Taco Pasta

I my quest for recipes that use tomato paste, I came across this meal on the $5 Dinner Mom blog. I changed several things based on what I had in my pantry and my personal tastes. If you'd like to see the original recipe, go here. It got rave reviews from the men in our house, which means it's a keeper. :-)

TACO PASTA

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef (I used precooked hamburger from my freezer)
1- 6 oz. can tomato paste
15 oz. can pinto beans (original recipe calls for kidney beans, I think pinto beans are more "mexican" and it's what I had on hand)
1 pgk. taco seasoning (orginal recipe uses various spices, this was easier for me)
2 cups uncooked rotini pasta (I used whole grain pasta)
1 c. frozen corn (I used the last of a bag of corn I had on hand. You could substitute 1 can of corn)

1-2 cups shredded cheese (optional, I skipped this)

Directions
1. In large skillet, brown ground beef. Drain and return to skillet. Skip this step if you are using pre-cooked hamburger.
2. Add tomato paste plus 2 cans worth of water to the ground beef. Stir until paste becomes tomato-y sauce. Add drained and rinsed beans. Add corn. Add taco seasoning. Stir through and let simmer for 4-5 minutes until hot.
3. Add 2 cups uncooked pasta with 2 cups of water to the meat mixture. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 10-12 minutes, or until pasta has cooked through. Stir a few times while pasta is cooking.
4. Top with cheese if desired.

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

This is another family recipe. I'm sure it originated with an actual recipe from a book, but I believe it's gone through enough adaptions I can call it a family recipe. Growing up my mother refused to purchase and make the box macaroni and cheese. It wasn't until I was a teen and babysitting that I ever tried the "instant" mac. As an adult I've discovered a renewed interest in my mother's recipe and have adapted it a little to suit my family's tastes.


Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:
3 cups of pasta*
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour (not whole wheat)
1 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 lb cheese (shredded)**
1 cup sour cream (use light sour cream for less fat)
bread crumbs (optional)***

* My mother always used whole wheat elbow macaroni. I've expanded to try other cuts of pasta including spiral, small shell and as pictured here gemelli.

** My mother always used sharp cheddar cheese. I've expanded to use 1/2lb cheddar and 1/4lb Gouda. The Gouda cheese adds some color and makes the dish a little cheesier/gooier. I love it. Like the pasta in this dish the types of cheese you use can change around the taste and make it seem different each time you serve.

*** My mother always made her own breadcrumbs. I often take the easy way out and use store bought crumbs. Plain is preferred over the Italian.

Directions:
1. Cook pasta.
2. Meanwhile mix together ingredients 2-6 (milk, flour, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt) in a microwavable bowl or measuring cup, leave room for liquid to expand.
3. Microwave/cook until thickened. (!!) Warning: Keep an eye on this container while it cooks. It tends to thicken suddenly and boil over if not stopped in time. (!!)
4. Add shredded cheese to sauce and mix until cheese melts.
5. Stir in sour cream.
6. Stir in pasta.
7. Pour into a microwavable/oven safe container.
7. Cover and microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes to heat thoroughly.
8. (Optional) Top with bread crumbs.
9. Put under oven broiler for a couple minutes until bread crumbs or top is lightly browned.

Great served with a garden salad as a side.

Pasta Fresca

Nathan and I love eating at Noodles & Co. Our favorite dish is the Pasta Fresca. We figured we could easily make this dish at home so Nathan found a recipe. We've further refined it to match the dish at Noodles. This can be a vegetarian or add meat.


PASTA FRESCA
Serves 2

Sauté Instructions: In a very hot sauté pan, add:2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 1/2 cups pre-cooked penne pasta, 1/4 c. (I just throw in however much looks good) thin wedges red onions, 2 shakes of kosher salt & cracked pepper. Sear noodles, stirring occasionally until steaming hot.

Add: 1-2 roma tomatoes cut into wedges, 1 oz. baby fresh spinach, 1 oz. fresca sauce (recipe below). Again, I just add tomato and spinach until it looks right. NOTE: add tomato near the very end or your tomato will end up pretty mashed up. Toss to combine.

