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.

Oh my. When I die and go to Heaven, shut-up you in the back, this is going to be served everyday.

Back in the days before I had to go gluten and dairy free this was one of my most favorite summer meals. I think out of all the foods I have had to give up, it is the only dish I truly miss. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »