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Pasta Fagioli

November 10, 2011 in pork

My husband has been gone for a couple weeks now and while I’m the first to admit that it pretty much sucks, there are some good points to being alone.

  • My grocery bill is less than half of what it is with him home! I knew he ate a lot but holy cow.
  • I can get up at 4 am and no one yells at me!
  • To go with the above, I can sleep on the couch so that I can get up at 4 am without my children hearing and no one yells at me!
  • I can read all 3 books of The Hunger Games (again) without anyone asking me why I’m reading books meant for teenagers (again).
  • Real Housewives marathons. Enough said.
  • Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches are officially considered dinner.
  • I can make instant coffee and not feel guilty because I know he won’t ask for espresso unless he sees me prepping the machine.
  • There are no PTs to wash every night!
  • I can cook whatever I want, whenever I want! (!!)

And that last one is the reason I made this soup.

I don’t generally like soup as a meal. I mean, I like soup but soup by itself? That’s not a meal! It’s a side dish that needs a sandwich next to it. My husband is the same way so we very rarely ever have soup. But with him gone I decided to take a chance on a soup that I’ve heard such great things about.

Oh my goodness y’all. This is the best soup I’ve ever had! It’s got sausage, beans, and pasta which makes it so hearty and served alongside a roll or 2, this was the perfect meal for a cold night. And the best part is that overnight the pasta absorbed just about all the liquid and it became more of a pasta dish than a soup. Not gonna lie, I had 2 bowls for breakfast.

Pasta Fagioli
5.0 from 1 reviews
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Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, peeled & chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 1 lb hot Italian sausage (casings removed if necessary)
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 -2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
  • 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 – 4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
  • 1 can cannellini beans
  • 1 cup ditalini (or other small pasta)
  • Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat. Add the diced onion and cook until it just begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots; cook, stirring frequently, for another 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  2. Add the sausage to the pot, crumbling as it cooks. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink. Stir in Italian seasoning and red pepper. Stir in tomatoes and stock.
  3. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
  4. Stir in the beans and ditalini. (Add an extra cup of stock or water at this point if it’s boiled down too much.) Simmer for 6- 8 minutes or until pasta is tender.
  5. Serve piping hot with Parmesan cheese. (I really liked the sharpness of the green onions with this as well.)


This post linked to Fusion fridays.

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Gnocchi with Sausage with Spinach

October 12, 2011 in pasta

I try not to take many chances in my cooking. And by that I mean that I don’t make “chick food”. Because my husband is not shy and will tell me when something is not manly enough. I’ve learned through the years that if it doesn’t include a large piece of meat or isn’t covered in cheddar, it’s going to be called girly.

But sometimes a recipe calls to me. Like this one. I pinned it forever ago and every time I go to plan a week of meals, I click through and stare at it. Because gnocchi with a fun sausage (I used sundried tomato) and spinach is the kind of thing my dreams are made of.

So I finally took a chance and made it. Verdict? My husband loved it! He said it was weird but he ate it and then ate leftovers the next day! I loved it, the kids loved it, it was an all around winner.

Another bonus? It took no time at all to come together! The gnocchi only requires a few minutes in boiling water and I used a fully-cooked chicken sausage so all I had to do was brown it. Seriously awesome.

Gnocchi with Sausage with Spinach
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Yield: about 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 package pre-made whole-wheat gnocchi (about 3 cups)
  • 1/4 cup gnocchi cooking water
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 links fully-cooked sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 cups baby spinach
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan
Instructions
  1. Cook gnocchi according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water before draining.
  2. Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until they begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken sausage. Allow the sausage to brown and heat through, stirring occasionally. Add in garlic and baby spinach, toss and continue to cook until spinach is wilted.
  3. Add cooked gnocchi into the skillet with the sausage and spinach, top with the remaining Tablespoon of olive oil and the reserved cooking water. Mix together. Top with Parmesan.


from Iowa Girl Eats

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Brie Stuffed Apples & Holiday Morning Strata

December 6, 2010 in apple, breakfast

I recently joined a couple other bloggers in the Side Car Series over at Kitchen Play. The Side Car Series is a fun project where bloggers all take the same product and come up with different ways to use it. This month is sponsored by Woolwich Dairy Inc. and the theme is holiday!

Woolwich Dairy is a goat dairy so I was stoked when I was asked to participate. I love goat dairy products because they are so much easier on our bodies than cows dairy but also because it’s just plain delicious.

This assignment was right up my alley and I knew almost immediately what I would be making for one of my recipes. I mean, what do you do with brie? You bake it and serve it with apples, of course! But what if you put the brie inside of an apple? Oh yes, I went there. I took big, beautiful Honeycrisp apples and stuffed them with brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and cranberries and then topped them with brie and a drizzle of honey.

The apples turned out so delicious! I was ridiculously excited when I cut into one and a cinnamon-y brown sugar syrup came pouring out. The best part, of course, was how the brie had melted down into everything and became so sweet.

Brie Stuffed Apples
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Ingredients
  • 8 large Honeycrisp apples
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 6.5 ounce round Woolwich Dairy Goat Brie
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 1/2 cups boiling water, for the pan
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Working with 1 apple at a time, take a paring knife and cut 1” circle around the stem of the apple and pop that cut section out. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and core of the apple. Do all 8 apples and place them in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
  3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and cranberries. Stuff the apples with the mixture. The brown sugar is going to become a sweet cinnamon-y syrup in the oven so stuff the animals good or the mixture will sink too much.
  4. Take the round of brie and cut off one side of the rind. Using your fingers pull off small pieces and place them on top of the apples, completely covering the opening. Drizzle the honey over the tops of the stuffed apples.
  5. Add the boiling water to the pan without disturbing the apples and bake 35 – 45 minutes or until apples are tender and slightly wrinkly. Remove from baking pan and serve hot.


