Easy Family Meal Prep Ideas from Pastaria Executive Chef Evy Swoboda
As busy schedules pick back up and the back-to-school season gets underway in St. Louis, having a few reliable meals ready to go can make weekday breakfasts and weeknight dinners a little easier.
Pastaria Executive Chef Evy Swoboda knows a thing or two about feeding a crowd. After years as part of the Niche Food Group family, Chef Evy recently returned to Pastaria in Clayton to lead the kitchen.
At home, her approach to feeding her family is practical: make something delicious, sneak in a few extra vegetables and proteins where she can, and prepare enough to make the busy week a bit easier.
Chef Evy shared two of her go-to family meal prep ideas: protein-packed egg bites for breakfast and a customizable baked pasta for an easy lunch or dinner.
Easy, Protein-Packed Egg Bites
For mornings when getting everyone out the door is the priority, Chef Evy turns to make-ahead egg bites.
“We have a silicone mold that makes 24 at a time, holding one egg each,” Chef Evy says. “Adding the ricotta is an easy way to sneak in extra protein and helps with the custardy texture.”
Chef Evy uses cheddar, bacon or sausage, and spinach, but you can swap in whatever cheese, vegetables or breakfast meats your family prefers.
Chef Evy’s Egg Bites
Ingredients
24 eggs
1 pint ricotta cheese
Cheddar cheese (to taste)
Cooked bacon or sausage
Spinach
Cooking spray
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Blend the eggs and ricotta until combined, then mix in the cheddar cheese, cooked bacon or sausage, and spinach.
Lightly spray a silicone egg mold with cooking spray and divide the mixture evenly among the cups. Place the silicone mold inside a larger baking pan and add approximately one inch of water to the outer pan to create a water bath.
Bake low and slow for approximately 30 minutes, or until the centers of the egg bites are set.
Allow the egg bites to cool before removing them from the mold. Portion into resealable bags or containers and refrigerate until needed. To reheat, microwave for approximately 20 seconds, adding additional time as needed.
Making a bigger batch? The egg bites freeze well, too.
A Freezer-Friendly Baked Pasta for Busy Weeknights
It’s only fitting that Pastaria’s Executive Chef has a pasta dish in the meal-prep rotation. “This is a great frozen meal for lunch or dinner,” Chef Evy says. “You can make it as simple or complex as you would like, but it is less hassle than preparing a lasagna.”
It’s also an easy opportunity to sneak in extra vegetables and protein for kids. Puréed or diced vegetables can simmer directly into a red sauce, while you can swap between ground chicken, beef, pork or sausage depending on taste preferences.
Start by cooking your favorite pasta until al dente. Nearly any pasta shape will work, and Chef Evy suggests using store-bought ravioli when you’re looking to keep things especially simple.
Add the cooked pasta to a freezer-safe baking dish with a little olive oil, then layer with your desired sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers three times. Depending on how many people you’re feeding, the baked pasta can be divided into individual portions or assembled in one large family-style pan.
When dinner time rolls around, cover the dish with foil and bake at 350°F until heated all the way through.
Chef Evy’s Vegetable-Packed Meat Sauce
For her own family, Chef Evy pairs the baked pasta with a hearty red sauce filled with vegetables, ground beef and salsiccia (Italian sausage). Salsiccia also happens to have a special place in Chef Evy’s cooking. The house-made Salsiccia Sausage served at Pastaria is inspired by her husband’s family recipe.
For this family-friendly sauce, she combines the sausage and beef with onion, zucchini and mushrooms before simmering everything with tomato and basil.
Ingredients
1 pound uncased salsiccia (Italian sausage)
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 zucchini, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 large can puréed tomatoes
Fresh basil, to taste
Directions
In a large pan over medium heat, brown the sausage and ground beef, breaking the meat apart as it cooks.
Once the meat is cooked through, add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the zucchini and mushrooms and continue cooking until the vegetables have softened.
Pour in the puréed tomatoes, add fresh basil and allow the sauce to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
To assemble the baked pasta, add a layer of cooked pasta to the bottom of a baking dish, spoon over the sauce and top with mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers three times.
Bake right away or freeze it for one of those nights when cooking dinner from scratch simply isn't in the cards.
