Pesto and Sundried Tomato Torteillini with Sausage

 

Pesto & Sundried Tomato Tortellini with Sausage

Wednesday for me is always a day that I have to think of something quick and easy to make for dinner because we have church on Wednesday nights.  This morning I was reading through my usual food blogs and found a post from Stacey Snacks that gave me the perfect solution to my problem, and it had my favorite kind of pasta….tortellini!  I absolutely love tortellini!  First because it is a stuffed pasta and who doesn’t like stuffed pasta?  Second I love how it holds the sauce in all of its nooks and crannies.  So I took this quick fix and made it my own.  I had to put some kind of meat chunks in it or my Hubby would have been “Where’s the meat?”.  This is a great idea if you need something quick.

Pesto & Sun dried Tomato Tortellini w/ Sausage

• 2 cups of frozen tortellini
• 2 links of mild italian sausage, sliced
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• 1 hand full of pine nuts
• 1/3 cup of already made pesto sauce
• 1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• olive oi

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray cookie sheet with olive oil spray and spread the pine nuts on it.  Toast in oven. (I don’t remember how long I toasted them, so keep and I eye on them)

Put a pot of water to boil.  Once it begins to boil drop in the tortellini and peas.  When everything floats to the top it is done.

While water is heating, heat a saute pan with some olive oil. Mince onion and garlic in a small food processor, saute until tender.  Add in the sausage and cook till done, about 5 minutes.

Once pasta, peas, nuts and sausage is done toss in a large bowl with pesto sauce and sun-dried tomatoes. Dinner is done!

Quick and Easy Gumbo

Quick and Easy Gumbo

I don’t know if you are a fan of Top Chef but I am a fanatic!  This past episode was in New Orelean, and of course creole was the theme.  By the way I was really sad to see Fabio go, I would have preferred Stephan to go home.  He is a butt!  Anyway, watching everyone make gumbo made me want to make gumbo.  Now of course gumbo can be a long process because you have to prepare the roux, which I didn’t have time to do.  If you don’t know what roux is it is a mixture of flour and a fat like butter  that is cooked until brown, for gumbo it is cooked until a dark brown. 

This isn’t an authentic recipe and it probably wouldn’t have gotten to the finale on Top Chef, but it was still very tasty.  One day I will put more effort into it and make a roux. 

Quick and Easy Gumbo

• 1 Green Pepper chopped
• 1 Red Pepper chopped
• 1/2 Onion diced
• 2 Cloves of Garlic minced
• 1 stalk of celery chopped
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups of Chicken Stock
• 1 Can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 lb of diced chicken breast or thighs
• 1/2 raw shrimp ( use medium or large)
• 1/2 a link of Kielbasa sausage
• 1/2 cup of long grain rice
• 1/8 tsp of Cayenne Pepper (feel free to add more if you like more heat)

In a large skillet nonstick sauce pan over medium heat, heat the oil.  Saute the peppers, celery, onion and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, stock, thyme, bay leaf and cayenne pepper, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 15 minutes.

Stir in the rice and simmer, covered for about 15 minutes.  Add the shrimp, chicken and sausage; simmer covered until shrimp is pink, chicken it cooked through and the rice is tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove bay leaf and serve hot.

This is a healthy and filling meal.

First Time Quiche

 

My Quiche

Today I made a quiche for the first time.  I didn’t really follow any recipe in particular, I just looked an several different recipes and got the gist of what goes in a quiche.  I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to put together, which was great because I had a lot to do around the house today.  Tomorrow Hubby’s bosses will be coming over for dinner so I was doing a lot of cleaning to do. 

Anyway I was pleased with the result although I found it to be a little wet, I think it needed another egg.  It was great to do because I was able to use up some veggies that I had left over and needed to be used before they went bad.  I used,onion, garlic, eggplant, zucchini and just a little bit of red and green peppers. And since Hubby requires every meal to have some meat I put some turkey sausage in too. 

My Quiche:

• 1/2 zucchini thinly sliced
• 1/2 eggplant cubed
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• some diced green & red peppers (I had about a quarter of both)
• 3 turkey sausage links (casing removed)
• 1 cup of cheese (I used a cheddar and monetary jack mix)
• 3 eggs ( I think 4 would have been better)
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 1 pre-made crust

I first sauteed the onions, peppers and garlic in some olive oil. Once those softened a bit I added the eggplant and zucchini, season with salt and pepper. 

A Piece of my Quiche

While that sauteed in another pan I cooked the sausage and broke it up.  When the sausage was done I added it to the veggies. 

In a bowl I combined the milk, eggs and cheese and whisked it together.   When well mixed, add sausage and veggies into bowl and mix. 

Pour mixture into crust and bake for 40 mins at 350 degrees.  The zucchini seemed to float to the top, I arranged them.

Hubby actuallly enjoyed the dish and I was quite filling. 

Be sure to come back.  I will be posting what I made for our little dinner party with Hubby’s bosses.  I am planning on a down home menu, arroz con gandules, pollo asado & amarillos.  For dessert I will do my Tres Leches again with coffee.  YUMMY!

Chunky Tomato and Sausage Angel Hair Pasta

Chunky Tomato Angel Hair Pasta

Today I was a little blank as to what to make for dinner and I didn’t feel like standing over the stove too long. Usually when I am feeling a little lazy, I whip up some kind of pasta.  I stayed true to my M.O. 

I grabbed a bunch of veggies out of the frige, roma tomatoes, zucchini, onions, garlic and red & green peppers.  I sliced them all and cut the tomatoes in wedges. 

I then got some fresh basil and oregano from my herb garden, chopped it up and sprinkled it over the veggies.  I am usually heavy on the basil.

I tossed everything with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (I seem to be on a balsamic vinegar kick lately) salt & pepper.  

Divide the oven in 3rds with the racks.  Put the mix on a baking sheet and place in the oven at 375 for about 50 mins.  Start on the top rack, half-way through moved to bottom rack.  

When it was almost done roasting I boiled some angel hair and took 3 links of sweet sausage out of their casing and broke them up in a deep pan.  Once the veggies were ready I put them in with the sausage and let it simmer. I was pleased with the result.

Severe sauce over angel hair or mix it together, it is up to you.  If you want a straight up tomato sauce, toss the veggies in a food processor and blend.  It makes a great pizza sauce. I got 4 portions.

Here is a breakdown:

5 Roma tomatoes cut in wedges

1/2 zucchini

1/2 green pepper

1/2 red pepper

1/2 onion in wedges

3 cloves of garlic sliced

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

fresh basil & oregano

salt & pepper

angel hair pasta

I Never Would Have Thought! Butternut Squash+Sausage+Pasta = Yum!

Autumn Pasta

Today I tried a new recipe that I got from a fellow Foodbuzzer Stacey Snacks.  It looked so good I just had to try it and it was simple to make.  The only thing I didn’t have and had never cooked with was Butternut Squash, so I ran down to the produce stand down the street and picked one up.  Mind you I can never go to this stand without walking out with like 3 bags of produce.  Anyway back to the pasta. 

It was fun to do and filled my kitchen with new smells.  The smell of the sage was just cozy.  I have eaten one bowl and I am trying to refrain from eating more so I have some of lunch tomorrow.  I recommend you try it out.  Here is her recipe below, I have also linked to it. 

Penne w/ Butternut Squash, Sausage & Sage:

~ 1 butternut squash, cut into 1″ pieces
~ 2 Italian sausages (you can use hot or sweet), casings removed (I used 3 turkey sweet sausages)
~ 2 cloves garlic, chopped
~ 3 tbsp of chopped, fresh sage leaves
~ 1 1/4 cups of chicken stock
~ 1/4 cup white wine (use red because I had no white)
~ 8 oz. of penne pasta (half a box or bag)

(I used wheat penne pasta)

Butternut Squash Simmer

 

 

  

 

In a heavy skillet, coat your pan w/ olive oil. Cook butternut squash on high, not moving around too much, until the edges caramelize. About 5 minutes or so. Remove from pan. Now, add your sausage, and break it up in the pan. After that is browned, about 5 minutes, add your garlic, chopped sage and white wine and simmer for 3 minutes until liquid is evaporated.

Add your chicken stock and butternut squash and simmer 10 minutes, until squash is tender.
While sauce is simmering, boil your pasta in salted water and drain.
Add your cooked pasta to the sauce.