Another Sausage and Pasta Dish

So I had a little bit of sausage left over from this weekend, and I needed to do something with it before it went bad.  After browsing through the pantry and the refrigerator, I came up with this simple meal.   Another nice thing about it is the leftovers that I got to take to work for lunch.  Those MUSC cafeteria prices are a little much since they remodeled the cafeteria in the Big House (aka the main hospital), and I've more than my fair share of sandwiches, salads, or soups from the little cafe in Rutledge Tower.  Rick stayed at home tonight so it was just me.  I'm thinking that I may not share my leftover...hee, hee, hee!  Here's what I did.

Penne with Italian Sausage, Green Pepper, and Onions in a Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

2 Italian Sausages, taken out of the casing and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 small green pepper, chopped

1 sweet onion, chopped vertically

1 can of diced tomatoes (I used the no salt added kind)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 box of penne pasta

Olive oil

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions.  Drain and return to the pot.

While the pasta is cooking, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick skillet.  Add sausage, green pepper, onion, garlic, and basil to the skillet and saute until the vegetables are tender.  Add tomatoes and juices from the can.  Heat for another 2 minutes.  Mix the sausage mixture with the pasta in the pot. Serve and enjoy!

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Earlier this week, my bus buddy, Susan, and I were heading home after a day of work, and the topic of what was for dinner came up.  I told her of my plans to do Chicken Parm, and she said that she was going to be cooking spaghetti squash.  My mind immediately drift to this simple but delicious recipe that I found on epicurious.com back in 2006.  It's so hard for me to believe that I've been making it that long, and everyone that I've made it for has loved it!  I first discovered spaghetti squash about 5 years ago, and it was an exciting time for my mom, too, because she is allergic to sulfates which are usually part of the whole pasta experience.  In the past, I've been known to throw in some mushrooms.  

The spaghetti squash that they had at Publix were on the smaller side than I'm used to using which saddened me...mainly because it meant that I could use a regular knife instead of my electric knife.  Yep, I got an electric knife with the main purpose of halving a spaghetti squash!!!  Anyway, with the smaller squash, I had to play around with the amount of ingredients, but like always, this recipe turned out to be a fantastic meal!  Another cool thing is that it allowed me to use some of the fresh herbs that Susan had brought me!

Here's my adapted original recipe!

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients

• 1 3 3/4- to 4-pound spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise, seeded
• 1 pound bulk pork sausage
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups purchased marinara sauce
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place halved spaghetti squash shell side up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Bake squash in the oven for 1 hour.  Let the squash cool.

While the squash is cooling, sauté sausage, bell pepper, onion, basil, and garlic in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until sausage browns and vegetables are tender, breaking up sausage with back of spoon, about 12 minutes. Mix in marinara sauce. 

Using fork, pull out squash strands from shells, leaving shells intact. Mix squash strands into sausage mixture. Season filling to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon filling into squash shells. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover; refrigerate.)

Turn oven up to 400°F. Arrange filled squash halves on baking sheet. Sprinkle each with Parmesan and then top with a little bit of cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered until heated through, about 20 minutes (30 minutes if previously chilled). Cut each squash half in two and serve. 

Enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole!

This month's Pot Luck at work had the theme of breakfast food, and I decided that I'd make my favorite breakfast casserole.  I've been making it since I was a fledgling cook back in the 90s, and it's always a hit with whomever gets to indulge!  I totally forgot to start it until after 9 last night, and Rick was wondering what I was doing because I had already made us dinner (quesadillas!).  It's really easy and minus the time that it has to cook, it's pretty quick to make.  You can also make it the night before and pop it in the oven.  

I had several requests for the recipe, and if anyone from work is stopping by, I want to say a quick hello!  I hope that you enjoy the blog!  

Here's the recipe

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients 

1 pound bulk breakfast sausage

2 tablespoons all purpose flout

1 1/2 cups milk (you can use low-fat)

1/2 of a frozen shredded hash brown potatoes bag

3 green onions, chopped

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. 

Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until brown, breaking into small pieces with back of spoon. Mix in flour, then milk. Cook until mixture thickens and comes to boil, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Arrange potatoes in prepared dish. Layer with 1/2 of green onions, 1/2 of cup cheese, rest of green onions, sausage mixture and remaining cheese (you can add more cheese if you'd like).  Bake casserole for 45 minutes.  

Enjoy!

 

Quick and Easy Spaghetti

Yesterday, I sent a recipe for fish tacos that I found on myrecipes.com via email to Rick.  Mahi was on sale at Publix, and I thought that they sounded pretty good.  Rick, of course, was not as enthusiastic about them I was which sent me back to culinary drawing board for something to do for dinner.  Luckily, the new issue of Cooking Light was waiting in the mail box.  On the cover was a quite yummy looking pasta dish with sausage.  After a call to Rick, we decided that we would give it a try. 

The recipe was really, really easy and quick.  It was definitely a perfect dish to make on a week night when you are short on time (and in my case last night I didn't want to miss any of the Tar Heels' game in the NIT).  I had never broiled sausage before, and it was definitely a quick and easy way to do it...seems to be a recurrent motif with this meal...quick and easy!  I didn't make a lot of changes to ithe original recipe.  I did (as usual) increase the amount of garlic, and the canned tomatoes that I used were peeled.

Here's what we did.


Spaghetti with Sausage and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage links

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1 (28-ounce) can peeled whole tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup torn fresh basil
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions
Preheat broiler.

Cook pasta according to package directions and then drain.


While pasta is cooking, arrange sausage on a small baking sheet. Broil sausage 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove pan from oven (do not turn broiler off). Cut sausage into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in a single layer on baking sheet. Broil sausage slices 2 minutes or until browned.

Place tomatoes in a food processor; process until almost smooth. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add crushed red pepper and minced garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and salt; cook 4 minutes or until slightly thick. Add sausage and cooked pasta to pan; toss well. Top with fresh basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Enjoy!

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese

In an effort to eat better, I've been checking out the Cooking Light recipes at myrecipes.com.  I became a fan of that site because it has recipes from some of my favorite magazines such as Cooking Light, Southern Living, and Real Simple.  For dinner last night, I decided to fix us something that originally appeared in the November 2003 Cooking Light magazine.  Rick wasn't too enthusiastic when I revealed that we were going to be eating turkey sausage, but he was pleasantly surprised when he had his first bite.  I probably could've gotten away with not admitting that it wasn't "real" sausage.  This recipe is extremely easy, and I did alter it a little bit.  Based on some of the reviews on the website, I decided to up the amount of basil used and added an extra can of diced tomatoes.  I also added a little bit of Italian seasoning.  For the tomatoes, I didn't use petite cut, but I did   Here is the original recipe.  Enjoy!!

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese

Ingredients

• 3/4 of  a pound package of uncooked ziti
• 1 pound turkey Italian sausage links
• 1 chopped sweet onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1  tablespoon  tomato paste
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 3  (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 cup  chopped fresh basil
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) 6 cheese blend

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain the pasta, and set aside.

Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine cooked pasta, sausage mixture, and basil. Place half of the pasta mixture in a 4-quart casserole dish. Top with half of mozzarella and half of Parmesan. Repeat layers. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.