Tag: pasta

Pasta Primavera

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

If you need a quick and easy meal that also happens to be meatless, you are going to love this Pasta Primavera!  It is delicious.  Denton talked about this for two days and asked me to make it again immediately.  He loved it!

You could also add in whatever meat you like and it would be delicious too.  You just won’t be able to eat it on a Meatless Monday.

Here’s how I make it:

Pasta Primavera Start out with your favorite pasta – I wanted Farfalle for some reason – and whatever vegetables you have on hand.  Literally.  You can use anything that you love and want to add.  I will say that next time I will leave out the peas, we just didn’t like them in this dish, but use whatever floats your boat.I like to shave my carrots for salads and when I want them to cook at the same time as other veggies that don’t take forever to cook.  Plus they are pretty this way.

We all love squash…..And zucchini ……I almost never buy red onion, but wanted to try it for this recipe specifically and I’m so glad that I did.  It was awesome.Green pepper……Add it all to a deep pan and sauté…..

Meanwhile boil your pasta until al dente…You’ll also need parmesan cheese.  I would normally use the shaved kind but we ate it all and this is what we had….

I also added a couple of heaping tablespoons of my favorite minced garlic to the sautéed vegetables….

At the last minute I added some grape tomatoes so that they didn’t turn into mush…..

And frozen peas, which I will leave out next time.

But man oh man, this was delicious just by itself.Sprinkle over your cheese…Make sure to keep back some of your pasta water to loosen the sauce in your pan….
Dump in your pasta….
Mix everything together….And voila!  Supper is complete.

Pasta Primavera

Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 16 ounces pasta
  • vegetables of your choice
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 TBSP minced garlic

Instructions
 

  • Chop all of your vegetables.
  • Boil the pasta until al dente.
  • Saute all of the vegetables until tender.
  • Add the garlic, parmesan cheese and tomatoes if you are adding them.
  • Add the cooked pasta and pasta water if needed.
  • Stir everything together and serve!

Pasta Primavera

Shrimp scampi with orecchiette

Shrimp Scampi with Orecchiette

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

Shrimp Scampi with Orecchiette and Breadcrumbs.

For the past few weeks, I have made this recipe at least once every single week.  It has become a favorite!  It’s so easy and quick and it tastes phenomenal.  Here’s how I make it:

I toast my panko bread crumbs in butter, and add the zest of half of a lemon…..

Quickly fry some shrimp in butter with salt and pepper….Add more butter to the pan….

Throw in 42 cloves of garlic or however much looks right at the moment….

Add in a pinch of crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning…..

The rest of the zest from that lemon at the start….

Mince up some onion…..

Pour in your favorite white wine or chicken stock or even water……

Start dropping in tablespoons of butter, one at time and reduce the wine down….

While all of this is happening, drop your pasta in a boiling pot of water….

And when that is done to your liking, drop it straight into the simmering pan of goodness…

The shrimp go in with the pasta….

More zest if you have it…. or not, my family thought that this was way overboard the first time I made it….

The original recipe that I followed didn’t add this but we love it, parmesan cheese….

Yum!!!

I bought this specifically for this recipe and it made it so, so good… Add about a quarter cup of chopped fresh parsley….

Now you are ready to eat!

Try to restrain yourself as you add this to your bowl and add the toasty bread crumbs…. I followed this recipe from one of my Food Network magazines and I used the same amount of pasta and shrimp, but i did take many liberties and changed the rest of the ingredients to what I had on hand.  IE:  I had no shallots, so I used onions instead.  I had not fresh chives so I substituted Italian seasoning.  Use what you have people!  It was divine!

The recipe says it will feed four people.  I beg to differ.  I also made Alfredo and garlic bread and we had NO LEFTOVERS any of the times that I have made this.  I think that we eat like normal everyday people here at our house, but maybe I’m mistaken and we are all gluttonous pigs, but I would say with small portions this would conservatively feed four people.  Keep that in mind.

Here’s the handy dandy printable.

