Pasta Fagioli

Thanks again to Pinterest for allowing me to find this wonderful recipe on Our Blissfully Domestic Life blog!  Pasta Fagioli is an Italian soup/stew and it is oh so tasty!  I know it is summer, but it has been cool this week so I decided to give it a try.  The nice part was that I now have two containers of leftovers in my freezer for the next time I want something in a flash!

Shopping List:

1 lb Lean Ground Beef

1 medium Yellow Onion, chopped

2 medium Carrots, chopped

2 stalks of Celery, chopped

2-3 cloves of Garlic, minced

1- 28 oz can of Tomatoes

1- 8 oz can Tomato Sauce

1- 15 oz can Cannelloni Beans, drained 

4 cups Beef Broth

1 & 1/2 cup Elbow Pasta

2 cups of Fresh Spinach (packed)

1 Beef Bouillon Cube (or the equivalent in Granules)

1 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning

4-5 dashed of Hot Sauce (Texas Pete or Tabasco)

Salt & Pepper

Olive oil

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (for topping)

 

Directions:

-Over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until meat is no longer pink and veggies are starting to get tender. Season with salt and pepper.

-Add in the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth(i used bouillon cubes to make my broth), bouillon cube, garlic, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Stir well and turn the heat to low.  Cover.

-Let the soup simmer for as long as you can. (I let mine go for about 2 hours, but this can be as fast a 30 minutes.) Stir occasionally.

-After the tomato sauce has simmered, add the beans and keep on low/covered for 1 more hour (or long enough to heat through if you are in quick mode).

-When you are ready to eat, cook the pasta according to directions in a separate pot.  Add the spinach into the tomato mixture and stir. Add in the hot sauce as well. This does not make it spicy, just a little background flavor!

-When the pasta is finished and drained, you can add it straight to the soup or serve it on the side to be dished into individual soup bowls.  We did ours on the side so the pasta wouldn't get mushy when we froze the leftovers. Top each serving with fresh Parmesan cheese (or the shaker kind if that's all you have on hand) :(

The finished stew



Everything ready to be eaten!



It was a little time consuming, but as I mentioned you can do this in as little as an hour if you choose.  It was a fantastic meal and I can't wait to dig into the leftovers in a few weeks!

Happy Eating!

Philly Cooking Creme

I recently got a coupon for the new Philadelphia brand Cooking Creme.  This is a flavored cream that you can use in a variety of dished (Philly has some awesome recipes on their website for them).  The recipe I chose from the website was the Southwest Pasta Skillet.  It was pretty good so I wanted to share it with you!

Ingredients

 Shopping List:
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 medium onion, chopped (I used onion instead of the green pepper it called for)
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (not in original recipe but who doesn't love them?)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups hot cooked Rotini pasta
1 container Philadelphia Santa Fe Cooking Creme
1 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
-Cook and stir chicken and onion in a large nonstick skillet on medium high heat until chicken is done and onion is soft.  Add corn, beans, tomatoes, and creme.  Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
-Add pasta and 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes until cheese is melted.
-Top with remaining cheese. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand until cheese is melted.

The Veggie/Chicken Mix

The finished pasta!



As you can tell, I took a few liberties with the recipe ( onion instead of pepper and black beans!).  Feel free to do the same when you create your dish!

Happy Eating!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup is a new recipe at our house! We just love the taste of this when we are out to eat, so I decided to create my own version at home. The best part about this recipe? Most of the ingredients are from a can so it is mainly a open, pour, and stir meal!

Please let me know if and when you try this in your own home!

Ingredients

The canned and packaged items

The fresh items

Shopping List

1 medium onion, diced
1 orange sweet pepper, diced

2 Tbsp. butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of potato soup

1 can chicken broth

1 can Rotel tomatoes and chillies, with juice

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1/2 packet taco seasoning

1/2 packet chili seasoning

1 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Tortilla Chips

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions

-Saute onion, pepper, garlic, and butter in a large pan until tender.

-Add soups and broth to onion mixture. Stir well.

-Add Rotel, corn, beans, and chicken; stir and let heat through

-Add taco and chili seasoning with 1 cup of milk. More or less milk can be used according to desired thickness. Add sour cream and heat through; stirring often.

-Spoon into individual bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

We ate our soup with a tasty grilled cheese (with turkey). Please be warned, this recipe make enough to feed an army (about 8 large bowls). We like to freeze the leftover soup in separate containers so we have a few quick meals at our fingertips later on!

I also did a little calculating because I really wanted to know how good (or bad) this soup is for you. With all of its cheesy, creamy, rich goodness I must admit I was a little afraid. However, with a serving size of 2 large ladles it only worked out to be 475 calories! I may have done a small happy dance at that revelation.

So there you have it. The first recipe of what I hope is many to come.

Happy Eating!