Creamy Penne Pasta with Turkey Andouille Sausage

This is a creamy pasta dish with a little kick of spice from Turkey Andouille Sausage. The Turkey Andouille has some heat to it and I thought it would be good in a creamy pasta dish to balance out the spice. This pasta dish is quick and easy and can be made any night or day of the week!

For this Creamy Penne Pasta with Turkey Andouille Sausage Recipe visit us at our New Food Blog at CCRecipe.com

One Pot Macaroni and Cheese

YES, Only ONE Pot, Stove Top, Macaroni and Cheese.

I heart macaroni and cheese, I even have a shirt that says so…

I had BB (my 4 year old son) take this picture of me yesterday in my shirt, He took a pretty good picture, huh? He said to Gramma C, “It took me a long time to take mom’s picture and I missed a lot of my TV shows”…whatever I so did not make him take pictures of me all day long!

This recipe very much intrigued me because it was cooked on the stove and in one pot, which is awesome because I constantly do dishes and the less dishes the better, right? This recipe was a bit time consuming, like cooking Risotto because you are just standing over the pot stirring but I thought it was interesting to cook the macaroni in the milk and thought it was fun to be creative and experiment with different cheeses, I used a mixture of cheddar, jack, asiago and parmesan cheeses, DELISH!

Visit us at CCRecipe.com to get this One Pot Macaroni and Cheese Recipe.

Asparagus Spaghetti Carbonara

Asparagus Spaghetti Carbonara made with Turkey Bacon.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus spears, cut in 1 inch pieces
13 ounces spaghetti
2 Tbsp olive oil
5 slices turkey bacon, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 – 1 1/2 cup pasta cooking water
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the bacon to the skillet and cook until crisp. Wash and chop the asparagus spears into 1 inch pieces.  Add to boiling water in large pot and boil for about 5 minutes or until tender.
2. Once the asparagus is tender remove from boiling water with slotted spoon and add to skillet, once all asparagus is in skillet, stir the garlic into the skillet. Add spaghetti noodles to already boiling water that had asparagus in it, add some salt to the water and cook until al dente while preparing sauce.  Do not allow noodles to cool since their heat is needed to cook the egg sauce.
3. While noodles are cooking, In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cheese, and 1/2 cup of water from your pasta pot while stirring constantly to temper (warm up) the eggs without cooking them.
4. Drain noodles, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Add 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water to skillet (the same skillet the bacon and asparagus is in) and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Add hot noodles to skillet, stirring quickly to coat, add egg mixture to skillet. The eggs and cheese will thin and create a velvety sauce that coats the noodles.  Stir in more pasta water if you want it saucier.
5. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, serve immediately and hot.

This is my take on Carbonara, I don’t eat regular bacon because I don’t eat Pork at all, ever (it has been seven years since I had some of that “other white meat”). Sometimes I eat Beef Bacon but mostly stick to Turkey Bacon if I get into a bacon kick and decide to get some, I do enjoy turkey bacon when I decide to eat it. I had some turkey bacon and asparagus in the fridge I needed to use, so I decided to make Carbonara with Spaghetti and throw in some Asparagus. This dish is quite delish, some people get freaked out because of the thought of consuming raw eggs with Carbonara but the way I make this sauce the eggs aren’t quite raw. By the time this dish is done the eggs are pretty well heated and cooked:) This also is a lower fat version of traditional Carbonara sauce because of the use of the Turkey Bacon, Other than that I love the nice creaminess of the sauce and I tried to make it as simple and quick as I could, Enjoy!

*Camala*

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

This is a light, fresh pasta dish with added creaminess but not as heavy as a traditional Alfredo sauce.

Ingredients:
6 ounces of noodles (Linguine, Spaghetti, Angel Hair, etc…whatever you want)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups spinach leaves, packed
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts in water
1/2 cup milk (I use whole milk)
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tomato, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook your desired noodles of choice according to package directions.
2. Put olive oil in large skillet pan. Add the onions and cook 3 minutes. Add the garlic and spinach, saute until spinach is wilted.
3. Chop artichoke hearts and add to skillet with juice. Thicken with flour and milk to desired consistency.
4. Add the chopped tomato. Cook for a short time, leaving the tomato somewhat firm.
5. Toss sauce with cooked pasta.

