There is nothing I love more in life than a hearty pasta dish chocked full of green veggies with a cream sauce. This pretty much completes my nights when I can make something so simple and yet so flavorful. This cream sauce isn’t as heavy and thick as the typical Alfredo sauce can be–its on the lighter side and perfect for impromptu summer company. I enjoyed the dish as is; however, I know their are people out their that grumble about meatless dinners. This pairs beautifully with a plump and juicy grilled chicken breast or if you want to get fancy skewer a few pieces of shrimp and grill those babies. Season the shrimp with old bay and you have a meal that is really fit for a king and queen.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt well and cook pasta and garlic 1 minute less than package instructions indicate. Add snap peas and cook for 30 seconds. Add spinach and basil and stir until wilted. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water prior to draining. Drain contents of the pot into a colander and set aside.
Return the pot to the stove and add cream to the pot and heat over medium-high until bubbling. Return pasta mixture and 1/4 cup pasta water to the pot and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in parmesan, and if necessary add remaining pasta water to create a light sauce that coats the pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
Notes
*You can eat this as a meatless meal or serve a grilled chicken breast or grilled shrimp over top of the pasta.
Summer wether is officially here in Florida. Technically speaking, according to the calendar I know we have almost a full month until its officially summer, but I’ve been in the mood to grill lately. And with grilling brings on the desire to eat lighter. I decided to whip up a quick Italian-Style white bean dish to go along with our Grilled Italian Sausage with grilled sweet peppers. This is a lighter dish and complimented the grilled meat and veggies perfectly.
I was inspired to make this dish from a cassoulet I made a few years back. It was the perfect cassoulet for a cold winters day and was hearty. Why not make a stove top version of the beans used in the cassoulet to compliment my light and summery meal? This was our main “starch” for the meal and to be honest I didn’t miss rice or pasta or potatoes with this meal.
The fennel adds a nice punch to the dish. If you aren’t familiar with cooking with fennel you need to go out and buy a bulb of fennel stat. I’ve never consumed this root vegetable raw–only well cooked in olive oil or butter. It may look like a lot when you chop it up, but once you’ve sweated it out and sauteed it in oil it reduces down to less than half. As you might be able to tell it resembles the look of celery at times but has a slight anise taste (like licorice). If you’re looking to try a new side dish and break out of the routine of serving the same side dish every night I dare you to try this recipe!
In a large pot add olive oil and bring the pot to high heat. Add the thinly sliced fennel and begin sauteing. Add 1 cup of chicken broth and bring the heat down to medium-high heat placing a lid on top of the pot and letting cook for 10 minutes *check occasionally and stir to make sure fennel is not burning and/or sticking to the bottom of the pot.
After the 10 minutes add chopped garlic and onions to the pot, stir well. Add the remaining 1 cup of chicken broth, stir, reduce heat to medium, and place lid back on the pot cooking for an additional 5 minutes or until onions are translucent.
Add the 2 cans of white beans (do not drain--add the liquid), mix well, and then add the grape tomatoes. Place the lid back on the beans and simmer on low for 5 minutes.
Stir in chopped basil and parsley, and season with cracked black pepper. Mix well, and serve.
Notes
*Do not add salt to this dish. The salt is taken care of thanks to the chicken broth added.
Grilling season is in full effect in Florida. It’s something about this time of year that makes me resist wanting to turn on the oven and step outside and fire up the grill. Somehow I’ve managed to never grill Italian sausages, so the other day I decided I wanted to give it a try. Let me tell you–this is not only easy but in my opinion I think the only way I will ever cook Italian sausages again. The sausage skin is crispy and the inside is perfectly moist, and best of all it only takes 20 minutes to grill!
I mean, take a look at the crispy sausage above. I used hot Italian sausages, so to be honest they really did not need to be seasoned, and since they can be on the oily side I did not coat them in anything for fear that they were burn with any additional oil added.
I love recreating classic recipes and cooking them with a twist. This is the perfect recipe for entertaining this summer since its quick, easy, and your guest will surely be impressed with your creative take on this classic! I decided that I didn’t want a traditional starch for dinner so I made a quick batch of Italian white beans on the stove top. I’ll share that recipe tomorrow. It pairs wonderfully with the sausage and peppers. Or you can use it for a side dish for any meal you’d like!
Preheat your grill on high heat and clean. Then reduce the heat to medium. While the grill is preheating toss sweet peppers with one tablespoon of olive oil and salt and pepper.
Place sausage on one side of the grill and peppers on the other side of the grill. Grill for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 165 degrees. *You'll want to turn the sausage and peppers two-to-three times during the cooking process to prevent burning. If peppers begin to char remove from heat.