Serve with freshly shaved parmesan cheese or feta cheese. Top with grilled or breaded chicken, beef or shrimp. Nathan likes parmesan breaded chicken and feta cheese on his. I like grilled chicken and fresh parmesan on mine. Personalize to your tastes. Enjoy!


FRESCA SAUCE:(for 2-3 batches depending on how much you use)
NOTES: I minced my own fresh garlic and found that I could use WAY less than called for. Keep extra sauce in a jar in your fridge for next time or make less sauce.

1/4 cup fresh garlic
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sweet white wine
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix well.

Cheesy Stuffed Shells

I used to get Kraft Kitchens magazine when it was free. It was full of quick and simple recipes that used an awful lot of Kraft products, but many were easily modified to make great dinners and desserts. And of course, I didn't always use Kraft products!

This recipe is probably our favorite from the magazine. My carnivorous husband loves it, and I think you could add either some cooked Italian sausage to the cheese mix, tuck a meatball in each shell, or just serve it as a side with a grilled steak or chicken. But it is also great on its own!

Easy Cheesy Stuffed Shells

Prep time - 30 min - Total time - 60 min
Makes 5 servings

Ingredients:
1 container (16 oz.) 2% Milkfat Low Fat Cottage Cheese
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained (I use a bag of fresh spinach)
2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked, drained
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce

DIRECTIONS

HEAT oven to 400°F. Mix cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and seasoning; spoon into shells.

SPOON half the sauce into 13x9-inch baking dish. Add filled shells; top with remaining sauce and remaining mozzarella (and more Parmesan, if desired - I like it cheesy!).

BAKE uncovered 25 min. or until heated through.

Make Ahead
Assemble recipe as directed. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, bake, covered, at 400°F for 35 min. or until heated through.

Freeze Ahead
Reserve 1 and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella. Assemble recipe as directed, but do not top with the reserved mozzarella. Wrap casserole in foil; freeze. When ready to serve, heat oven to 400°F. Unwrap casserole; cover with foil. Bake 55 min. or until heated through, removing foil after 30 min. Top with reserved mozzarella; bake 10 min. or until melted.

Stuffed Flounder served with Parmesan Noodles and Lemon Parsley Carrots

(This was from last week's menu. I just got a chance to upload the photos.)

Flounder Spinach Roll-Ups

I actually posted this flounder recipe some time ago, but although we love flounder I wasn't too crazy about this particular recipe. I felt it needed some slight alteration when it came to seasoning. This time I added a little more seasoning (salt and pepper) and sauteed the mushrooms and spinach in butter instead of oil. Both of these changes went a long way to improving the dish's taste. We all really enjoyed it this time and I had fun adding some different sides.

Click here for the Flounder Spinach Roll-Ups recipe.

Parmesan Noodles:

1. Cook any type of noodle. I used elbow macaroni for 8 min.

2. Add a little butter and toss with grated Parmesan cheese.

3. Serve with a little cracked black pepper and a dash of salt.

Lemon Parsley Carrots

(Adapted from Better Homes & Garden: New Cookbook, 1953, pg 360)

1. Cook carrots (I used canned, though next time I plan to use fresh). To cook add carrots to a small pan and cook covered in a very small amount of boiling, salted water for 15-25 minutes.

2. Combine 3 TBS butter, 2 TBS chopped parsley, and 1 TBS lemon juice.

3. Drain cooked carrots and toss with the butter/lemon/parsley sauce. Serve hot.

*Note: Butter might be reduced to 2TBS depending on the number of carrots used. Lemon juice could be reduced to 2 tsp for less tartness.

The finished dishes:

Pasta with Rosemary Tomato Sauce

Please excuse the murky photo, I took it with my phone and I thought it was a little clearer.

