Sunday Pasta

1 box farfalle pasta, cooked and drained
1 jar alfredo sauce, add to pasta and warm over medium heat for about 3 minutes

For the picky child eaters, stop there and load up their plates with just that.  :)  Otherwise your picky seven year old son will start bawling and make himself throw up.


In a frying pan with about 1 Tbs. margarine, saute all of the leftover vegetables in your fridge from the previous week with some frozen pre-cooked chicken.  We like to saute together:

1/2 onion, diced
handful mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tomato, diced
pre-cooked frozen chicken breasts, diced

I served with asparagus with creamy herb dressing, and garlic toast for a super quick meal.

Pasta with Caramelized Onions

1. Caramelize 2 lbs. sweet onions (vidalia is a favorite of mine), remove from skillet, set aside.  (Tutorial for caramelizing onions is HERE.)

2.  In skillet, add 8 oz. dry pasta (either angel hair or birds nests).  Cook and stir for 4-6 minutes or until pasta is browned.

3.  Add caramelized onions plus 2 cups of water to skillet.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Cover and cook 5 minutes.  Uncover and cook 5 more minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.  Serve immediately.

You could serve this pasta alone.  I served it tonight alongside ham and a few leftovers sides.

Penne Pasta in Tomato Cream Sauce

My sister posted this one yesterday over on her recipe blog (Heather's Happy Haven), and it looked so

easy and good.

I love easy and good recipes.

And this one totally fit that description.

We had a super busy day running around playing catch up from the weekend, and taxi-ing the kids to their activities.  Happily, I was able to swing by the grocery store and pick up the ingredients for this on the way home.  I also picked up a bag of salad, pre-made garlic bread that only had to be warmed in the oven, and some frozen mozzarella sticks, and dinner was on the table 20 minutes after I got home.  I love that!

Ingredients:

8 oz penne pasta
1 can Del Monte diced tomatoes with Garlic and Onion
1/2 cup fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried
3/4 cup cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and keep warm. Cook tomatoes over medium-high heat in a skillet until thickened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat, add basil and cream. Heat thoroughly. DO NOT BOIL. Toss with pasta and cheese. Serve.

(Tip: Do not substitute with half n half, use whole cream) The consistency changes with the half n half.
 
***When I made this I doubled all of the ingredients except for the tomatoes (none of my children will eat them) and used Del Monte diced italian tomatoes with garlic instead because that's all I saw at the store.  They tasted just fine with it.

Thanks Sis!


**Incidentally, Giada from the Food Network made a similar dish, but added shrimp.  If I weren't allergic, I think I would for sure try making it that way.  But for the rest of you shrimp lovers, you should check it out here.  It looks good!

Mizithra Cheese Pasta

When my sister was younger, she used to work at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  This worked out nicely for our family, since we love that restaurant.  Our family loves all Italian restaurants in general.

My favorite dish that I always get there is pasta with Mizithra cheese and browned butter.

It's been a while since I've eaten there, and I got a craving, so I decided to make my own version of it.  It turned out really good, but I wish that I had a different cheese grater that would grate finer.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. of your favorite pasta--I bought angel hair, then cooked half of the 1 lb. box
1/2 cube butter or margarine--brown this over medium heat for a few minutes, or until it darkens in color, careful not to burn
1-2 cups grated mizithra cheese--I found this at Smith's Marketplace in their deli section
1-2 cups grated parmesan cheese--I don't know if OSF uses this or not, but my husband loves it so I threw it on as well.  It came grated the size that I wish my mizithra cheese was

The Old Spaghetti Factory spells it "mizithra cheese."  Smith's spells it like this:

I served it alongside my standard spinach salad.  My husband is always so impressed when I make this salad.  He must think I've fussed over it longer than I really have, because honestly it takes me all of 3 minutes to throw this together.

I usually always have a bag of spinach in my fridge, and I ALWAYS have some Brianna's Poppyseed dressing (yes it has to be that brand).  I chop up some strawberries and toss on some sugared almonds from a bag, and that's it!  All pre-made so it's an easy cheater salad.  But we love it and have it all of the time.