This is a nice light pasta dish, the sauce adds creaminess but isn’t as rich as a traditional Alfredo sauce. This is a quick and easy dish and for protein you could add some chicken, which is also very delicious.

*Camala*

Penne with Greens and Beans

Penne with Greens and Beans is a healthy, low-fat pasta dish.

Ingredients:
1 box uncooked Penne Rigate
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup chicken broth
1 pound fresh collard, turnip or mustard greens, washed, trimmed and cut into large bite-sized pieces
1 (28 ounces) can diced tomatoes
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans (or any other white beans)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pan.
2. Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes; cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth; bring to boil.
3. Add greens; return to boil. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, uncovered, until greens are just crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add can of diced tomatoes with juice to the pan; cook for 5 minutes and add beans; stir gently and cook for 1 minute until beans are heated.
4. Add greens and beans mixture to pasta; toss to coat.Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Top with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

This is a wonderful pasta dish that is Low in fat and loaded with fiber. It is a quick and easy dinner meal for my family and the kids love this dish, they always ask for more. I love adding beans to pasta dishes for added protein and I really enjoy the smooth texture of cannellini beans. For those who don’t know what Cannellini beans are; they are a white kidney bean. If you can’t find cannellini beans you could use great northern beans or navy beans. Also, you can use spinach or kale to replace the collard greens; any dark leafy greens would go great in this recipe.

This dish is healthy and delicious and they kids don’t even realize they are eating greens:)

*Camala*

Linguine with Broccoli Sauce and Feta

Linguine with a Broccoli Pesto and sprinkled with Feta Cheese.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of linguine
1 pound broccoli
2 tablespoons water
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1/2 small onion or two shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup chopped flat parsley
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup feta cheese (low-fat if you want to be good) – divided
1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Cook the linguine pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta is cooking, Cut the broccoli into small florets and steam on the stove with the 2 tablespoons of water. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Cook the onion and garlic until it just begins to soften then add the broccoli. Cook for several minutes or until the onion turns translucent. Add the parsley and cook until it’s well wilted. Pour in the lemon juice and simmer for about two minutes.
3. Transfer to a blender and add 1/4 cup of the feta cheese and the 1/4 cup water. Puree until smooth, adding a drizzle of olive oil and a little more water if it sticks and turns to a lump. Puree until as smooth or chunky as you prefer. Taste and add any necessary additional salt and pepper.
4. Transfer back to the pan and add noodles, mix until pasta is well coated. Place on serving dishes and sprinkle with remaining feta cheese. Serve immediately.

I found this recipe on The Kitchn and I was excited to try this recipe. I am sorry but personally this was not my favorite recipe and I would not make this exact recipe again…I might try to adapt it to more of my taste. I did not like the texture of the broccoli pesto and I think the lemon juice made it too tangy for me. I did like the addition of the feta cheese and I liked the idea but it didn’t turn out like I had hoped. It looks pretty though with the light green sauce:)

*Camala*

Chicken and Pasta Florentine

This pasta dish is very flavorful, versatile and pretty!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds boneless chicken, cut into thinly sliced strips
3 cloves garlic, chopped
10 ounces fresh spinach, washed and chopped
1 (16 ounce) package farfalle pasta
1/2 pint half and half
26 ounces pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Add garlic  and spinach to skillet; saute until spinach reduces/wilts and cooks down.
2. Meanwhile bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and reserve.
3. Once spinach is cooked down add pasta sauce and half & half to skillet; cook over low to medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce thickens.
4. Add 1 cup mozzarella cheese to sauce mixture mix well add pasta and toss until well coated. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese or parmesan cheese and serve.

This is a great dinner, you could serve with some warm, crusty garlic bread. This is a pretty simple recipe, the most time consuming thing is chopping the spinach which I coarsely chopped. I used a Florentine Spinach & Cheese pasta sauce, using an already prepared pasta sauce makes this recipe quicker however if you have the time, go ahead and make your own sauce if you desire.

*Camala*