One Pot Veggie Spaghetti

Hello Friends and happy weekend to you.  

A while back I made this yummy pasta - and one of my kids said it was the best pasta I've made yet! ;) So I thought you might like to give it a try too.  It's great as a pasta on its own...but it's also nice if you're looking for a meat-free dish.  Feel free to use whichever veggies you like or have on hand. I think the recipe calls for mushrooms, but I used broccoli instead.

I sauteed some onion and broccoli in olive oil. Added garlic and seasonings. Then added in a can of roasted tomatoes and veggie broth. Brought all to boil and then simmered the spaghetti noodles until they were cooked. Then added in baby spinach to wilt and yummy parmesan cheese. This pasta had so much flavor because the noodles soaked up all the flavor of the veggie broth as they cooked.  And the best thing of all is you cook it all in one pot! I added some cheesy garlic ciabatta bread and we had a great meal!

Here's the recipe I found at familyfoodonthetable.com 

Enjoy! xo

Easy Pasta & Garlic Bread

Hey there Friends! 

I thought since we're in the colder season I would share a favorite comfort food we have almost weekly this time of year.  We love our pasta over here  (really who doesn't?) and we have some version of it almost once a week. Sometimes I make the spaghetti hot dish I shared previously - that was my MIL's special. But my kiddos don't care for ground hamburger on anything. So more often than not I do some kind of plain spaghetti and sauce or a pasta bake. I will occasionally make some separate baked meatballs or fry up some Italian sausage for me and my hubby to have with it. 

I do many different versions of a pasta bake - like for example last night we had a ravioli bake. But a favorite with my kiddos is just a basic pasta bake. 

When I do a pasta bake I boil up whatever kind of pasta I have on hand, but we usually like penne or bow tie. In this case I think I mixed both. I boil it until al dente as it's going in the oven to cook longer.  Then I add either a jarred pasta sauce - or sometimes homemade (I like Pioneer Woman's recipe for sauce). But most of the time it's jarred for this busy mom. I also will sometimes add jarred alfredo sauce too. 

 I don't really follow a specific recipe when I put the bake together. I just toss the pasta with the sauce and put a layer of it in a pre-greased pan. I then will top it with alfredo (if I'm using it) and a layer of some shredded mozzarella. I then will add another layer of pasta and more mozzarella and some shredded parmesan on top. I cover it with foil and bake it at 375* for about 20 minutes. I then take off the foil and bake it for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is golden and melty.   Good stuff on a cold night - especially if you've been in a cold ice rink watching hockey! ;) 

For the garlic bread I will sometimes bake up a frozen loaf from the grocery store to save time. Or I will cook some whole garlic cloves in olive oil and brush the oil on some french bread with a topping of mozzarella and parmesan and bake it until golden and melty too. 

And when I'm really feeling ambitious I will roast a whole head of garlic in the oven. Just take the garlic and peel off the outside papery layers. Then cut off the top of the bulbs so that you expose the top of all of them. Place it in a piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil and rub it in all over. I often sprinkle a little salt and pepper over it too. Then wrap it up and place in 400* oven for about 30 mins. The garlic gets soft and sweet and perfectly spreadable to smear on top of toasted french bread slices. Or take your slices and spread on the garlic and a sprinkle of shredded cheese and bake a few minutes more and you have garlic cheese bread. Yum!!  This is actually just wonderful as a party appetizer too! Just serve a dish of the roasted garlic with some toasted bread pieces on the side. Let people scoop and spread it on the toasts themselves. 

And occasionally I'll have a glass of wine with my pasta. Always if I'm out for dinner having pasta in a restaurant! But most of the time at home I love a comforting glass of ice cold milk. Is that weird?? Add a side of caesar salad with my pasta and I'm one happy girl.  Buon Appetito! xo

 

 

 

Spring Veggie Pasta Salad

Whenever we start heading into Spring and Summer I start craving lighter fare - all kinds of crispy green salads and light pasta salads.  My hubby and son especially love pasta salads too.

