Layered Pasta Casserole Dinner

Make weeknight dinner fast and easy. Here's a main course recipe and three suggestions for rounding it out into a complete meal. Find out how to effortlessly dress up starters, sides, and desserts to fit the meal's main course.

By Fraya Berg

The Menu

Eight-Layer Casserole (see recipe below)
Crudites and Pepper Dip
Broccoli and Walnuts
Chocolate-Dipped Ice Cream Balls

Eight-Layer Casserole cooks in the oven while you can have family time enjoying Crudites and Pepper Dip. Plus you'll have time to make the Chocolate-Dipped Ice Cream Balls and put them back in the freezer. When the casserole is ready, serve it with Broccoli and Walnuts. Magic Shell chocolate freezes on contact with ice cream to form a hard shell. Look for it near the chocolate syrup in the ice cream aisle.

Eight-Layer Casserole

Eight-Layer Casserole recipe >>

Crudites and Pepper Dip

Mix together equal parts reduced-fat sour cream and black pepper cream cheese (such as Boursin). Use as a dip for fresh veggies.

Broccoli and Walnuts

Steam broccoli and toss with butter and chopped walnuts.

Chocolate-Dipped Ice Cream Balls

Using a small ice cream scoop, make balls of ice cream; place on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet and re-freeze. Pour a container of chocolate Magic Shell into a bowl. Dip frozen balls of ice cream into Magic Shell to coat, then re-freeze before serving.