Shrimp scampi with orecchiette

Shrimp Scampi with Orecchiette and Breadcrumbs

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

For the breadcrumbs

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 tsp zest of a lemon
  • 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (dried)
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the pasta

  • 12 ounces Orecchiette pasta

For the sauce and shrimp

  • 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
  • 2 pounds shrimp I use the frozen that has already been peeled and deveined
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 or 4 tsp minced garlic I use the jarred stuff
  • 1/3 cup minced onions
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1/2 the juice of half the lemon you used for the zest
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper
  • 1 pinch dried Italian seasoning
  • 4 tbsp butter, cut up
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions
 

  • Heat the butter in a skillet and add the Panko. Stir until toasted. Add the lemon zest, salt and pepper and set it aside.
  • Boil the pasta.
  • Add the butter or olive oil to the skillet, saute the shrimp with salt and pepper until almost done, about 2 minutes. Remove from the skillet.
  • Add the garlic and onions to the pan and cook for about 1 minute.
  • Now add the wine, lemon juice, crushed red pepper, and the Italian seasoning to the pan. Start reducing.
  • While the liquid is reducing start adding the butter one piece at a time.
  • When all of this has cooked together and the wine is reduced add the pasta and the shrimp and stir. If you are adding the parmesan cheese, now would be the time.
  • Add a giant serving to your bowl, to with the breadcrumbs and a dash of fresh parsley and enjoy!!

Easy Garlic Pasta Supper

Published on by TracieLeave a comment

This recipe is so, so easy.  And it’s absolutely delicious too!

I am going to say right up front that you can simplify this recipe waaaay down from what you will see below.  This can be a one pot meal.  But, I have picky people in my house.  Sometimes Denton restricts his carbs, so he won’t eat pasta.  Liv doesn’t eat meat, so I cook it separately.  Hayden won’t touch a piece of broccoli with a 10 foot pole.  So I do each component in its own pot.  You don’t have too!  You can do the whole thing in one pot. That part of the recipe is at the bottom of this post.  It’s up to you and how picky your people are.

Here’s how I make it:

Boil your favorite pasta.  See how simple.  I also love Campanella pasta, but you can literally use anything.

After you drain your pasta, drop a whole stick of butter into the hot pot….

Put your pasta back in with the butter and add a teaspoon or seven of minced garlic…..

Shake in a half a cup of Parmesan cheese……

Or as much as you have and then use the powdered kind in the green container when you realize that someone ate all of the shredded kind and didn’t write it on the kitchen board….

Gather your broccoli….

Chop it into bite sized pieces….

Add a stick of butter to a pan…..

Add your chopped broccoli to the butter….

Salt and pepper the broccoli…. Then add 42 cloves of garlic that have been minced, or however much you like…..

Add a squeeze of lemon or a capful of the stuff that I keep in my fridge….  This part of the recipe is actually my beloved recipe you can find here.

Next choose your protein.  Most of the time I use leftover chicken.  Whatever I have on hand.  I didn’t have any chicken today so I pulled this yummy Kielbasa out of my lovely giant freezer….

Chopped it into rounds….

Fry it up in a pan and added more minced garlic to it…..

Put it all into a bowl and enjoy!!  Now here’s the kicker.  If I didn’t have picky people in my house, here is how I would make this dish:

Boil your pasta.  While it’s draining add a couple of sticks of butter to the pot.  Put in your chopped broccoli and 49 cloves of minced garlic – or to your taste.  Add a squeeze of lemon and put in your leftover cooked protein of choice.  Dump your hot pasta back into the pot.  Cover with a good Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and serve!

Easy peasy.

Here you’ll find other awesome sites where I’ve been graciously invited to share my recipes:  Weekend Potluck, Southern Bite, Anna Nuttall, Crafts a la Mode, The Answer is Chocolate, The Country Cook, The Cottage Market, Simply Sweet Home, Tatortots and Jello, Chic on a Shoestring, Easy Peasy Pleasy, Our Mini Family, Strawberry Butterscotch, Pam’s Party and Practical Tips, Finding Silver Pennies, The Lazy Gastronome, My Soulful Home, Life and Linda, Denise Designed,  The Boondocks Blog, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Keeping It Simple, The Organized Dream,  Flour Me With Love, Create With Joy, Mostly Blogging, A Pinch of Joy, Dwellings, Sew Can Do, Lou Lou Girls, Make Ahead Meals For Busy Moms, Mrs AOK a Work in Progress, Skip to My Lou, Meet Our Life, Worthing Court, Recipes and Ramblings, Yesterday on Tuesday,  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, The Sway, Our World Tuesday, Our Home Away From Home, Lori’s Culinary Creations and Celebrate and Decorate

Easy Garlic Pasta

The easiest, delicious pasta on the planet
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound pasta
  • 3-4 heads broccoli
  • 1 pound cooked chicken or kielbasa
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 1/4 cup minced garlic
  • 1 squeeze lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Boil your pasta and drain.
    While the pasta is draining add 2 sticks of butter to the hot pot.
    Add the broccoli, minced garlic and lemon juice.  Saute for about 2 to 3 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.
    Add the cooked chicken or protein of your choice.
    Add the drained pasta.
    Add the Parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
    Enjoy!