Can you have too many quick and easy pasta recipes?

The answer is no, you can not. And you know what else… this recipe has no meat. Just for you Kristin. I love simple recipes like this that take advantage of the produce that is in season.

You will need:
1 lb pasta
bag of baby spinach
grape tomatoes, halved
olive oil
garlic, fresh or in a jar
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

If your bottle of extra virgin olive oil has an illustration of a young man picking olives, feel free to make all the inappropriate jokes you want about him being extra virginal.

I bought this jar of minced garlic solely because I liked the illustration on this one too. Aww, the little farm where my garlic was grown and then hand minced by kindly farmers, using methods that have been passed down for generations. That is what makes me feel better about being too lazy to mince my own.

Step One:.

Cook your pasta of choice. Drain and set aside.

Step Two:

Pour some olive oil into your big skillet. Then dump in your spinach.

Regarding the baby spinach, if you have never cooked fresh spinach before you need to know you will need much MUCH more of this than you think you will possibly want. The next time I make this recipe I am going to double the amount of spinach. But we are a spinach loving family.

A little side story, when we were eating dinner I mentioned us being like Popeye, and my children were all, “Who is Popeye?” And then I was sad that a cultural icon like Popeye the Sailorman has died a small quiet death. Where is the Spinach council? Although, the whole Popeye and Brutus fighting over Olive Oil was weird. And who was the father of her baby? Oh and there was the whole Popeye smoking like chimney. But see, these are things you have to consider when serving this to your children and promising it will make them strong JUST LIKE POPEYE!

Anyway, back to the recipe.

After a few minutes the spinach will have reduced to this:

After a few more minutes, this:

See? You will be all, “What happened to all my spinach? How will I ever get those freakishly large forearms with only this small amount of spinach.”

Step Three:

Toss in your pint of halved grape tomatoes and some garlic. I used about 1/2 tsp of the minced from the jar. I’d probably use 4 little cloves of the fresh garlic. You can use more or less depending on your personal taste and vampire repelling needs.

(Didn’t these used to be called cherry tomatoes? Why do all the stores and recipes call them grape tomatoes now? Is there some PC reason why they aren’t cherry tomatoes anymore? Are cherries offensive? Or are they different tomatoes? We could call them baby tomatoes, but that sounds so violent. Vegetarians don’t like that. Maybe we should be calling them those tiny little tomatoes.)

Step Four:

Heat thoroughly. The tomatoes will get soft and start to leak their tomato juice. After about five minutes it will be done.

Step Five:

Dump your pasta into the skillet . And mix well.

Note: I am STILL cooking on a camp stove.

Step Six:

Serve pasta. Grate cheese over each individual plate.

Enjoy!

Can you ever have too many pasta recipes?  No, I think not. 

How do I love thee pasta? Let me count the ways.

Pasta is quick and inexpensive.  It doesn’t require you to use the oven and heat up the house. Adding different sauces can change the entire taste of the dish.  Also, since pasta is such a familiar food, kids are  usually more willing to try it.

This recipe uses broccoli and tomatoes, both of which are in season now.

1lb of pasta, I chose penne
1 package (approx eight) spicy Italian sausage links (chicken, turkey, pork…whatever you prefer)
1 pt grape tomatoes, cut in half
olive oil
freshly grated romano or parmesan cheese

Step 1:
Slice the sausage into discs. Brown them in a large skillet, takes about 8 minutes or so.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I grilled my sausages and then sliced them because I was prepping the food earlier in the day and trying to keep the time I spend cooking at 9pm to a minimum. I then added them already cooked to the tomatoes.)

Step 2: Slice your grape tomatoes in half and toss them into the skillet. They will take about 5 minutes to warm and soften up.

Please notice that I am cooking on a propane camping stove, because I still am in the middle of a kitchen remodel. It is a miracle that my children are not eating PB&J and cold cereal for every meal. I think I deserve some sort of award.

Step 3: Cook your pasta according to the directions.

Step 4: You can steam your broccoli, my preferred cooking method. Or you can toss your broccoli florets into the boiling water with the pasta, my lazy assed cooking method. They only need to be in the boiling water a few minutes. Once they are done, bright green still slightly crunchy, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put them in the skillet with the sausage and tomatoes.

Step 5: When pasta is finished cooking, drain it and return it to the pot. Dump the contents of the skillet into the pot along with the pasta. Pour in a bit of your extra virgin olive oil and stir well.

Step 6: Serve into bowls grate cheese on top.

It really doesn’t look so yellow in real life. That is just my horrible kitchen lighting at 9:30 pm.

All of my kids loved this dish. And not just because they had been starved and then at football practice for hours. No, even the lazy couch sitters loved it.

(I will add photos later. I am still cooking my food for this weekend, but wanted to get the recipes up since I have had so many requests for the Fourth of July recipes. I am also cooking entirely on my outdoor grill. Have I mentioned here that we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel? We are at the point right now where we have no appliances. Woooo hooooo. Or something like that.)

Along with the potato salad it is a law that you must have pasta salad. Yes, really. I generally make more than one but this one is an old favorite stand-by that everyone loves.

It conforms to the trifecta of a good recipe:

1) Easy.
2) Can be made in advance, actually it is preferable to make it the day before so that the flavors can meld together.
3) Loved by everyone.

1 (16 ounce) package of pasta, I like to use the tri-color ones

can black olives, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
16 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed*
cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 pound Genoa salami, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 pound pepperoni, pizza style, cut into bite sized pieces

3/4 cup olive oil**
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar**
ground black pepper to taste**

(fresh mozzarella is delicious, but you can use the regular kind too)

(*you can substitute your favorite Italian dressing instead. Buy an extra bottle to leave on the buffet table for people who want to add a little more zing to their pasta salad.)

