Pasta
As you could guess by the title this recipe came about during Halloween due to the amount of garlic in the recipe. It is requested MANY times through the year… not just during Halloween. This week is Robby’s birthday and as you can guess this was his dinner request. I have been making this for a very long time and is always a favorite.
INGREDIENTS
2 whole garlic heads
Olive oil
1 pound Jimmy Dean hot sausage
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
5 cups 1 % milk
1 cup fresh Parmesan
1 cup Gruyere cheese
dash of nutmeg
salt
pepper
1 pound uncooked penne pasta
DIRECTIONS
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the top of the garlic heads off, drizzle with olive oil. Wrap garlic in foil and bake for one hour. Cool ten minutes, separate cloves and squeeze garlic into a small bowl. Set aside. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees
Cook pasta until al dante. Brown sausage in a LARGE saucepan over medium heat, stirring to crumble. Once cooked through. remove sausage from pan and stir in rosemary. In the same pan melt butter over medium heat, add flour to the butter stirring with a whisk. Gradually add the milk whisking until slightly thick. (about 10 minutes). Stir in roasted garlic, cheeses, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix sausage, pasta and cheese sauce together and place in a 13×9 pan and bake for 15 minutes until bubbly.
Take out of oven and let rest for five minutes. The sauce will thicken as it sits.
Enjoy!
As those of you that know us , you know that Jim does not cook very often, but I have to tell you when he does it is ALWAYS delicious! This particular recipe is his own recipe that he adapted from HIS Mom’s recipe! We all love this recipe, although it does take most of the day and does have a number of ingredients. I can promise you not only will your house smell soooo good all day long I also know that you will enjoy it and an added bonus… it feeds a crowd!
INGREDIENTS for sausage and sauce
6 hot sausage links
6 sweet sausage links
2 cans (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 cans (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 small onion, diced
1 green bell pepper , diced
3 ounces of white wine (any kind YOU like)
2 cloves crushed garlic
Salt
Pepper
12 ounces of water
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon parsley
INGREDIENTS for meatballs
1 1/2 pound 85% ground beef
1 egg
1/8 cup of milk (we use 1%)
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 tablespoon of the spaghetti sauce
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon parsley
Pinch of rosemary
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound of thin spaghetti (boiled for 9 minutes). In a LARGE saucepan start by browning the sausage links. Remove links from pan. Using the same pan, add the diced, onions, peppers and the crushed garlic cloves along with the wine, salt and pepper. When the onions and peppers are soft, add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, basil, oregano, parsley,and sugar. Bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Turn heat down to a simmer. Add the sausages back into the saucepan with the sauce.
While tomato sauce simmers it is time to make the meatballs. Mix ALL of the meatball ingredients together. Roll into any size meatball you like and add the meatballs into the sauce and simmer for three hours.
Enjoy!
I just LOVE Pinterest…don’t you?! This is a recipe I recently pinned and thought it would go great with my Sweet Summer Shrimp recipe and YUP , it was terrific! This is a keeper!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup orzo pasta
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons milk (I used 1%)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt. Add orzo to boiling water , stirring occasionally until cooked through but still firm to the bite. Drain. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, cook and stir in garlic until lightly browned about 5 minutes. Stir orzo into butter mixture and add Parmesan cheese, milk, pepper and parsley. Mix until combined.
Enjoy!
This is another Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) recipe with just a couple slight changes. One change is that I dislike mushrooms, you will not find mushrooms in my mac and cheese. The second change is that I do not add Fontina cheese but instead up the amount of Gruyere cheese, as I love the nutty flavor the Gruyere gives. The rest of the recipe is the same. I also used only one pound of macaroni instead of 1 1/2 pounds.
To make this recipe a little easier I usually cook my bacon and caramelize the onions one day in advance.
INGREDIENTS
Salt
Pepper
8 slices thick cut bacon (cooked and chopped)
2 whole onions (peeled, halved and thinly sliced)
5 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
4 ounces goat cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk (I use 1%- it worked just fine)
1/2 cup half and half
2 whole eggs, beaten
4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola
DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet over medium low heat, sauté onions in one tablespoon of butter, stirring occasionally until golden brown. This takes some time…don’t rush, you really want the onions to caramelize. Grate the Parmesan cheese and Gruyere cheese and unwrap the goat cheese. Cook the macaroni until just under cooked. Drain and set aside.
To make the sauce, Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter into LARGE pot over medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour , whisking to combine. Let the roux cook for a minute or so continually whisking. Pour in the milk, still whisking, cook for 3-5 minutes until thick and bubbly. Add the half and half, 1 teaspoon of salt , plenty of black pepper and stir to combine.
Spoon about 1/4 cup of the hot white sauce into the small bowl with the beaten eggs, stirring with a fork as you drizzle the white sauce in. Once combined pour the mixture into the pot with the white sauce, stirring constantly.
Add the Goat cheese, Parmesan cheese and Gruyere cheese. Stir to melt. Add the cooked Macaroni to the sauce and stir to coat.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. Lay half of the cooked onions on the bottom of the pan, followed by half of the macaroni, half of the Gorgonzola and half of the bacon. Repeat layers, ending with the bacon on top!
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly!
Enjoy!
This recipe is fantastic! I made this for the first time about a week ago and cannot wait to make it again, but the next time I will be making a roasted vegetable version. I think this would be a great summer dish with all of the fresh vegetables out of the garden!
INGREDIENTS
16 oz of bow tie pasta (or any shape you like)
1 stick of unsalted butter
32 oz low sodium chicken broth
2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 cups fresh spinach
olive oil
salt
pepper
Parmesan cheese
2-3 chicken breasts
DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in large stock pot on medium heat. Once the butter is melted continue to cook until it turns a caramel brown color. Add your pasta and cook stirring constantly for one minute. Add chicken broth and stir. Reduce to a simmer, continue on simmer until liquid is absorbed by the pasta, stirring occasionally.
While pasta is simmering in chicken broth add one tablespoon of oil to a large skillet on medium heat. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces season with salt and pepper. Add chicken to skillet and cook until done. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside covering with foil to keep warm. Add tomatoes to the skillet sauté until soft. Add the spinach to the tomatoes and cook until the spinach is wilted. Once the chicken broth is absorbed into the pasta, toss the tomatoes/spinach along with the chicken into the pot, stir to combine. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.
Enjoy!
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