Tagliatelle with Peas, Sausage & Ricotta Cheese

 

Recipe and photo courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis. Extremely easy and extremely delicious. I used Jovial Tagliatelle cause gluten-free. Reheats well, just add hot water to loosen the sauce and heat in microwave. Serve with olive oil drizzled bread and a salad. Perfect! 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound tagliatelle pasta or other wide, long pasta  (16 ounces)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 links hot Italian sausage ( I use Lucky's homemade)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• fresh parmesan, to serve
• fresh basil, chopped, to serve
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta water.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and garlic over medium heat and add sausage. Break up the sausage into bite-size pieces. When the sausage has browned, add the peas.

Turn off the heat and add the cooked pasta, ricotta cheese and pasta water (1/4 cup at a time).  Heat gently to desired temperature to serve. Adjust salt and pepper.

Place in bowls and top with parmesan and basil.

Printed

Mexican Chorizo and Chicken Chili

 

Recipe from Rachel Ray and I renamed it; as she used cubed, cooked turkey instead of chicken. This made a goodly amount and I froze in proportions. Hopefully the electricity does not get turned off again and Jesse had to empty my freezer and transport to his. What a shit show, but what a nice son to do that for his mom! How can you go wrong with anything topped with tortilla chips. She did not add cheese. Think I will! Oh, called for 1 red or green sweet pepper and I omitted.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Mexican chorizo, cut from casings
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 15-ounce dice tomato
• 1 pound cooked, dice chicken breast or thighs
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons pureed chipotles in adobo sauce
• 2 tablespoons cornmeat
• 1 tablespoon honey
• tortilla chips, yum
• shredded cheese, if desired
• Lime wedges, however, the limes were flipp'in expensive, so did not use

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. 

Brown the chorizo, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Add the garlic, onions and sweet peppers (if using) and cook until softened. 

Stir in the coriander, cumin, tomatoes, followed by the diced chicken or turkey, stock, chipotles, cornmeal and honey.

Simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes or so. 

Serve in bowls topped with chips and cheese if desired. Garnish with lime wedges.

Goulash

 Of course I changed this up... Wanted to try the homemade Italian sausage at Lucky's Market. So substituted Italian sausage for the ground beef. I used fusilli pasta instead of elbow. Once I filled bowls with the goulash; I topped with the Cheddar cheese. Then I heated the bowls in the microwave to melt the cheese. Original recipe had the Cheddar cheese incorporated on the stove. Also used chicken broth instead of beef broth. Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage ( I like spicy)
• 1 mediium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika, used hot, smoky
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, Spice House brand has superb flavor
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 servings fusilli pasta (4 ounces) Made pasta per meal fresh; as froze meat portions
• 4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded, top filled bowls to taste
• fresh parsley, chopped, as garnish

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Italian sausage until browned.

Add the onion and cook till softened. Add the garlic and cook one minute.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the paprika and Italian seasoning and cook one minute.

Stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.

Add the diced tomato, Worcestershire and chicken stock. 

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. At this point I cooled and then refrigerated over nite to meld flavors. 

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Simmer meat sauce and add the pasta and simmer 5-10 minutes until hot.

Place pasta in bowls and top with Cheddar cheese and fresh parsley. 

 Microwave till Cheddar cheese has melted.

Turkey Pad Thai

 

Courtesy of Milissa D'Arabian. Got great reviews and can be tailored to your liking. I did not have fish sauce, so substituted with Tamari. Added a tad more sriracha hot sauce, used fettucini rather than linguini and eliminated bean sprouts. This makes a generous 4 servings, so for us, two dinners. I divided up the meat mixture into 2 dinner servings; made pasta for 2 each time and used 2 eggs. I used 1/2 of one lime to drizzle on top for each 2 dinner serving as well.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 limes, 1 juiced and zested and 1 lime saved to drizzle on top of the shredded carrot and chopped scallions
• 1/4 cup Tamari
• 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sriracha hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 pound ground turkey
• salt to taste
• 8 ounces fettucini ( 4 ounces per 2 dinner serving) (cooked to packaged instructions)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 eggs, slightly beaten ( 2 per 2 dinner servings)
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped, (1/4 cup per 2 dinner servings)

Directions:

To make the sauce:

Pour boiling water over the brown sugar and stir to dissolve.