My husband and I try not to frequent chain restaurants. Instead eating at locally owned restaurants. Since we live in Orlando, Florida we have more restaurants here than I think we have time or money to eat at. But there is one chain that we can’t get enough of and I can honestly say we probably eat their once a month… that is Carrabbas. I love their food. We’ve taken our out-of-town family to Carrabbas countless times and now its become a tradition that they have to dine there while on vacation visiting us.
I almost always order a cup of the minestrone soup. It’s chocked full of veggies and beans and the broth has so much flavor to it. I’ve written our local newspaper to see if they will find the recipe and publish it in the weekly restaurant “thought you’d never ask” about this recipe segment–and nothing. I did a little searching on the internet a few months back and that’s when I found this recipe. I guess I never know how many vegetables and beans were really in this soup until I made it. Of course the recipe I found is made to feed an army or probably the exact large batch recipe they use at the restaurant. I think we ate this soup for a week straight and still had a massive container to freeze!
Even though its consistently 90 degrees in Florida right now, I still can’t eat a bowl of soup. You’ll even find me eating a bowl of soup during the “dog days” of summer when its over 100 degrees out. I love soup–and have been known to eat it for breakfast! I’m super thankful that my husband loves to eat soup, too! Although, I don’t think its to my level of soup eating, but he will eat soup nevertheless!
In a 10 quart stock pot heat pot to medium heat and place butter and oil in pot. Sauté celery, onion, carrots and garlic and cook until soft about 5 minutes.
Add green beans, cabbage, zucchini, parsley and basil and cook for about 10 minutes or until soft.
Add chicken stock, bay leaf, tomatoes, prosciutto, romano rind and potatoes. Allow soup to boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Add canned beans with their juices and simmer 5 minutes more.
Remove romano rind and prosciutto. Add grated romano cheese, stirring constantly, serve hot and store remaining soup in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or the freezer for up to 2 months.
Notes
Katie Jasiewicz of Katie's Cucina Adapted from Food.com
I’m sure some of you are wondering what this dish is about. Zucchini Lasagna? Say what? I’m going to preface; I’ve been tending to and nurturing a rather large garden this spring. My husband and I planted not one but two zucchini plants–thinking that we might yield 3 or 4 zucchini’s. Boy, were we wrong. Just in the past week we’ve yielded 5 large zucchini’s and then there is a plethora of yellow squash which I’m not even going to ramble about in this post. With our abundance of zucchini growing in our back yard I’ve started coming up with a few new zucchini recipes. If your a lover of zucchini your going to be a big fan of the upcoming zucchini recipes! I’ve been dreaming up this little side dish for a while now. It all started when I received the OXO Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer in my swag bag at Food Blog Forum in March, and that’s when I learned about the OXO Slice It Up contest. Grand prize recipe wins $500 in OXO products. I’m going to be honest here–I’d love to redo my entire pantry with a million POP containers!
And on that note…. I hope you were able to guess what the giveaway today is… It is the most amazing and gorgeous tool that has came into my kitchen in the past year. I’m in love and my husband is totally aware that my love I share for him is also being shared right now with a kitchen gadget. Meet OXO’s Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer!
I don’t think I’ve chopped anything in the past 2 months–everything has been sliced. It’s easy to slice and easy to clean and I can have a cucumber and tomato sliced in half the time it would take me to chop. This hand-held slicer is adjustable for slices in 3 thicknesses. You can rest the bottom against a cutting board or for picture purposes like I’m doing hover it over a cutting board or the way I best like to use it is by hooking the edge over a bowl so that all of your food contents slice in one place!
I think one of the main concerns that has kept me from investing in a mandoline was the fact that I’m terrified of sharp objects, and I could envision myself slicing a finger off. I know–I’m odd. Naturally, when I got the Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer I was excited and terrified all at the same time–until I inspected the kitchen tool and saw the handy dandy food holder! It protects your hands and covers the blade when your not using it! Pictured above is me slicing my home-grown zucchini on the level 3 of the slicer!
Now, let’s get back to the fab side dish. Yes, that’s right this is a delectable side dish that mimics a classic pasta based lasagna. Instead of starchy noodles I’ve supplemented them for thin-roasted slices of zucchini. I made an herb cheese that is out of this world and a simple tomato sauce to top it off! I used small 6-inch creme brule ramekins to make individual side dishes. Before I could even sit down to the dinner table my husband had already devoured his side and was asking for a second helping.
Look at the pure beauty of this dish! Admire those gorgeous ribbons of roasted zucchini and the deep red grape tomatoes. You’ll notice I didn’t drown the layers of zucchini in sauce. I wanted to be able to taste all the flavor profiles that I created. Take note, that you will have sauce leftover. Don’t be afraid to toss some pasta with it or dip a crusty loaf of Italian bread in it!
*Make sure you enter the OXO Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer giveaway below using Rafflecopter.