This recipe, which I call Pasta with Rosemary Tomato Sauce was actually one I discovered while eating breakfast in a restaurant last week. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when one woman at a nearby table started rattling off quick and simple recipes to her friend my ears perked up. The following is my adaptation of what I overheard:

* Boil water for pasta. Any pasta will do, but I used the medium shell pasta and it worked well. (I used half a box, which when mixed with other ingredients was enough for lunch for my husband, daughter and myself and left me with some I could pack for my husband's lunch the next day.) When water is rolling boil cook pasta till al dente (approx 8 minutes).

While water is boiling prepare the sauce:

* Warm deep frying pan and add 1-2TBS of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

* Drop in 1-2 cloves of garlic minced and fresh rosemary (I chopped mine a little). Heat in the pan until the garlic is just browned, not burnt.

* Add 1 can of tomatoes (I used a 14.5 oz can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes from Hunts, but any diced tomato, stewed tomato or even fresh would work. Fresh tomatoes might take longer to cook, so plan accordingly.)

* Simmer sauce on the stove for 15-20 minutes, longer if using fresh tomatoes.

* About 3-5 minutes before the cooking time is up add 1-2 TBS of balsamic vinegar and stir.

* Serve hot over cooked noodles.

* Top with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Options: I had some leftover grilled mild Italian sausage, which I reheated and chopped to put in with the pasta. It was delicious. Leftover grilled chicken or shrimp would work too -- or this could be left as a vegetarian dish by omitting the meat.

This was delicious and was enjoyed by my husband and 3 year-old.

Pad Thai

Nathan randomly picked out this recipe for dinner on Saturday. Low and behold it was easy to make and very yummy! We made it with chicken and shrimp, but I want to try it chicken only and stir fry veggies only. I think any combination of meat and/or veggies would be tasty with the pasta and sauce.

PAD THAI

Serves 4 (or 2 very hungry people!)

INGREDIENTS:
• 1/2 pound uncooked linguine
• 3/4 cup tomato juice
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips/bite size pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound bean sprouts, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions and tops
• 1/2 pound cooked baby shrimp, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• Lime wedges (optional) (I added a dash of lime juice to the sauce instead)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook linguine according to package directions, omitting salt; drain.
2. Combine tomato juice, lite soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and cornstarch.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in hot wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry 1 minute; remove.
4. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in same pan. Add garlic, bean sprouts and green onions; stir-fry 1 minute.
5. Stir in linguine and cook 2 minutes, or until heated through. Return chicken with shrimp, cilantro and tomato juice mixture. Cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens.
6. Serve with lime wedges.

Stuffed Pasta Tip

Tonight I made cheese manicotti. (recipe later) It was a breeze thanks to putting the filling in a large zip loc bag, cutting off one corner and viola! An easy way to squeeze filling into the tubes. I think this idea would probably work well for just about any recipe that calls for stuffing/filling pasta.

Easy Stuffed Shells

The other night we had company for dinner and I wanted a tasty, but not ordinary meal. I settled upon Stuffed Shells. There are dozens of recipes out there varying from meatless stuffed shells, veggie stuffed shells or meat/sausage stuffed shells. I found one that sounded good on AllRecipes.com and it turned out very delicious!

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Stuffed Shells III

Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan, smothered in a mushroom tomato sauce and baked.

Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Yields: 10 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
2 eggs, beaten
1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. In a large bowl, mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined.
4. Stuff cooked shells with ricotta mixture and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
5. In a medium bowl, stir together pasta sauce, mushrooms and reserved mozzarella and Parmesan. Pour over stuffed shells.
6. Bake in preheated oven 45 to 60 minutes, until edges are bubbly and shells are slightly set.

*You could also add spinach if you were looking for something more than cheese, or for the meat eaters try Italian sausage or ground beef in with the tomato sauce. Mushrooms add great taste, but can be omitted for those with allergies.

**I read in a magazine that you can cut prep time by pre-stuffing uncooked noodles and letting them sit over night. This was recommended for Manicotti. I tried this with my stuffed shells, it worked for the most part, however some of the shells weren't open at all, unless cooked, so I couldn't stuff about 4 from the box. It was ok, there was still plenty to go around for dinner and leftovers.