Add the juice and zest of one lime, tamari, rice vinegar and sriracha. Stir to combine and set aside.

Add the canola oil to a large skillet and heat on medium high. Add the onion and garlic and saute till softened. Add salt to taste. 

Add the ground turkey and cook till pink is no longer visible.

Add the sauce mixture to the cooked turkey mixture, place in a bowl and allow to cool. Once cooled, place in the refrigerator overnight, to allow flavors to meld. 

In a large skillet, drizzle a little canola oil and heat over medium heat. Add the 2 beaten eggs and cook 30 seconds. Add 1/2 the meat mixture (if you are making 2 dinners),  heat till hot, stirring frequently. Serve a top 4 ounce hot cooked pasta

Place servings in bowls and garnish with grated carrot, chopped cilantro, scallions and drizzle with lime juice. Top off with chopped peanuts.

Printed

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

 

The recipe is from Ree Drummond on Food Network. This is a little work, but worth it. Will serve 2 meals; depending how hungry and how many sides served. I ended up with 8 skewers total. I froze 4 after prebaking, see directions. I then packaged the four leaving the skewers intact; ready to be defrosted and grilled. I also froze the remaining peanut sauce. 

Ingredients for Chicken:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 small container plain greek yogurt
• 1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
• 4 dashes hot sauce or to taste, I used Frank's
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced
• salt to taste

Directions for Chicken:

Place chicken strips in a large bowl.

Whisk together the yogurt, curry powder, hot sauce garlic, shallot, ginger and salt. Pour over chicken and refrigerate for 2 hours.

I prebaked the skewers for easier handling on the grill... 400-degree oven 4 minutes, then turn over for another 4 minutes. Finish on a hot grill to sufficiently charred and cooked through. Turn over for even grilling.

Ingredients for Peanut Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1-inch piece fresh garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 small container plain greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup tamari
• hot sauce to taste, I also added some hot pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• juice of 2 limes
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup hot water, to thin sauce
• cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Directions:

In a small pot heat oil. Add curry powder, garlic, shallot and ginger until aromatics are soft. Scrape into a food processor.

Add peanut butter, yogurt, tamari, brown sugar, hot sauce, lime juice and pinch of salt.

Process adding the hot water a little at a time to thin and make smooth. 

Adjust salt and hot sauce.

Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

To serve, put a ramekin of peanut sauce in the center of a plate. Arrange the skewers in a circular pattern. Sprinkle with some finishing salt. Sprinkle with cilantro. 

I served with Jasmine rice with peas.

Ta Da a delicious meal!

Printed

Meal Prep Roasted Chicken Thighs

 

Love, love having chicken ready to go to use in recipes. Stir-frys, tacos, pasta whatever... Thighs tend to stay more moist than chicken breasts and I have froze in portions successfully.

Ingredients: 

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 large clove garlic, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 
• black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425-degrees. 

Toss the chicken with olive oil, vinegar, garlic, Italian seasonings, crushed red pepper 1 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper until evenly coated.

Place chicken on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and roast until golden and an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165-degrees, about 25 minutes.

Serve whole, sliced or cubed.

Chicken will keep 4 days in refrigerator. Let cool completely before refrigerating.

Chicken Fried Rice

 

From Valerie Bertinelli Food Network. I had made Meal Prep Roasted Chicken (blog: 02/24/2024 label: chicken) last weekend and froze in portions. Subsequently, just a few chops later dinner is served. Oh, and I prepared Perfect Rice in the Oven (blog: 1/6/2024 label: rice) and refrigerated; as recipe calls for cold rice. Really great flavor. Also very conducive to tailoring what veggies and or protein you like.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups cold cooked rice
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 3 scallions, chopped, reserve some for garnish
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 thighs from Meal Prep Roasted Chicken, diced

Directions:

Add the canola oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil to a large nonstick saute pan over medium high heat.

Add the ginger, carrots and garlic to the pan and cook until vegetables soften, about 2 minutes.

Combine the eggs, salt and pepper and whisk. Set aside.

Add the rice, peas and scallions to the carrot mixture, reserving some scallions for garnish.

Add the soy sauce and remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil and toss to coat.

Press the rice mixture gently into the pan and cook 3-4 minutes.

Make a well in the center and add the eggs and cook until set. 

Stir in the chicken and cook until heated through.

Transfer to bowls and garnish with the remaining scallions.