Posts Tagged ‘noodles’

I made this for lunch last week. Simple to make and didn’t take long.

Herb and Garlic Shells with Spinach and Bacon

 
Ingredients:

 
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
2 cups dried medium shell pasta
3 tablespoons herb and garlic spreadable cheese (such as Rondele)
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

 
Directions:

 
Start a pot of water for your pasta.

 
In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until it crisps up, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer to
paper towel lined plate and set aside. Reserve 2 teaspoons of pan drippings.

 
Once your pasta water starts boiling, cook pasta according to package directions. Strain.

 
Meanwhile, in the same skillet you cooked the bacon in, add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Stir in garlic
and shallots. Cook just until softened about 3 minutes.

 
Stir in spinach, cook 1 minute. It will wilt slightly.

 
Stir in cooked pasta. Stir in herb and garlic cheese. As the cheese melts, stir to lightly coat the
pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 
Transfer to serving platter, sprinkle with bacon and serve

This is a very rich side dish. I don’t make this very often as it isn’t the healthiest thing in the world. It is quick and easy to put together and tastes delicious. Traditionally you add raisins to this, but I think they are awful. If you are like me and love cinnamon, I sprinkle it all over, not just on top of the kugel before I put it in the oven.

Noodle Kugel

Ingredients:

8 or 12 ounces of medium noodles
¼ pound (1 stick) of melted butter
4 large eggs
1 pint (16 ounces) cottage cheese
1 pint (16 ounces) sour cream
¾ cup of sugar
1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Cook noodles according to package instructions; rinse; drain. Mix the noodles and melted
butter together in a large bowl.One at a time, mix and add: eggs, cottage cheese,  and sour cream. Place in a greased 9″ x 13″ pan. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Sprinkle
over the kugel. Bake at 350° (325 if using Pyrex) for 1 hour.

I served this last weekend along with pork chops. I was surprised they came out so well. It was a bit sticky in the house at the time. I didn’t freeze any, but I think next time I may. The sauce is quick and easy to make. This isn’t difficult or very time consuming, but I’d rather make it on a weekend than weeknight. You can add any cheese or herb into the mix you’d like. Use this sauce or serve it nekkid!

Potato Gnocchi with Parmesan Lemon Butter Sauce

Gnocchi Ingredients and Instruction:

4 large baking potatoes

1 egg, beaten

1/2 – 1 c. flour

2 t. salt

1. Pierce potatoes several times with the tines of a fork. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes, until tender.

2. While still hot, slice potatoes in half width-wise and carefully scoop out all the insides. Place in a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher until uniform consistency but not completely smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes.

3. Add egg to the potatoes and stir to combine. Work in flour, starting with a 1/2 cup. If it gets too difficult to combine with a spoon, use your hands. Form the dough into a soft, only-slightly-sticky ball. (Add more flour as needed if the dough is too sticky.) Knead for about a minute in the bowl.

4. Divide the dough into 6 sections. Work with one section at a time and refrigerate the others.

5. On a floured surface, roll each section of dough into a long strip. Cut into 1/2 – 1 inch pieces. Continue until done. Roll the gnocchi into oval shapes or press with the tines of a fork, if desired. (This is the point when you can freeze the gnocchi. Just place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and flash freeze for 20-30 minutes. Then transfer to a plastic freezer bag.)

6. Bring a large pot of water to a slow boil. Working in small batches, add some gnocchi to the pot. Boil just until they rise to the surface. Drain and transferred to a plate that is lightly spread with olive oil to prevent sticking. Repeat until done.

This can be frozen for later.

Sauce Ingredients and Instruction:

1 T butter

1 T olive oil

1 T lemon zest

2 t fresh thyme

2 t lemon juice

3.5 T grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 t black pepper salt

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then stir in the lemon zest, thyme, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Remove from heat, then toss with the gnocchi along with the cheese and pepper.

BBQ’s are an excuse to make pasta salad. I make a ton so I can have leftovers to eat at work the rest of the week. You can easily double this recipe and add any other different soft cheeses or veggies.

Pasta Salad

Ingrediants

1 box mutli-colored pasta

1 red pepper chopped into bite size pieces

1 green pepper chopped into bite size pieces

half a pound of muenster cheese cut into cubes

half a pound of cheddar cut into cubes

Italian dressing to taste

ranch dressing to taste

Directions

Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain while running cold water over the pasta.

Add the veggies and cheese. Mix well. Add the Italian dressing first, usually about a cup or so. To make it tangier add more. Add enough ranch dressing to make the pasta creamy. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

I serve my chicken parmesan with my homemade sauce and spaghetti noodles. This is a simple dish, easy to make on a weeknight.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

* 1 egg
* 4 boneless chicken breasts
* one jar of your favorite marinara sauce
* one cup seasoned breadcrumbs
* 4 slices mozzerella

Directions

1. Spray a 9×13″ baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Place breadcrumbs in a bowl
3. Scramble egg in another bowl
4. Dip each chicken in the egg then breadcrumb mixture
5. Place chicken on the baking dish or tray
6. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.
7. Put slices of cheese on top and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I love shrimp! This came out well. The recipe calls for orzo but I couldn’t find any. I used couscous instead.

