Bucatini All'Amatriciana

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Giada DeLaurentiis! She is my favorite cook on the Food Network. (Well, she and Paula Deen are tied.) Over the years I have made MANY of Giada's recipes. When I found out that Target was carrying her brand I was so excited! Her pasta recipes always look so fresh and delicious.
One thing I realized when watching her show, however, is that she always cooks with pasta shapes that I cannot find in stores. Now I know that to a lot of people, pasta is pasta. Who cares about the shape, but after two years of searching for Bucatini noodles, I wanted to SCREAM when I found this!It's basically Spaghetti Noodles, only thicker, and with a tunnel down the center of them!
I cannot WAIT TO EAT DINNER! I actually just took the recipe from the back of the box, and followed that with a few minor changes. So here it is:



Bucatini All'Amatriciana

1 lb Bucatini Pasta
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb Peppered Bacon, fried and crumbled (this is different than her recipe, hers calls for 6oz of pancetta, but I used bacon, and a lot of it! This is a mostly meatless pasta but I thought that by adding the bacon I could use it as a main dish.)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 14oz can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

1. To a large, heavy skillet add onion and olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes till tender.

2. Add in garlic, red pepper flakes, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and bacon. Simmer, uncovered, over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until sauce slightly thickens.
3. Cook pasta according to directions and toss with sauce.

4. Stir in cheese, and serve! Garnish with additional grated cheese.

Chicken Sausage with Pesto and Veggie Pasta

Yet another quick dinner option. Doesn't get much easier than a box of pasta and a jar of sauce. . .but you can dress it up a bit!!!

I did this by adding to it some light gourmet sausage and a few other simple ingredients. Start to finish. . .20 minutes!

Chicken Sausage with Pesto and Veggie Pasta

1 box of Barilla Carrot and Squash Pipe Pasta
1 jar of Classico Pesto (Of course homemade pesto is way better, but in a pinch this is great!)
1 pkg. of Light Chicken and Provolone Sausage, thinly sliced and saute'd till browned
1 diced red pepper, saute'd with the sausage
1 tsp Franks Red Hot
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Fresh grated parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and toss in pasta.

2. Meanwhile, saute sausage and pepper until browned.

3. Once pasta is al dente drain, and toss with sausage and peppers, pesto, Franks, and garlic powder.

4. Top with grated parmesan cheese!

Garlic Chicken Mozzarella Sandwiches

Now don't get down on me about the calorie count of this sucker! It's a whopper, but boy is it tasty! I served these open faced, and ate just one. My husband however, had three. The garlic toast is perfect for soaking up all that spaghetti sauce, and topped with thick slices of the Mozzarella cheese, it's melty, gooey, and tasty!

The funny thing is, I NEVER buy Texas Toast. I rarely be anything in a box or prepackaged, but I had a coupon, and thought I'd grab a box. It was less than a dollar! My husband loved it, and the kids were obsessed with the garlicy bread.

Garlic Chicken Mozzarella Sandwiches

2 frozen chicken breasts, seasoned, grilled, and thinly sliced

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 box (8 pieces) of Light Texas Garlic Toast

16 slices of Bellgioso Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

1. Prepare Texas Toast as directed on the box. I bought the light kind and according to someone whose had the regular variety, the only difference is the amount of butter. The light kind was half the calories, and in my opinion, very good.

2. While your toast is baking, combine the chicken and spaghetti sauce in a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until heated through.

3. Once chicken and toast are done, assemble your sandwiches. 1 piece of toast, topped with about 1/3 cup of the chicken/sauce mixture, and topped with 2 thick slices of cheese.

4. Bake for about 5-7 minutes until the cheese is melted and gooey.

Quick and Easy Baked Ziti

Quick and Easy Baked Ziti

1 jar of Spaghetti Sauce
1/2 lb of hamburger, browned
1/4 lb of sausage, browned and drained
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 box (12oz) ziti, cooked as directed

1. Mix together sauce, hamburger, and suasage.

2. In a large baking dish spoon 1/4 cup of sauce onto bottom of dish.

3. Top with 1/2 the noodles.

4. Add 1/2 the sauce.

5. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cheese.

6. Repeat layers.

7. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and gooey.

Bacon Carbonara

I'm admittedly a TV Cooking Show JUNKIE! I watch them all. I record them all. I copy them all! Last night I was watching a new show called Kitchen Boss. It's the guy from Cake Boss, only he's not baking cakes. . .he's cooking Italian food! On this episode he was making an authentic Pasta Carbonara.

I've been looking for a good recipe for a Carbonara for a long time. There are many different versions of it out there. The one thing I find in common is that they all call for raw egg. (Now, the egg does get cooked by the heat of the noodles, but the actual use of raw egg just freaked me out.)

But I've done some research and came to the conclusion that the heat of the noodles cooks the egg enough to be safe. If there is a concern about the egg, you can use the pasteurized ones.

I will tell you this, the velvety texture of the pasta with the egg, seasoned with the saltiness of the bacon, is to die for. It is so good.

Bacon Carbonara

1 lb bacon, fried and chopped
12 oz of spaghetti noodles
4 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen sweet peas
salt
pepper
milk or half and half
1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil for cooking pasta. Heavily salt the water.

2. Once water comes to a boil, add in pasta and cook as directed on package.

3. Meanwhile, in a large glass bowl, whisk together the eggs and parmesan cheese.

4. Once noodles are cooked, drain and immediately toss with the eggs and parmesan.

5. Toss to coat.

6. At this point, the pasta will be fairly thick. Toss in the bacon and peas.

7. Add in enough milk or half and half to thin out the sauce a bit. Now's a good time to season with salt and pepper as well.

8. Serve immediately.
NOTE: This does not reheat well!

Easy Chicken Pasta Toss

I came across this recipe about five years ago in a Rachel Ray magazine. It wasn't even really a recipe. It was like like one of those charts that tell you "try this" and they give you columns of pastas, meats, veggies, cheeses, and sauces. It was a mix and match type of thing. I mixed. I matched. I made. It was yummy.

It feels like a light meal, yet a hearty meal. There's not thick creamy sauce, just a broth. And the seasonings are great with this too. It's a quick meal that tastes so good!

I just love the peas in this recipe. It gives you that perfect pop of something sweet. I usually make it with the Wagon Wheel pasta, but when I was at the grocery store my girls saw the "flower" shaped pasta and decided it was a must have. It's a hit at our house!

Easy Chicken Pasta Toss

1 box of Wagon Wheel or Fiori Pasta
8 cups water
6 boullion cubes
3 Tbsp Roasted Garlic Oil
1 tsp Franks Red Hot
salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder
2 chicken breasts
1 pkg. lipton onion soup mix
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

1. Toss chicken and Lipton Onion Soup Mix into a small crockpot and cook on high for about 6 hours.

2. When chicken is done, it should be juicy and fall apart with fork.

3. Shred the chicken and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, combine water with boullion cubes and bring to a boil.

5. Add in pasta. Now's a good time to toss in some salt as well.

6. Cook pasta according to package directions.

7. Drain out most, but not all of the liquid. You need about a cup or two left to coat the pasta.
8. Toss pasta with the oil and additional salt and pepper.
9. Add in enough garlic powder and onion powder to your liking.

10. Add to pasta, the shredded chicken, peas, and about 3/4 cup of cheese. Stir to combine. (I add the peas frozen, they warm with the heat of the pasta and chicken, without getting mushy and gross.)
11. Use additional cheese to garnish.

Easy Stuffed Green Peppers

Easy Stuffed Green Peppers

4 large green peppers
1 cup orzo pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 chopped onion
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 Tbsp butter

1. Wash peppers. Cut off top, and scoop out insides. Set in baking dish, and set aside.

2. Brown ground beef with onion until cooked through.

3. Meanwhile, cook orzo according to package directions.

4. In a large bowl, mix together ground beef and onion, orzo, spaghetti sauce, and parmesan cheese.

5. Stuff all peppers with pasta mix, slightly heaping.

6. Melt butter and mix with bread crumbs.

7. Top peppers with bread crumbs and bake at 350 for about an hour.

Chicken and Vegetable Alfredo

Chicken and Vegetable Alfredo

1/2 cup butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Franks Red Hot
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
Pasta cooked according to directions on pkg.
2 cups cooked, broccoli
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup sweet peas

1. In a sauce pan, melt butter.

2. Stir in the heavy cream and bring to a boil.
.
3. Add in garlic, onion powder, garlic powder, Franks Red Hot, salt, and pepper.

4. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.

5. Meanwhile, in another saute pan, saute the red pepper in a tsp of olive oil until tender.

6. Toss together, sauce, chicken, and pasta, and veggies. Sprinkle with cheese and stir. (The cheese melts right into the sauce and helps to thicken it up a bit.)

Meaty Lasagna

Meaty Lasagna

1 box of no cook lasagna noodles
3 jars of spaghetti sauce, (I used Classico tomato basil.)
1/2 lb hamburger (93% fat free)
1/2 lb italian sausage
1/4 lb prosciutto, chopped
1/4 lb pancetta, diced
1/4 lb genoa salami, chopped
Handful of mini pepperoni
1 large container of riccotta cheese
1 bag of mozzarella cheese
1 bag of parmesan cheese
4 eggs
salt
pepper

1. Spray 2 9 x 13 pans with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Layer each pan with 3 lasagna noodles.

3. In a large saute pan, cook ground beef and sausage until browned. Set aside.

4. In that same pan, saute the prosciutto, pancetta, genoa, and pepperoni until slightly crisp.

5. In a large bowl, mix the spaghetti sauces with the meats.

6. In another large bowl, mix together the riccotta, 1 cup of mozzerella cheese, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, and four eggs. Add in salt and pepper to taste.

7. Spread some of the riccotta mixture over the noodles.

8. Ladle some of the meat sauce over the cheese.

9. Continue to layer noodles, cheese, and sauce until both pans are full.

10. Top with additional shredded cheese.

11. Bake one pan at 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour, and freeze the other pan.

12. When lasagna comes out of the oven, wait about 15 minutes before cutting.

FOR FROZEN LASAGNA: Take out of freezer in the morning, thaw, and bake as usual!

Chicken Scampi

Chicken Scampi

1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or garlic flavored oil
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced Juice of
1 lemon
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped italian parsley
1 box pasta, cooked according to package directions

1. In a saute pan, whisk together butter, olive oil, garlic, and lemon.

2. Add in green onions and chicken.

3. Saute until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

4. Add in parley and toss with pasta.

NOTE: You can sub shrimp for the chicken if you'd like. I love shrimp, so I made it both ways.

Baked Pepperoni PIzza Mac

Each year for Christmas, my Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Dale get me a subscription to Taste of Home Magazine. I look forward, every month, to when that magazine comes in the mail. There's always something new to make. Even my husband pages through looking for something to challenge me with. This recipe, however, was no challenge at all. We love pasta, and the kids love pizza. This was pasta is quick, easy, made with ingredients we always have, and a real pleaser for everyone. As always, I did make a few changes to the recipe to better suit our tastes.

Baked Pepperoni Pizza Mac

3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 cups pizza sauce
4 cups mozzerella cheese
1 pkg. Hormel mini pepperoni
Chopped onion, green pepper, olives, or whatever pizza toppings you like

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside.

2. Mix together eggs, parmesan cheese, sour cream, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.

3. Mix together egg mixture with pasta and spread in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

4. Spead sauce on top of pasta.

5. Top with half of the cheese.

6. Sprinkle on the pepperoni, and top with remaining cheese.

7. Top with your additional pizza toppings and bake another 15 to 20 minutes.

8. Let set for about 15 minutes before cutting.

Halfway Homemade Sneaky Spaghetti

Ok, I'll admit it. I almost always use store bought spaghetti sauce. It's quick. It's easy. It's healthy. (Inexpensive too!) The kids used to LOVE spaghetti when they were toddlers. Maybe it's the idea of getting messy that got them loving it so much. Over the years, I've tried to sneak many extra veggies into their spaghetti sauce, simply because I knew they'd eat it and like it. This combination just works for us. The sweetness from the onion and carrots really can kick up a jar of spaghetti sauce.

Halfway Homemade Sneaky Spaghetti

1 lb ground beef
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped carrots
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 small can of italian tomato paste
1/2 cup water

1. In a skillet, brown your ground beef until no longer pink. Set aside.

2. In that same skillet, saute onion, green pepper, celery, and carrots in olive oil until tender.

3. Put beef back into the skillet with the veggies and mix in the sauce, tomato paste, and water.

4. Simmer on medium heat until warmed through.

5. Serve over your favorite noodles.