4 zucchini’s (thinly sliced using the OXO Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer)
Drizzle of Olive Oil
Salt & Cracked Black Pepper to Taste
1 pint grape tomatoes
½ cup ricotta cheese
½ package of Boursin Garlic and Herb Cheese (5.2oz)
1 tbsp basil, chopped
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup chicken broth
¼ cup wine
2 tbsp basil, leaves torn
1 tsp sugar
dash of red pepper flakes
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. While the oven is preheating begin thinly slicing your 4 zucchini’s. Lay them out on a large baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure ever zucchini has been lightly coated. Then sprinkle with salt and cracked black pepper. Roast for 8-10 minutes or until golden not burnt.
While the zucchini is cooking; in a medium size pot heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on high heat for 1 minute. Then add the pint of grape tomatoes and reduce heat to medium. Mixing the tomatoes well and then place a lid on the tomatoes. *The tomatoes will begin to sweat; bursting in the pot creating the most aromatic sauce, ever!
While the tomatoes sweat let’s make the cheese! In a small sauce pan add ½ cup of ricotta and a ½ package from a 5.2oz package of Boursin Garlic and Herb cheese on medium heat. Stirring until the cheeses have melted and combined. Add chopped basil and parsley along with the parmesan cheese and cook until hot and well combined.
At this point your zucchini should be ready to be pulled out of the oven — if you haven’t done so already take the zucchini out of the oven, turn off the oven, and set the zucchini to the side.
Let’s finish the sauce! Mix the tomatoes then add the chopped garlic along with the chicken broth. Mix well then add the sugar and red pepper flakes. Mix well again and at this point most of the chicken brother should have evaporated at this point–lastly add the ½ cup wine and bring the sauce up to high heat. Mix well–all tomatoes should be soft and not true to original form. Turn the heat off and place a lid on the pot.
Let’s put this dish together; Using a small ramekin layer 3 pieces of zucchini on the bottom and then a dollop of the cheese mixture (about a tablespoon) then another 3-4 layers of zucchini, followed by another dollop of cheese, and lastly another 3-4 layers of zucchini followed by a dollop of tomato sauce. Repeat this step until you have 4 ramekins. Serve immediately with a sprig of fresh basil, and indulge.
Notes
*To make this vegetarian substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth
*If you don’t have wine or don’t want to cook with it substitute it for more broth.
*You will have left over sauce–toss the remaining sauce with pasta and call it a day!
I love soup. I could eat soup in the middle of summer when its over 100 degrees here in sunny Florida. In the past few years I’ve began loving dumplings in soup. In the January/February issue of Rachael Ray Magazine they had a full 10 recipe spread of different variations of soup. They made what they called a Chicken Parmesan soup. I’m not a huge fan of Chicken Parm, but I’ll eat it if that’s my option. My husband on the other hand is the worlds biggest Chicken Parm fan–so much that we served that as one of our food choices at our wedding! I knew he would love this soup and I would love it thanks to the ricotta dumplings! Yes, these aren’t chop up refrigerated biscuit dumplings… these are homemade cheesy-goodness dumplings. Best of all the ricotta dumplings were incredibly easy to make. After some major tweaking of the recipe Italian Style Chicken & Herbed Dumpling Soup was born!
1 tbsp each fresh chopped basil, parsley, and thyme
Instructions
Place a large pot over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the chicken to the pot along with 2 cups of water, 2 cups of chicken broth, onions, and garlic. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce to medium heat and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until chicken is tender enough to shred.
Remove the chicken from the pot, and shred. Keep to the side.
In the mean time add the can of stewed tomatoes (you may have to chop them a little more than what they already are in the can), 2 tablespoons fresh basil, and red pepper flakes to the pot and season with salt and pepper to taste if needed. Add the chicken back to the soup pot.
Begin making the ricotta dumplings. In a large bowl mix ricotta, 1 cup parmesan, flour, and 1 tablespoon each chopped basil, parsley, and thyme. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Begin rolling dumplings into a half-dollar size ball and add to the simmering broth. Let dumplings cook 5 minutes or until puffy.
Serve the soup topped with a generous helping of Parmigiano Reggiano and more basil.
I love finding restaurant recipes, and then making them at home. This is one of my favorite pasta dishes at Carrabba’s and when I spotted this recipe in the newspaper I could not be happier. Shrimp, linguine, and vegetables in a lemon butter sauce. What could be better? The lemon butter sauce is the star in this dish, and without it, well… it would be just any other pasta dish.
This is a quick entree to make your loved one and screams romance all over! Since Valentine’s day is on a Tuesday this year this makes for a satisfying yet romantic dinner that will sure to wow your partner in crime. Top it with fresh parmesan and basil and you’ll feel like you are dining at a restaurant!
