Emeril's Potluck

Two weeks ago we had game night with my grown children and their significant others (also considered my children) Steph and Alex, and Nick and Steph.  Yes, my daughter's name is Steph and my son's girlfriend's name is Steph.  Alex said he is going to change his name to Nick, which would definitely make it easier for everyone.

And by game night I mean the most inappropriate games ever to play with your kids.  So far we have played Disturbed Friends, Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens  On the agenda for this game night was What Do You Meme which is similar to Cards Against Humanity and just as awkward and hilarious, if not worse.

For each event so far,  RJ and I have been cooking something good.  We have made his mom's lasagna, short ribs in the crock pot, and for this evening I decided on Penne A La Vodka Casserole from Emeril's Potluck cookbook.  I have always loved Emeril, I met him in 1998.  He came to the local BJ's to sign his book Emeril's TV Dinners, and Steph and I waited in line for 4 hours. He was only supposed to be there for 2 but he stayed for the entire 4 so that everyone could meet him. The autograph says "Sherry Bam, Emeril."

Emeril's Potluck

Game night was on a Friday, so I needed to assemble on Thursday night to put it in the oven Friday.  I purchased all of my ingredients from the the grocery store a few days earlier, all easy to find. The recipe uses hot and sweet Italian sausage, but I only used sweet because I wasn't sure if anyone liked hot except me. The recipe also uses onions, fresh basil, Emeril's original essence, lots of garlic and crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, penne pasta, ricotta, grated parmesan, mozzarella and of course the vodka.  I have a thing for vodka.  Love.it.so.much.  You can make it taste like anything, mango, pear, cherry, vanilla, and in this case garlic, tomatoes and cheesy goodness!

I followed Emeril's recipe, and it was so easy.  Slice the sausage and onions, cook until browned.  You mix the ricotta into the pasta, instead of layering it like you normally do.  I really like how that turned out, very cheesy.  RJ doesn't like ricotta, I'm not sure if he even knew it was in there.  I used the Rachael Ray lasagna pan I gave him for his birthday.  All the cookware I have, and I didn't have anything big enough for lasagna, and he has made his mom's lasagna at least twice.  Zero times since I gave him that pan,  but I'll keep it safe with my cookware collection until he needs it.

Everyone loved the chunks of sausage, it seemed to be a big hit.  It was a little crispier around the edges than I would have liked but my oven is a jerk. Not too much left over though, which is always a good sign.  It was very garlicky, and the vodka sauce was absolutely fantastic.  Game night and Penne A La Vodka was a success!!