I started by putting a little tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan then laying the stuffed uncooked shells on top and topping with the tomato-mushroom mixture. Next, I added a little bit of water before cooking and baked with a foil cover for 45-50 minutes. The last 10-15 minutes I cooked without the foil cover. They turned out PERFECT!

***You can click on the above link to go to the AllRecipes.com site where this recipe is located. There you can email it or print it as a full page or partial page recipe card.

Pasta with Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Sauce

This is a very tasty dish and it makes yummy leftovers. We don't like mushrooms so I included them here but I leave them out. Oh, and when having the Mehrens over (which I'm sure you ALL do,) leave a little set aside for Nathan without the onions.

1 lb pennette (small penne) or other small pasta
1 T olive oil
5 C thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 3/4 lb whole mushrooms)
4 C vertically sliced onions (I never quite make it to this much--I'm crying at 2 cups)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T chopped fresh sage (you could use dried too)
1 12-oz can evaporated milk
1-1/2 T cornstarch
1-1/2 T cold water
1/2 C crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 C canned pumpkin
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/8 t nutmeg

Cook pasta according to pasta directions, omitting any salt and fat. Keep warm.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic; cover and cook 3 minutes. Uncover, cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
Combine chopped sage and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Combine cornstarch and water, stirring iwth a whisk. Add cornstarch mixture and cheese to milk mixture, stirring with a whisk. Cook 2 minutes or until thick and smooth, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in pumpkin, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Mix all three things (onion mixture, pasta and pumpkin mixture) together. Toss well to combine. Garnish with fresh sage sprigs, if you would like.

Tortellini Salad

While rummaging through my cookbooks for an idea for what to take to our church dinner yesterday I rediscovered this recipe. It is very simple to fix. I know this is the wrong time of year to mention this, but I especially like this as a simple dinner on a hot summer day.

Tortellini Salad

1 pkg. (8 oz. usually) frozen cheese tortellini
1 cucumber, chopped
2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped
several green onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup Italian dressing

Note: I take the veggie amounts as a guideline and sort of eyeball it until I think I have enough to balance out the pasta. You could be creative and add other veggies as well.

Cook cheese tortellini according to directions on the package. When finished cooking rinse with cold water. In separate bowl, toss veggies and dressing. Add tortellini last. Gently mix. Serve immediately or chilled.

~Alison

Chicken Tetrazzini

I know, I know, a chicken recipe from a vegetarian. However, this recipe is easy for a vegetarian to make and it is divided into two casserole dishes. So I make it when someone has a baby or is sick and then have one left for my husband.

1 T butter
Cooking spray
1 C finely chopped onion
2/3 C finely chopped celery
1 t black pepper
3/4 t salt
3 (8 oz) packages presliced mushrooms (we leave these out)
1/2 C dry sherry (or dry white wine)
2/3 C flour
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
2 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 C cream cheese
7 C hot cooked pasta (about 1 lb uncooked)
4 C chopped chicken breast (about 1 1/2 lb)
1 slice bread

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in a large stockpot coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, mushrooms, pepper, and salt and saute 4 min. or until mushrooms are tender. Add sherry; cook 1 minute. Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup; level with a knife. Gradually add flour to pan; cook 3 min., stirring constantly (mixture will be thick) with a whisk. Gradually add broth; stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add 1 3/4 C Parmesan and cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until cream cheese melts. Add the pasta and chicken, and stir until blended. Divide the pasta mixture between 2 (8-in square) baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Place bread in food processor, pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Combine breadcrumbs, remaining Parmesan (1/2 C); sprinkle evenly over pasta mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; let stand 15 minutes.

To freeze unbaked casserole: Prepare until baking instructions. Cool completely in refrigerator. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months.

To prepare frozen casserole: Thaw casserole completely in refrigerator (about 24 hours). Preheat oven to 350. Remove foil; reserve foil. Remove plastic wrap and discard. Cover casserole with foil, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional hour or until golden and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes.

Amazing Alfredo

Quick, easy, cheap, and most of all delicious - the secret is cream cheese!

1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cups milk
6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve. (Usually we add grilled chicken too, because Kevin is such a carnivore.)