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!

Pasta Pasta

I love making pasta salad. It goes great with sandwiches and is super easy to whip up for a party or BBQ. I promise you will love this one and you can even add in your own touches.

Shopping List:
1 box Pasta ( I usually use the little twisty kind, but used penne in this)
1 cucumber, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 package imitation crab meat, chopped
Shredded Cheese
Bacon Bits
1 cup mayonnaise (go a little lighter here for a less tangy salad)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Italian dressing

Directions:
-Cook pasta to al dente according to directions on box. Drain, and rinse with cold water.  Store in fridge until ready. Add all toppings to the pasta and combine.
-In a small bowl. combine the mayo, sour cream, and Italian dressing.
-Pour dressing over salad and mix well.  (Start with about half of dressing and add more as needed. )
-Store in fridge until ready to serve.

The pasta and toppings

The dressing mix

Finished Pasta



We eat most of the same things in our house so it is all good to mix everything together ahead of time.  If you have some picky eaters, just mix the sauce with the pasta only and set up a 'create your own salad' bar so everyone can add exactly what they want.  In the past, we have also used olives, peppers, shrimp, etc.. so let your imagination run wild.

Happy Eating

Super Simple

One of my favorite simple meals growing up was Goulash. It has now become one of my husband's favorites as well. And when I say simple, I mean simple. Also, sorry for the crazy layout, the blog program seemed to be on the fritz, and I didn't feel like messing with it today.

The Ingredients:

Shopping List: 1 box elbow macaroni 1 lb. ground beef 1 can tomato soup 1 can corn, drained 1 tsp. sugar Salt to taste

Directions: -Cook pasta according to directions on box (we usually use 1/2 - 3/4 of the box and always have way too much left over for the two of us). Drain. -Meanwhile, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain off excess grease if needed. -In a large pan (your pasta pan will work well for this) combine all of the ingredients (beef, pasta, corn, soup, sugar, salt). Stir and heat over medium until well combined and piping hot. -Enjoy!

The Goulash

There aren't really mess ups with this dish because I've made it so many times. I guess you could add other things to it if you wanted, but it seems to work perfectly the way it is. Straight, simple, and to the point.

Happy Eating

Who said lasagna was hard to make?

My mom rarely made real lasagna when I was younger. Most of the time is was small pasta noodles and all the fixin's mixed together into a casserole type dish. It was and is still one of my favorites, but I never understood why we didn't get the original layered stuff. I was always told it was difficult and a hassle.

Well, sorry mom. I wanted some traditional lasagna, so I set out to do it.

The Ingredients:

Shopping List:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey (or beef, but we love ground turkey)
1 28 oz. jar tomato sauce (we got vodka sauce, which is a little creamier)
1 package lasagna noodles
1 container cottage cheese
1 container Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups Mozzarella cheese

Directions:
-Saute onion in oil until transparent. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add tomato sauce and simmer 5-10 minutes.
-Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles according to directions. We like to under cook them just a bit so they soak up some of the tomato sauce while baking. Maybe about 3/4 of the time the box calls for.
-In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, egg, basil, and Parmesan. Set aside.
-Spread a thin layer of meat sauce in the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan. Top with a layer of noodles. Then spread a think layer of cheese mixture on top of the noodles. Lastly, sprinkle a bit of mozzarella cheese. Follow this process of layering until you run out of ingredients. (Usually 3-5 layers). Reserve the bulk of the mozzarella cheese for later.
-Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cover top of lasagna with a decent layer of remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered for another 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 10-15 minutes before cutting.

The Lasagna

A Giant Slice

As you can see, it came out wonderfully. The pictures don't really do it justice. The best part is that it seems to reheat the next day just as well.

Happy Eating

MMMM... Pasta!

Tortellini with Tomato Cream Sauce

Here is another quick and easy recipe that will feed your entire family!

The Ingredients

Shopping List:

16 oz. package frozen tortellini

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained

1 1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

-In a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the tomatoes, spinach, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes.

-Stir in the whipping cream and cheese. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 8-10 minutes or until thickened.

-Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to directions. I have found that most tortellini calls for 2-3 minutes in boiling water. You will know they are done when they all float to the top of the water! Drain the pasta. Do not rinse.

-Toss the tortellini with the sauce and heat through. At this point we also added some shredded chicken. We also considered adding shrimp! It's all up to you!

The sauce (above) and the finished product (below)!

This pasta ended up tasting great! The only change we might consider for next time is to cut the amount of spinach in half and double the tomatoes. After all, this is called Tortellini with TOMATO cream sauce!

Happy Eating!