Tag Archives: pasta

Summer Sausage and Orzo

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 28 August, 2014 None comments

Chicken flavored orzo with summer sausage and fresh vegetables.

The great thing with orzo is not only the incredible taste but the simple fact that it can be cooked in so many ways with numerous ways to flavor it. I absolutely love orzo. Mmmm so delicious and versatile.

This particular night, I cooked the orzo in chicken broth leaving the pasta flavored so beautifully that nothing needed to be added to the pasta; not even butter.

This meal is less than 30 minutes and is a very inexpensive option to serve the family for dinner.

Ingredients:

1 lb kielbasa sausage
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, diced
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
Orzo
1 tbsp Better than bullion chicken flavored
Vegetables of choice

Bring water to a boil, add chicken stock and orzo. Follow package instructions on how long to cook.

Meanwhile, slice sausage, onions and mushrooms. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add in minced garlic. Stir frequently to keep garlic from burning. Roast garlic for 2-3 minutes until fully cooked.

Keep the heat on medium and add in the onions and mushrooms. Continue to saute garlic mixture until onions and mushrooms are nice and tender.

Toss in sausage and heat through.

Serve with vegetables and orzo and enjoy.

Pasta Salad

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 15 August, 2014 1 comments

Traditional pasta salad never gets old. With all the creativity in the world and the delicious salads we all come up with, traditional pasta salad still covers most tables all throughout summer.

We ate this while up visiting my parents a couple weeks ago. My mom is the chef I’ve learned to mimic throughout the years. Her great food, amazing desserts and her love for cooking has been exactly what I’ve tried to emulate throughout my years of successful cooking. Love and food will consume a recipe leaving you with nothing left but greatness.

Here is a great staple pasta salad recipe with the secret sauce of—Cesar Dressing. It really is the secret to cut back on the tang from Italian dressing but not take away from the flavor. Try it out, mmm so delicious!

Ingredients:

1 lb Spiral Pasta
1 can Olives, sliced
Handful Kalamata Olives
1 large Carrot, chopped
1 large Green Pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cup Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium Onion, diced
1/2 cup Italian Dressing
1/2 cup Caesar Salad Dressing

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and let cool.

Meanwhile, while the pasta is cooking, begin to dice and chop all vegetables.

Sprinkle vegetables on top of cold pasta and add dressings.

Mix well while trying not to eat all of the olives. :)

Of course pasta salad is so divine, you could always eat it by itself, but tonight’s menu was Sausage Sandwich with rice.

I must confess, Cesar salad dressing gives the perfect flavor to this salad with a bit of tang from the Italian Dressing. Yummy!!!

Don’t go fancy tonight, make this staple pasta salad before summer ends!

Turkey Mac N’ Cheese

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 29 March, 2014 None comments

Turkey Mac n’ cheese helps add a little protein to the meal. I made this for dinner and love the fact that I can make it early in the day while my son is sleeping and then wait to bake it until we are ready to eat. This is how I try and live my life to avoid the hassle of cooking while my toddler runs rampant all through the kitchen. :)

This is a quick, easy meal that provides the utmost comfort meal in the end. I love comfort food, I love easy cooking, and most of all I LOVE tasty food!

Ingredients:

1 lb elbow macaroni
6 tbsp butter
¼ cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp paprika
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups cubed turkey
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crumbled

Cook the macaroni according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan melt butter.

Stir in flour and whisk until fully smooth. Add salt, pepper, garlic salt and paprika.

Add milk and bring to a boil, cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Mixture will thicken.

Remove from heat and add the cheese and mix well.

Add turkey and mushrooms and mix well.

In a greased baking dish, add noodles. Top with sauce mixture and mix until fully coated.

Sprinkle with crumbled crackers and drizzle with EVOO.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.

Cooper has been devouring this meal as he finally began to eat again. Makes mommy so proud! :)

Seafood Alfredo

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 27 March, 2014 None comments

After our lovely Costco Trip I made a yummy seafood pasta dish for dinner the following night. Boy was it AMAZING! My husband absolutely couldn’t stop talking about it. He loved the white sauce and acted as if I have never made this dish before. I was grateful for his happiness but was beyond concerned why he thought it tasted so much better than previously. (I am choosing to believe it’s because our family has been deprived of good food since I refused to shop until our Costco trip)

So here is the delicious recipe my husband can’t stop talking about:

Ingredients:

1 lb mushrooms, sliced
½ lb asparagus, chopped
½ lb tofu (omit if you do not prefer)
1 lb large shrimp
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 lb linguine pasta
Cream sauce ingredients click on recipe below

For cream Sauce:

Click here for recipe

De-tail the shrimp and cut tofu. Set shrimp aside.

In a large saucepan add mushrooms, asparagus and tofu. Begin cooking on medium heat.

Once they begin to cook, add seasoning and shrimp. Cook until no longer pink.

Remove from heat and add creamy sauce.

Meanwhile cook pasta according to package instructions and toss all together.

Serve with garlic bread and Caesar salad.

Simple White Sauce

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 26 March, 2014 None comments

Simple White Sauce is an easy recipe for any pasta dish you make that deserves a good white creaminess.
I made this tonight and Michael acted as if I’ve never made it before. :) Even after our sweets for the night he couldn’t stop talking about the sauce.
Tonight I made Seafood Alfredo with ceaser salad. It was quite tasty and even Cooper who hasn’t been eating partook in this meal as well. Made my soul happy.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups milk
2 tsp garlic salt
1-2 tsp Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large saucepan add cream cheese and butter and begin to melt on low heat.

Once half melted, add minced garlic.

When fully melted add milk and simmer on low heat, whisking to get any remaining lumps.

Add garlic salt, paprika, salt and pepper.

