating healthier and cleaner, and less processed foods… for the most part.

I love breakfast, and have been making a lot of quiches, mostly with a homemade hash brown crust, but wanted to try something different, and came across this recipe from Betty Crocker. From my understanding, this recipe goes back to the 70’s, and used to be printed on the boxes of Bisquick. This dish was called “impossible” because it magically made its own crust as it baked, thus not needing to make a separate bottom crust before adding the main ingredients, which are bacon, onion, eggs, milk, cheese, and Bisquick mix. When baking in a hot oven, it transforms into an incredible, thick quiche-like pie with a golden surface. Impossible, one would think?!

This recipe can be made suited to your own preferences, but I’m giving you the original one, and noting the changes I made.

Ingredients

12 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled (I used 8 slices)
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (4 oz) (I used sharp cheddar)
1/3 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup Original Bisquick™ mix
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/8 tsp. pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 400°F. Grease 9-inch glass pie plate. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion into pie plate.
In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients until blended; pour into pie plate.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!

Nutrition Information

Rigatoni Lasagna Pie

One of the things I truly love about Facebook, aside from being able to stay connected to family & friends both near and far, is the food pictures and/or recipes which inspire me to get into the kitchen and try them out. Most recently, a childhood friend posted a photo of her rigatoni pie, and it was seriously so pretty, I had to try to make it for that reason alone (well, it also looked delicious). I searched online and found quite a few recipes, and went with two I wanted to modify. Since I knew this pie was going to be a bit labor-intensive, and in the interest of time, I decided to use store-bought pasta sauce instead of making my own, but by all means, if you make a mean sauce, go ahead and use that. I am thrilled to report that this pie turned out amazing and absolutely scrumptious!

Ingredients

1 lb. rigatoni pasta
1 jar (24 oz.) pasta sauce (I used Bertoli Italian Sausage Garlic & Romano)
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano

Fill up the springform pan with all of your cooked rigatoni

Ricotta cheese mixture ready to pipe into rigatoni

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook until al dente (12 minutes for my pasta). Drain the pasta, rinse in cold water and drain again. Stir in 1 tbsp of the olive oil and set aside. (This keeps the pasta from sticking.)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Gently stir 1 cup of the grated Parmesan cheese into the cooked rigatoni.
Stand the rigatoni up vertically in a greased 9″ springform pan, using the entire pound of cooked pasta.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, and oregano until smooth. Set aside.
Use a pastry bag, or put a zip lock bag inside a tall glass, and fill the bag with the cheese mixture. Close the bag and snip the corner of the bag and pipe a decent amount into each noodle (don’t fill all the way).
After piping the noodles with the cheese mixture, carefully pour about 3/4 of the jar of sauce over the whole top and push down as much as possible. (I wanted to save some sauce to heat up and use later for leftovers.)
Top with the mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
Put the springform pan on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has fully melted.
Remove from the oven and allow it to stand in the springform pan for about 15 minutes. Carefully run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the pie from the pan, then remove the sides.
Slice the pie and garnish with parsley, if desired.

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Lean Crescent Taco Pie

I regularly receive emails from Pillsbury, and after seeing a yummy one for a Crescent Taco Bake, I decided to buy the few (missing) ingredients I needed. I made some modifications, like I normally do, to make this a bit healthier/lighter and added a couple of ingredients I thought would increase the tasty factor; however, you can omit these if you choose. This is a good basic recipe which can be suited to your own preference, if you have a favorite way to make tacos. Feel free to add jalapeños, beans (refried or black), onions, etc.

Ingredients

1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 lb. lean (at least 90%) ground beef
3/4 cup salsa (I use medium heat)
2 tbsp. taco seasoning mix (from 1-oz package)
1/2 can Rotel Mexican Lime & Cilantro (optional)
1 cup light shredded Cheddar cheese
Shredded lettuce, (optional)
Diced tomato, as desired
Black olives, as desired
Avocado slices/cubes (optional)
Greek yogurt (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles. Place in ungreased 9-inch square pan or 10-inch pie plate; press over bottom and up sides to form crust. (I had some overlapping, so removed and threw away some of the dough.)
In 10-inch skillet, cook beef over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in salsa, Rotel (if using) and taco seasoning mix; simmer 5 minutes.
Spoon meat mixture in crust-lined pan; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake 18 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown and cheese is melted.
Serve topped with diced tomato, black olives and lettuce (if desired), and avocado and plain greek yogurt on the side.

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