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked orzo
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 7 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
• 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• juice from 2 lemons
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.

2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.

3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.

Use fresh parsley and lemons in this dish or else the flavors will not be as strong and vibrant. You can omit the shrimp and just have the noodles if you prefer.

Lemon Parsley Pasta with Shrimp

1/2 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp

box angel hair pasta
1/4 bunch or 1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 lemons zested
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp parmesan cheese
to taste salt and fresh black pepper

Cook the shrimp in about two tablespoons of butter and a few pinches of garlic powder. Set aside.

In a large pot, begin boiling water for the pasta (refer to instructions on the box). While the water is heating, finely chop the parsley and garlic. Zest two lemons making sure not to get any of the white, flavorless pith Place the parsley, garlic and lemon zest in a bowl.

Once the pasta water begins to boil, add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the box (approximately 10 minutes). While the pasta cooks, heat the 3 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the parsley/garlic/lemon zest mix, salt and pepper. Stir while cooking just until the minced garlic has softened (approximately 3 minutes).
Drain the pasta and add it back into the pot (do not return it to a hot burner). Add 1 Tbsp of butter to the pasta to keep it from drying out. Add the mix to the pasta and stir it in well.

Add in the shrimp and cheese. Mix well and serve.

It was meat shopping time last month. Of course I picked up about 5 pounds of ground beef to make tasty meatballs with. Once cooked, I freeze them in batches. To reheat, I just set the oven to whatever temperature the garlic bread I’m making with the meatballs should be. Throw the meatballs in while the oven is preheating. Once it’s time to put the bread in the meatballs will be ready. This recipe is very easy to adapt to how many pounds of meat you have. Just add more eggs and breadcrumbs.

Meatballs

INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
4 pounds lean ground beef

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the next five ingredients. Add beef; mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls, about 12 dozen. Place in single layers in ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until no longer pink, turning often; drain. Cool.
Place about 30 meatballs each into freezer containers. May be frozen for up to 3 months.
Yield: 5 batches (about 30 meatballs per batch)

My girlfriend and I found a wonderful deal for shrimp. 4.99 a pound for raw jumbo shrimp, already peeled, deveined, and tailless. These shrimp were beautiful so we bought a case and split them. I had several recipes but the first I wanted to try was an Alfredo sauce I came across. Be sure not to over cook your shrimp, cook them when they start to curl and turn pink. Overcooking will make them tough. They will continue to cook in the pan even when you turn it off and when you pour the hot sauce on it. This made tons of leftovers and I only used half of one bag of shrimp.

Start the water to boil for the noodles first, then begin the shrimp. While the shrimp is cooking make the sauce. It should be done at about the same time. I used a mix of thick spaghetti and fettuccine noodles since I had just enough left over in each box to make this dish. Any noodle will do.

Garlic Alfredo Shrimp

1 pound of shrimp, any size, peeled, deveined, and tailless

1-2 tablespoons of butter for shrimp

garlic powder per your taste

1/2 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 ounces heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

In a pan, melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shrimp and liberally sprinkle garlic powder on them. Stir occasionally until cooked. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter. Add garlic and let simmer until garlic is soft,
about 2 minutes. Add heavy cream, and pepper, simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add
Parmesan cheese and let simmer for 5-8 minutes longer. When sauce is
thickened add mozzarella cheese and stir until melted. Serve.
Yield: 2 1/2 cups sauce

This is MUCH better than the boxed version. It is also quick and easy to make. While the macaroni is cooking you make the cheese sauce. I added a bit of cayenne to mine for an extra kick. I used sharp cheddar cheese, but you can use whatever you have on hand.

Home Made Macaroni and Cheese

12-16 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni
½ stick butter
¼ cup all purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar (Monterey jack or Colby is fine too)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Sweet paprika (optional)

Cook macaroni in boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain
and keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour
and mix with a wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, whisking as you pour it in
to smoothly incorporate it into flour mixture. Heat until mixture thickens, stirring frequently. (For those of you who don’t cook a lot, what you have at this point is a basic white sauce. If you added celery, you could turn it into cream of celery soup, or mushrooms to make cream of mushroom soup.)

Add mustard, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to white sauce. Let simmer over
medium heat, stirring frequently. Gradually add Cheddar and ½ cup Parmesan. The sauce is done when cheeses are well combined, smooth, and melted.

Add macaroni to sauce and stir until well mixed with sauce. Sprinkle with a
little more Parmesan and a bit of paprika for color, if using.