Mix with any pasta dish and enjoy!

Spaghetti Pie

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 19 February, 2014 None comments

Oh the greatest combination of lasagna and spaghetti all in one yummy dish. My sisters birthday is a week prior to my husbands. We did a joint dinner combing their favorite meals. My sister is a huge lasagna fan but my husbands lasagna recipe is by no means cheap; roughly $50. So, because we did dinner smack dab in the middle of valentines day and Michael’s birthday we decided to go for the more reasonable meal, spaghetti pie. :)

This recipe is quite easy and always a dinner favorite with company.

Ingredients:

6 oz spaghetti
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 well beaten eggs
1-16oz cottage cheese (2 cups)
1 lb ground beef or pork sausage
½ cup onions, chopped
1-8oz can diced tomatoes
1-6oz can tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of garlic
Pinch of parsley
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Stir butter into hot, drained spaghetti. Beat the eggs well and add to pasta with parmesan cheese.

Form spaghetti mixture into 2 pie plates or 1-9×13 greased pans.

Spread cottage cheese on top of pasta.

Meanwhile, cook meat and onions until browned. (I added 1 tbsp of Montreal seasoning as I believe it gives great flavor to meat)

Stir in tomatoes, paste, sugar, oregano, garlic salt and parsley; heat through.

Pour on top of noodles and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

*Make ahead, bake later

**Make ahead and freeze for future use

Mediterranean Pasta

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 15 February, 2014 None comments

Okay, let me start by saying I am not the biggest pasta fan but certain recipes I can’t live without. Although, if you served me pasta I would probably eat it as in my book, you can’t go wrong with carbs. But for some reason it’s not a high priority for me to cook pasta as I would prefer other things first.

With that said I was craving pasta the other night and had no idea what I wanted to make. I normally love Chicken Alfredo but was definitely not in the mood for that dish. I wanted something that was full of rich delicious flavors. Let me say “OH WOW!!!” For some reason this was so satisfying to my soul last night I had two servings!

Mediterranean Pasta

1 lb macaroni pasta
2 chicken thighs (breasts work great too)
¾ cup cherry tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
3 tbsp mushrooms, this helps create the “sauce”
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
½ cup red pepper, chopped
1 can olives, chopped
Sundried tomatoes (Casa Di Oliva is fabulous)
¾ cup artichoke hearts, chopped
Salt and pepper
1-2 cups fresh parmesan cheese
Avocado, diced for topping
Mozzarella cheese for topping

Cook chicken until no longer pink. Chop into small pieces and set aside.

In a large fry pan, add EVOO cherry tomatoes and onions. Cook over medium heat until tomatoes begin to burst.

Once almost all have burst, add butter, mushrooms and peppers.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

Drain pasta. While pasta is still hot place in a large glass serving bowl and add olives, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. I used Casa Di Oliva it’s more a bruschetta mix which is helpful for the sauce.

Add sautéed veggie mix to pasta, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well.

Sprinkle 1-2 cup fresh parmesan cheese on hot pasta and give it a good stir.

When serving sprinkle with freshly grated mozzarella cheese and diced avocados.

Serve with garlic bread an enjoy!

Rigatoni and Portobellos

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 30 November, 2013 None comments

So as I’ve mentioned before, my husband finds a recipe and wont let it rest until he’s filled his belly on it. This happened last week. A co-worker was telling him about this Ahh-mazing, mouth watering pasta dish and of course he gives me the ingredients to rush off to the store and supply the kitchen with these grocery items. After I’ve done so, all week long I hear “when can I make it, when can I make it?” I appointed him to head chef during the weekend as it’s not easy during the work week. He usually arrives home late and by then Cooper needs to get ready for bed. When he cooks on the weekend it gives me a break from kitchen duty and more play time with my little man while daddy is head chef for the evening.

This recipe calls for goat cheese and of all the cheese out there this is probably my least favorite as I think it is an acquired taste. To be painfully honest, I despise goat cheese. I actually LOVE cheese and almost every cheese but for some reason the concept of GOAT cheese kind of freaks me out. What I do know is it has a very strong flavor and because of that, I wasn’t quite sure if I would enjoy this recipe. If I was the one making this dish, I can tell you I am 99% confident that I would have swapped the cheese for a different kind that I like better. BUT to my husbands credit it was delicious and I actually liked it even better the second day. Let’s be honest, if he made it again, YES I would partake because the flavors together were surprisingly spectacular. It must go on record that I will never purchase goat cheese for another recipe apart from this particular one.

If you don’t particularly enjoy the taste or concept of goat cheese, please, please try this recipe as I think you may become a believer as I did…

Ingredients:

2 yellow onions, chopped
1 cup chorizo, chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp EVOO
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

2 lbs Portobello mushrooms
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp EVOO
½ tsp salt
6 tbsp fresh parsley (dried works as well)

8oz crumbled soft goat cheese
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tbsp EVOO

1 ½ lb rigatoni pasta
1 ½ cups pasta water

In a large skillet add chopped onions, chorizo, 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp EVOO. Begin sautéing them and add salt and 1 tsp sugar. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until the onions are well browned and beginning to caramelize, 20-30 minutes. Transfer onion mixture to a bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, stem the mushrooms and chop the stems as well as mushroom caps and use the entire mushroom. In the same skillet, melt 1 tbsp butter and 1tbsp EVOO. Add mushrooms and ½ tsp salt and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally, until tender & browned, about 10 minutes.

Add reserved onions along with parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta; reserve 1 ½ cup pasta water and drain pasta.

In a large bowl, toss rigatoni with reserved pasta water, mushroom mixture, 8 oz goat cheese, 3 tbsp parmesan, and 1 tbsp olive oil. (If the pasta seems dry, add more pasta water)