Cook the pasta.

Drain the pasta and run under cool water.

Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Refrigerate until your guests arrive.

Today I thought I would do something a little bit different. I have bookmarked a few recipes over the past week that sound so good, and so easy that I thought I would share the love today and point you in their direction. I haven’t made any of these myself yet, but they have all made my short list. If you don’t have a short list, start one with these.

The first three are perfect summer recipes. Nothing to warm up your house and make you get all sweaty before serving the meal. The last one is a good anytime of year meal. And you could use those bags of frozen vegetables to hold to the back of your neck and cool you off while you are standing at the stove. Or put them on top of your head, like a cooling hat. Not that I do that.

CityMama posted a recipe for Vegan Coconut-Chocolate Ice Cream. Oh sorry, I think I just fainted from the sheer unparalleled deliciousness of it. I don’t have an ice cream maker so we are going to use the ziploc bag method to make this tomorrow.

Foodmomiac posted a recipe for Chicken Salad that is as simple as it is delicious.

101 Cookbooks has a fabulous Broccoli Pesto and Fusilli Pasta recipe. Pasta is always an easy meal and I am constantly on the look out for new ways to dress it up.

Belinda of Ninja Poodles fame, posted a recipe on her other blog she called Some Kinda Crazy Chicken and Rice Thing that sounded yummy and easily adaptable. A one skillet type of meal made from things you probably already have in your freezer.

I’ll be back on Thursday with my own kinda crazy chicken recipe. So fire up your grill, or at least make sure your propane tank is full. You will be wanting to make this one.

Do you ever think to yourself, “Man, I have an awful lot of vodka, what can I do with it other than drink it?” No? Well, now you will.

This recipe reminds me of my sister in law who died a few years ago. She loved vodka sauce. In fact when I was pregnant with my oldest child the restaurant where the shower was held served penne with vodka sauce as the first course and my sister-in-law loved it so much we had to return to that restaurant for every family occasion over the next couple of years until finally I asked, “Can’t we just make this at home and skip the two hour drive to the restaurant?”

Turns out we could and we did. It is an easy recipe that I love to pull out when I want to make something that seems a bit more fancy but have zero time or ambition. Also, I promise she did not die from my cooking.

Read the rest of this entry »

I love my crockpot. I really do. But sometimes I get bored of all the food tasting the same. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes I want crunchy meat or less liquid, darn it!

This recipe is a two parter. I toss the ingredients into the crockpot so that it will be cooking all day and I don’t have to mess with it.

But then when the spaghetti is cooking I take the chicken out and turn it into a sauce on the stove top. It is easy and worth the extra effort. You are going to be standing there with your pasta anyway. Read the rest of this entry »

Aren’t they cute? I like to call them Hot-opuses. Which is also a cute name. Isn’t it?

Unless you have a three year old who butchers the pronunciation of things. Because then he will be shouting, “I wuv hot pu$$ies” the entire time you are eating dinner. And while it is very funny, you really don’t want to have to explain to the rest of your children why you are laughing. Trust me.
This is a very simple recipe. You will need:

2 lbs of shell pasta
1 1/3 cups of milk
1/2 cup butter
16 oz mild cheddar cheese
16 oz of sharp cheddar
You can use whatever kind of cheese you like. I picked these two cheeses because they are mild and my children like them.
Salt, to taste
Hot dogs

This feeds 10 people. If you have less than ten people to feed. Half the recipe

You want to grate your cheese so that it will melt easily. I have this antique cheese grater that I love. As I use it I like to think about the people who used it before I found it. What were they making? Did they grate the skin off of their knuckles like I frequently do? Did they say, “Mmmm, extra flavor!” like I do? Did they happily cast it aside when more modern inventions came along and made the task easier?

Using the grater is a lot of work. You may even need a snack to help you get through it.

And as always many hands make light work.

Of course you could buy your cheese already grated at the store. But then what will you do with yourself while your pasta is boiling away?

Next you want to grease your casserole dish with your butter. Really slather it on. Neatness does not count in this particular step of the recipe. That will come later.

Toss the rest of the stick of butter into the pot with your already cooked and drained pasta shells. Stir it up so that it melts and coats the pasta.

Next add your grated cheese.

A little at a time so that you can stir it up evenly.

Pour it all into your casserole dish.

Measure out your 1 1/3 cup of milk.

Pour it all over the pasta. Cover with aluminum foil and put into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. If you would like the macaroni on the top to get crunchy, remove the aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes of baking. My children do not like the crunchy pasta.

Ten minutes before the macaroni is done, prep the hot dogs.

You want to cut the eight “legs” before you boil them. Hold the hot dog and about one inch from the top of the hot dog slice in half lengthwise. Turn the hot dog a quarter turn and repeat the process. Now is the time for your perfectionist qualities to come out. Each of those four individual legs needs to be cut in half. Because octopi have 8 legs.

My husband said, “Isn’t four enough?” and then proceeded to chop one of the legs off by mistake. So I had to take over the leg cutting lest we have a whole slew of octopus amputees.

You can feel good about feeding your children hot dogs when you prepare them this way. Something about the length of time it takes you to prepare food makes it instantly more nutritious. No really. I swear.

Then put them in your shallow pan of water to cook. They do look like weird octopi now don’t they?

The “legs” will curl up. My 3 year old son saw them at this point and yelled, “They are holding hands!”

Remove macaroni from oven. You will want to scoop it into the bowl and set the hot-opus in top. If I had peas I would have added some to the top of the bowl at this point. But I didn’t.

Add eyes to the hot-opus with mustard or ketchup.

And so we have the perfect kid friendly meal, with nary a vegetable to be found.