Thanks for reminiscing with me about The Old Spaghetti factory.  The kids all liked it--especially my six year old.  I was so impressed that he had 3 helpings of pasta.  I was not as impressed later as I noticed that about half of it was on the floor.  *sigh*  Gotta love those cute little kids.  :)

Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients:

4-5 chicken breasts

garlic powder (or 1 fresh garlic clove, minced)

onion powder

1 can cream of chicken

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 c. parmesan cheese

Saute chicken breasts in garlic and onion powder. When fully cooked, remove and shred, then return to pan. Add cream of chicken, evaporated milk, and parmesan cheese.

Serve over spaghetti.

Olive Garden Alredo Sauce

1 pint heavy cream or half and half
3-4 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. cream cheese
1/2-3/4 c. parmesan cheese
1 tsp. garlic powder

Melt butter and cream cheese in saucepan. Add all other ingredients and simmer on med-low approx. 15 minutes. Add 8 oz. fettucini noodles. (I used angel hair pasta when I cooked it tonight and served it with a green salad and my focaccia bread.

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie (from Kate)

Baked Spaghetti Pie

6 oz. Spaghetti
2 Tbls. Margarine
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 Eggs, well beaten
1 lrg. Container of Cottage Cheese
1 lb. Ground Beef, browned
1 Bottle favorite Spaghetti Sauce
2 Cup. Mozzarella Cheese

Cook Spaghetti according to package. Combine hot drained spaghetti with margarine, parmesan cheese & eggs to form "crust" on bottom of 9x13 dish. Spread cottage cheese over crust. Put ground beef over cottage cheese & pour sauce over ground beef.

Bake uncovered @ 350 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with Mozz. & bake for 5 more minutes.

Ravioli with Pine Nut Sage-butter sauce

1 lb. ravioli with cheese
1 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup pinenuts (could also use walnuts)
1 cup fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 c. chicken or vegetable broth
grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Cook ravioli in slightly salted water, drain. (Once they come to the top, they are pretty much done, about 3 min.)
In a large skillet, heat the butter over med. heat until golden brown. Add garlic and pinenuts. Saute for 1 minute. Stir in the sage leaves, salt, and broth. Cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Stir the ravioli in the sauce, and cook just long enough to heat through. Place on serving platter; sprinkle with cheese and serve at once.

Recipe came from Marguerite Henderson, Thanksgiving Point cooking class "When Company Comes"

Ravioli Casserole

Ravioli Casserole

1 pkg. ravioli
1/2 jar Prego traditional sauce
mozarella cheese
pepperoni

Cook ravioli according to directions on package (use 1 whole package per casserole). Drain, and pour in casserole dish. Mix with 1/2 jar of spagetti sauce (I prefer Prego traditional). Cover with a layer of mozzarella cheese, and a layer of pepperoni. Bake at 350 until cheese melts, about 10-15 minutes. (This picture is before I baked it.) Easy! Easy! This would be a simple one to double and freeze a second one for later.

Chicken in Lemon Cream with Penne

Courtesy of Giada DeLaurentiis, from her new book, Everyday Pasta, with a few minor modifications from fromourkitchentoyours.blogspot.com

1 pound penne pasta

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, diced into 1-inch cubes

1 t. herbes de Provence

pinch of salt, plus 1/2 t.

pinch of pepper, plus 1/4 t.

1 c. chicken broth

2 c. heavy cream

zest of 1 lemon

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cook pasta until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Season the cubed chicken breast with herbes de Provence and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and set aside. (Here, I actually seasoned and baked the chicken ahead of time [to save time], and added the juices from the baked chicken to the finished sauce.)

Pour off any excess oil from the pan. Add the chicken broth to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, using a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the cream, lemon zest, and cayenne. (I let the lemon zest steep in the cream while I cooked the chicken.) Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the pasta, chicken, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper, chopped parsley, and lemon juice. Toss to coat the pasta and chicken with the sauce and serve.