Macaroni Salad with Peas

Quick and easy pasta dish ready in 30 minutes or less!  It's versatile so feel free to chance up the seasonings.

Macaroni Salad with Peas

5 ounces dry macaroni (I used GF)

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used a canola based)

3 Tablespoons buttermilk

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon dill

1-1/2 cup frozen peas (more if you like)

Cook your pasta, drain, rinse under cool water to cool pasta.  Allow to drain while you mix other ingredients.

Mix mayonnaise, buttermilk, Parmesan, and dill together.  Add pasta.

Put your frozen peas in a strainer.  Run cool water over them until any ice crystals on them melt away.  This will also thaw your peas.  Stir into pasta. Enjoy!

If you do not eat it all in that sitting or make ahead to take someplace you will need add a little milk as the pasta will absorb liquid as it sits.

Garlic Cream Sauce

Garlic Cream Sauce                                                                      Printable Recipe

Olive oil
1 T flour* 
1/2 t minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine (less if yours is strong flavored)
1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach (can omit if using for the pizza topping)
2 cups half and half (or a good whole milk)
1-1/2 cups shredded Parmesan (not the stuff in the shaker)


Drizzle a little olive oil in pan, add garlic and saute for just a moment or two so as not to burn the garlic. Add the flour, cooking for a moment.

Add the half and half, wine, and spinach to the flour mixture. Bring to a boil. Add Parmesan.

And stir until blended.

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Serve with stuffed chicken and pasta,

 primavera, 

and/or pizza. Enjoy!

* (use GF or a bit of cornstarch slurry to make it gluten free)

Chicken Primavera

Chicken Primavera

You will need 1 recipe of Garlic Cream Sauce

which includes:

Olive oil

1 T flour
1/2 t minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach
2 cups half and half
1 to 1-1/2 cups shredded Parmesan (not the stuff in the shaker)


3-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 onion
1/2 green pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
6 ounces of your favorite cooked pasta (I used Tinkyada brand Penne for our GF version)
1 cup Italian blend cheese or mozzarella

Cut chicken breast so they are even thickness and take the tips off. Save the extra bits for another dish.

Add to a bowl with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Coat evenly and then grill.  Cut into chunks.

Dice or chop your veggies and saute in a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper until they are soft.  You can use other favorite veggies like zucchini and yellow squash, broccoli.  Ideas are unlimited.  If  your kids don't like those then dice them finer.  I am not a fan of zucchini or the squash but I can tolerate them cut small. :)

Mix together your cooked pasta, cooked chicken chunks and veggies and the sauce.

Spread into a baking dish and

cover with cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese is brown and dish is bubbly hot.

** Don't see the green?  No worries its not your eyes, I didn't have any spinach in the freezer to use last night. Another note...I used 8 oz pasta and the pasta soaked up too much sauce and was a little drier than I like. So either use more sauce/milk or use less pasta. I am currently freezing the 2nd recipe I made and will let you know how it turns out!

Ravioli with Sage-Walnut Butter Sauce and a Balsamic/Honey Drizzle

Ravioli with Sage-Walnut Butter Sauce and a Balsamic/Honey Drizzle

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 bay leaf
2 9-ounce packages refrigerated cheese ravioli
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup fresh sage leaves
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Combine the vinegar, honey and bay leaf in a small saucepan and boil over medium-high heat until syrupy, 4 to 5 minutes. Cover to keep warm

Cook ravioli according to package directions.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the sage and walnuts and cook until the nuts are toasted, about 3 minutes

Increase the heat to high, ladle in about 1 cup of the water from the ravioli and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by about half, 1 to 2 minutes.

Drain the ravioli, reserving another 1/2 cup cooking water. Add the ravioli to the skillet and toss to coat, adding the reserved water as needed.

Remove from the heat, toss with the parmesan and season with salt.

Divide the ravioli among plates and drizzle with the balsamic syrup.  So fancy looking but so easy!



Saltimbocca

Saltimbocca

1 oz Parmesan Cheese (shaker stuff is ok but we prefer the shredded cheese)

3 Tablespoons flour

dried parsley (I don't measure, I just shake in for color)

olive oil

thin sliced pork, turkey, or chicken (I'd say about 1/4")

proscuitto

3/4- 1 cup chicken broth

Mix flour, parmesan, and dried parsley.

This is the proscuitto, very thin and easy to tear into the right shape for your meat. Edible just like this since it's not raw, more like a thin ham but will crisp up like bacon.

Lay the proscuitto on the meat and coat with flour mixture.

Add olive oil to the pan and place meat in the pan, try not to crowd so they brown and not steam. Cook on each side until golden. 3-5 mins total since meat is thin.

You can cook this two ways. You can cook the meat in batches and do the sauce at the end or do 1 batch and sauce, then the second, third (however many you need) and do sauce for each as you go. I prefer to do sauce for each batch as I go. If you use a non stick pan there will not be as many bits in it as a stainless steel but I prefer the clean up from a nonstick, much easier!

To make the 'sauce' add a little bit of the chicken broth ... and let it simmer a little. It will combine with the flour on the meat and thicken. It's not a heavy sauce, just for some added moisture.

Tastes great served with this garlic cream sauce.

Mom's Egg Noodles

Mom's Egg Noodles

Per person figure...
1 egg
1 T water
about 2/3 cup flour (varies on day and humidity)
salt

Mix in bowl as best you can, grab some of the dough out and put on floured surface. Roll out into a rectangle until 1/8" to 1/4" or so thick. The thicker your dough, the thicker your noodles.

Lightly dust the top with flour and roll up.




Cut with sharp knife as wide as you like them. These are a little over 1/4" wide.

Gently unroll, trying not to smash them. I add a little more flour and let them set for a bit.
Add them and any flour you had out to your chicken and broth. The flour will help thicken the chicken and noodles. If you need to you can add a little cornstarch mixed with cold water to the pot, stirring as you add it. This was 4 chicken breasts and 8 cups of broth, we had plenty of leftovers.

We eat ours over mashed potatoes and my husband and the girls add a slice of cheese under the noodles.