For lemon sauce, melt one tablespoon butter in a skillet on medium. Stir in 2 tablespoons onion and 2 garlic cloves minced and let it cook for about 3 minutes. Add ⅓ cup wine and 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Cook until liquid reduces to two tablespoons, 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Whisk in remaining 11 tablespoons of butter one piece at a time. The butter should soften into an emulsified sauce in 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. *Sauce can be stored at room temperature for up to two hours.
Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente.
Heat one tablespoon oil in skillet on medium-high. Stir in mushrooms, 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Heat remaining oil in skillet. Stir shrimp until barely opaque around edges, 1-1/2 minutes. Stir in chopped spinach, 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, 1 minute. Return mushrooms to pan. Stir in lemon sauce and basil. Reduce heat to low. Stir sauce 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper.
Drain pasta; return to pot. Stir in sauce. Serve with parmesan and fresh basil.
I’m over at Meremade today sharing a kid-friendly recipe. How to make your own calzones. I love making calzones for multiple reasons. They are easy to make, inexpensive, and customizable. If you have a picky family this is the perfect dinner to make. Have a few meat lovers? A vegetarian? You can please everyone in one meal! I like mine with a lot less cheese than most people (pictured above) and choked full of veggies (ok and maybe a few slices of pepperoni), but my husband likes his extra cheesy and full of meats! Do you ever make calzones at home? If so, what’s your favorite?
I’ve found my new favorite pasta dish. I’ve made this recipe 3 times since originally making this last month. It’s that good. Whether you add the seafood or not, the vodka sauce is to die for. This was my first time making vodka sauce. I know… gasp. I didn’t realize how easy it was until after I made it. I did alter the recipe a tad. I added some fresh herbs in the sauce and also on top of the pasta. I added a tablespoon of sugar. I like a sweeter sauce. I also didn’t add the full 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes like Paula suggest. You can always add heat but you can’t take it away. Because of that I always tend to add less and then once it’s done everyone can add more if they desire too. I ended up adding more and I think the 1/2 teaspoon would most likely be bearable, but I didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good meal. If you tend to not like spicy… add a little and work your way up. If you love seafood and you love pasta I promise your going to love this super simple dish. I can’t wait to serve this at a dinner party… it’s perfect dinner party food!
Adapted from: Paula Deen Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Servings: 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup vodka 1 14oz can crushed tomatoes 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 1 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp fresh pasley, chopped + more for garnish 2 tbsp basil, chiffonade salt and pepper 1/2 lb bay scallops 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 lb linguine *Parmesan Cheese
Directions: 1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted, boiling water over medium heat, according to package directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minutes). Add the vodka and turn the heat up to medium-high; cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, cream, pepper flakes, sugar, fresh basil, fresh parsley, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the seafood and cook until just opaque, about 3 minutes.
3. Drain and transfer the pasta to the pot where the seafood vodka sauce is cooking. Mix in the sauce and toss to combine. Serve immediately; top with more fresh parsley and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
My coworker who has a food blog; For The Love of All Things Starchy, highly recommended this recipe to me. She swooned about this recipe daily for almost a week straight. I figured, after listening to her talk up this chicken dish I needed to give it a try. Typically we aren’t big into lemon dishes, but I wanted to give it a try. I only had 2 chicken breast on hand, so I made the marinade, and set it in the fridge. For some reason we ended up eating something else the next day, so the chicken sat for another day in the lemon marinade. So after two days marinating…. you have to imagine the chicken was very much on the lemon side. I’m sure it was a bit more pungent than it would normally be if you were only marinating it for 30 minutes to 24 hours. In any event I served it with parsley fettucine noodles and steamed green beans. I made sure everything else was on the blander side to counter-act the strong lemon taste. Both of us really liked this lemon chicken, and next time when I make it I will only let it marinate for less than a day! Lesson learned, but a tasty one at that!
Ingredients: 4 boneless skinless chicken breast kosher salt 1/3 cup olive oil 2 tsp grated lemon zest 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves) 1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary freshly ground black pepper 1 lemon, halved
Directions: 1. Sprinkle the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt on each side. Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and 2 teaspoons pepper in a small measuring cup. Place the chicken in a ceramic or glass dish just large enough to hold it flat. Pour the lemon marinade over the chicken, turning it in the dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Turn the chicken 2 or 3 times while marinating.
2. When ready to grill, prepare a hot charcoal fire on 1 side of a grill (or turn a gas grill on low heat). Spread 1/4 of the coals across the other side of the grill. Place the chicken on the cooler side, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the underside is golden brown. Turn the chicken, and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Place the lemon halves on the cool side of the grill, cut side down for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove the chicken to a plate or cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, and serve with the grilled lemon halves.
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. {more}
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. 
