Sausage, Red Pepper and Broccoli Pasta

While perusing one of my favorite cooking blogs, Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations, I came across this gem. It's a great way to get a good serving of vegetables, something my husband and I fail at a lot. The vegetables were incredibly crisp and brightened up the flavor of the dish.

Ingredients
3/4 lb dry pasta
4-5 medium Italian sausages (your choice hot or sweet)
2 medium or 1 large head of broccoli, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups light cream
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup of white sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a frying pan, cook sausages until brown on all sides. Set aside, slice once cool to handle. Once water has begun to boil, add peppers and broccoli. Cook for 30 seconds and then remove from water. Rinse vegetables to cool. Cook pasta in water until al dente. Drain, do not rinse.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil and butter in a large skillet. Add garlic, cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cook until just golden brown. Add cream, let reduce slight. Remove from heat and add cheeses, whisk until melted.

Mix sauce, pepper, broccoli, pasta and sausage in a large bowl until thoroughly incorporated. Place in an oven safe casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Fontina Mac and Cheese

This is another delicious recipe from Annie's Eats. Normally I adjust the recipe as I go but I didn't really see a need to with this one. The only thing I did change was the shape of the pasta I used. (I used bow ties instead of shells. Really any textured pasta shape will work.)

Ingredients
1 lb. small or medium pasta shells
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded
Salt
Pinch of grated nutmeg
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions just until 1-2 minutes shy of al dente.

Meanwhile, dice 4 tablespoons of the butter and place in a large mixing bowl. Warm the cream in a small saucepan or the microwave. Cover to keep warm.

Once the pasta is cooked, add to the bowl with the butter and toss to coat well. Stir in the warm cream and the Fontina until the cheese starts to melt. Mix in salt to taste, and add the nutmeg.

Pour the mixture into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish. In a small bowl, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Mix in the panko breadcrumbs and shredded Parmesan. Toss with a fork to coat evenly with the butter. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly over the pasta in the baking dish.

Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the topping turns golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Mac n Cheese with Prosciutto and Squash

This dish is what I like to call adult comfort food. It was such a surprise. We found the recipe in an issue of Men's Health magazine. I've never cooked squash so I stuck to the directions in the recipe and the results were fabulous.


Ingredients
1 box of macaroni and cheese
4 oz. of whole milk ricotta cheese
4 oz. of prosciutto, diced
1/2 of squash (I used acorn), cubed
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare macaroni and cheese according to directions on box. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add squash and saute until golden brown and just tender, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel lined plated. Mix ricotta cheese into macaroni. Add sauteed squash and prosciutto. Stir to combine. Pour macaroni into a lightly greased 9 x 9 baking dish. (Optional: you can add breadcrumb to the top of the dish.) Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or until bubbling.

Creamy Tomato Sauce

I was inspired to make a creamy tomato sauce when I saw a similar recipe on Stephanie Cooks. It was super simple and super quick to make and tastes way better than jarred sauce.


Ingredients
10 oz. heavy cream or half and half (I used half and half)
4 oz. tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
fresh chopped basil to taste

Directions
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden brown. Add tomato paste, cream, cheese, oregano and basil. Stir to combine and cook until just heated throughout. Serve over al dente pasta.

Homemade Mac n Cheese

3lbs macaroni (bow ties work best)

8 oz. Fontina Cheese

1lb American Cheese

8 oz. Monterey Jack Cheese

12 oz. White Cheddar Cheese

16 oz. Whole Milk

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. nutmeg

½ cup breadcumbs

2 tbsp. butter (cold)

2 tsp. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 425° F.

Shred all cheeses. You may have to cube the American Cheese. Mix all cheeses together with cornstarch.

In a large pot, heat milk until steaming, being sure to stir frequently to prevent burning. Stir in mustard and nutmeg. Slowly add small amounts of cheese to milk, stirring in figure 8, to avoid cheese from balling. Continue until all the cheese is melted into the milk.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil. Add macaroni. Boil for 3 minutes. Drain. DO NOT RINSE!

Add macaroni to cheese sauce. Pour into large casserole dish.

In a clean bowl, work butter into breadcrumbs until mixture is coarse. Top macaroni with breadcrumbs.

Bake the dish for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown and bubbling. Serve immediately.

**Bacon and/or peas can be added for something extra.

Cold Tortellini Salad

There are hundreds of variations to this recipe. Don’t believe me? Type it into Google and see what you find. I barely follow recipes as it is so I just made up my own for this. This was incredibly easy to make, is packed full of veggies and was the perfect dinner on a hot summer evening.

Ingredients

1.5 to 2 lbs of frozen cheese tortellini

1 orange bell pepper

5 to 6 stalks of asparagus

1/3 of a head of broccoli

5 oz of sharp provolone

5 oz of fresh mozzarella

4 oz. Italian salad dressing (I make my own with Good Seasonings)

Olive oil (optional)

Directions

Fill a large pot 2/3 of the way full with water, salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling add the frozen tortellini and cook according to directions on package (usually 3-5 minutes). Drain the tortellini. Lightly coat the tortellini with olive oil to keep them from sticking together (optional). Place in a bowl and let cool entirely. (I stuck them in the refrigerator and they were completely cool in under an hour.)

(Tim is a good sport and an excellent sous chef.)

Chop 1 inch off the bottom of the asparagus and then cut in half. Steam the asparagus for approximately 5 minutes or until bright green. Let cool entirely. (Again I just stuck them in the refrigerator.)

Chop peppers and broccoli and set aside.

Slice the mozzarella and then quarter.

In a large serving bowl mix tortellini, asparagus, peppers, broccoli and mozzarella. Add salad dressing and mix until all ingredients are coated.

I cubed the sharp provolone and threw it in with the rest of the ingredients, Tim said the flavor was too strong for him in the chunks of cheese and suggested that I make smaller chunks next time. You could do that or you could get a potato peeler and shave the cheese. If you decide to shave the cheese save this step until you’re ready to serve.

Let the pasta and veggies with salad dressing sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Serve cold. We also had bread and butter with the salad.