The second recipe was a little more difficult for me because I generally don’t eat a lot of cheesy foods around the holidays. A cheesy holiday breakfast recipe though? I can do that!

A strata is great for holiday mornings because you can prepare it the night before and then the next morning all you have to is bake it when your kids are opening presents or looking for reindeer tracks. It’s also great for holiday mornings because you get to say, “Oh honey, I have to work on breakfast” and you can force your significant other to do all the last minute wrapping. That’s my plan at least.

This strata is perfection! The best way to describe it is to say it’s like a savory bread pudding. I loaded it with sausage, onions, and mushrooms and then layered in some Woolwich Dairy Goat Cheddar that became gooey and wonderful in the oven.

Holiday Morning Strata

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 pound breakfast sausage
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 loaf French bread, cubed (about 8 cups)
9 large eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
6.7 package of Woolwich Dairy Goat Cheddar, shredded

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sausage, breaking up sausage with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Once sausage is no longer pink and onions are translucent, transfer the mixture to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain all but about 1 teaspoon of the fat from the skillet. Add mushrooms to the skillet and cook until brown on both sides. Add mushrooms to the sausage mixture.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs until one solid color. Whisk in milk, salt, pepper, and dry mustard.
Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with oil. Add half of the cubed French bread to the baking dish. Top with sausage mixture. Sprinkle evenly with shredded Woolwich Dairy Goat Cheddar. Add the remaining bread cubes to the top. Pour custard over the entire dish and press down with hands or large spoon on the bread gently to make sure everything is coated.
Put the strata in the refrigerator overnight to allow the bread to absorb the egg-mixture. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the dish for 50 – 60 minutes or until the strata is puffed and golden.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I was compensated for creating these recipes but my opinions on the product were not paid for.

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Pizza Spaghetti

September 29, 2010 in pasta, pork

Whenever I make a simple pasta dish like this, I go back and forth on whether to post it. It just seems so… not exciting compared to cupcakes and cookies and bread. But then I remember that through all of last year, my most visited page was a recipe for a very simple, crockpot pasta dish so I guess that means that you guys are on the hunt for quick, easy meals.

This one is really easy. To make it easier, I used a jarred pasta sauce but feel free to use a few cups of your favorite homemade sauce. The meal came together quickly and by the time the spaghetti was done boiling, the meat sauce was done and ready to be stirred in.

My boys all loved it. The 3 of them had it for lunch and then dinner with no complaints. It was a fun twist on spaghetti that I’m sure we’ll be having over and over again.

Pizza Spaghetti
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Ingredients
  • 8 ounces spaghetti
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 (26 ounce) jar Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 small package pepperoni (about 25 slices)
  • 8 ounce package Italian blend shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
  3. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage and onion; crumble sausage and continue to cook until sausage is no longer pink. Add garlic and saute until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add pasta sauce and tomato paste; stir to combine. Add spaghetti. Slice half of pepperoni in half and add to pasta mixture. Stir in half of the cheese. Pour pasta into a large baking dish. Top with the rest of the cheese and pepperoni.
  4. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let cool slightly before serving.


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Rigatoni & Chicken Sausage in Marsala Cream Sauce

April 30, 2010 in pasta

Sometimes I crave weird things. Well, weird for me. Like sausage and caramelized onions. I needed sausage and caramelized onions yesterday. I figured the best way to combine them was in a pasta dish and came up with this beauty.

It was delicious! Amazing even. The cream sauce seemed lighter than it really was because of all the stuff – caramelized onions, mushrooms, chicken sausage, pasta – that it had to cover and the Marsala wine gave it a great depth. My husband and I agreed (which we rarely do) that this is something that I need to make again and again. But next time, I have to make some garlic bread with it!

It seems like there are a lot of steps but if you’re willing to wash more dishes, which I’m not, you could easily cook all the different elements at once to speed to process up. Just make sure you start the pasta first thing so you aren’t standing around waiting for it to cook.

Rigatoni & Chicken Sausage in Marsala Cream Sauce
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Ingredients
  • 1 pound rigatoni
  • 3 teaspoon olive oil, divided
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 pound Italian chicken sausage, cut into bite size pieces
  • 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup Marsala wine
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • Parmesan, grated for serving
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of water up to a boil.
  2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-low heat in a large pan. Add in onion slices and allow to caramelize for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown and soft. If the onions start to burn, turn the heat down to low. Remove onions to plate once caramelized and set aside.
  3. In the same pan, heat another teaspoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until sausage is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
  4. Add rigatoni to the now boiling pot of water. Stir occasionally. Drain when finished and return to large pot.
  5. Using the same pan again, add the final teaspoon of olive oil and heat over medium-low heat. Add in mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and dark brown, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate.
  6. Lower the heat and add Marsala wine. Raise heat to medium-high. Use a wire whisk to deglaze the pan. Allow the wine to reduce for a few minutes and then add the heavy cream. Bring to a boil and let boil for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in onions, chicken sausage, mushrooms, and basil. Pour over pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with grated Parmesan.


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