Last week when it was so beautiful I made a yummy veggie pasta salad as a side dish with our meal. I think the pasta was the biggest hit, though, and only hung around as leftovers for one day as it was gobbled all up. I have a basic "recipe" for how I do pasta salad and then I just change up the ingredients depending what I have on hand or what sounds good that day.

To begin I chop up some veggies. That day I threw in some carrots and some broccoli as it's what I had in the fridge. But you could definitely throw in other crunchy vegetables that sound good to you. 

I also threw in some frozen peas. An easy tip for adding peas (you don't even need to thaw them) is to throw them in the water with the pasta right after it's done boiling. That 30 seconds the peas are in that just done boiling water is enough to thaw them. Then drain and rinse them all together in cold water.  I almost always use the tri-color "veggie" rotini pasta for my pasta salads (the green noodles are a spinach pasta and the red tomato). I just like that it's a good firm pasta to hold up to the other crunchy veggies and I like the pretty colors. How lovely for Spring!

I then make the basic dressing my Grandma always made which is to use real mayonnaise (I use light version for lighter calories), and for every cup of mayo you need you add 2 Tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp of white vinegar and mix all together and then toss the pasta in it. For a smaller pasta salad I probably only need about a cup of dressing. For a full box of pasta and larger salad I may use closer to 2 cups.  To this pasta salad I also cubed some cheddar cheese and threw that in too. Then chill the salad in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

We often even like pasta salad as our meal in the summer and I'll use grilled chicken I chop up with the veggies in the pasta. What's fun is you can play with different flavors and ingredients to make it how you want. I've made another yummy version using some chopped turkey, veggies and craisins (dried sweet cranberry) to have almost thanksgiving flavors. It's a great basic salad that allows you to be creative.  

Lasagna Pasta

I wanted to share another staple recipe we often have around here. I didn't get it into Annie's cookbook yet, but I will eventually. It's a yummy one because it has all the flavors of lasagna, right down to the gooey cheese, but is much faster and easier than true lasagna. Don't get me wrong - I love the real deal - but when you have limited time this comes together in a snap.

Brown some ground beef and season well, then drain. I add Italian seasoning to mine to give it more of an italian sausage flavor. Or you could just use Italian sausage (but I always have ground beef on hand).  Add some spaghetti sauce or marinara (homemade or store bought) to the meat and let flavors simmer together. I often add some fresh chopped parsley or basil, but didn't have any this time.

I think I was in a hurry that day - so didn't take photos of every step. Meanwhile, while sauce is simmering boil some bow tie (farfalle)pasta, then drain it and drizzle it with olive oil.  I like bow tie with this as it has a lasagna texture to it. Then blend the sauce and pasta together. You'll then fold in some sour cream (give it that creamy lasagna taste/texture and some shredded mozzarella cheese (for that gooey cheesy goodness). Let it simmer a bit longer until all heated through and cheese has melted. Top with parmesan cheese and serve.

here's everything after it's blended together

See that gooey cheese hanging off the plate - that's what you want!

We often have this with either garlic bread or muffins and a nice crisp green salad. Here's the recipe:

LASAGNA PASTA

1 pound ground beef

1 jar (24 oz) pasta sauce or marinara

seasonings & herbs of your choice (italian seasoning, garlic powder, fresh parsley or basil)

1 box (1 pound) of mini farfalle pasta (bow tie)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Olive oil (to drizzle on pasta)

parmesan cheese  - as topping if desired

Directions: Brown ground beef and add seasonings of your choice (salt, pepper, italian seasoning, garlic powder). Drain beef and add pasta sauce. Add fresh herbs if desired and simmer. While sauce simmers boil pasta according to directions. Drain pasta and drizzle with some olive oil. Blend pasta and sauce together. Fold in sour cream and mozzarella cheese. Heat through until cheese melts. Top with parmesan if desired and serve.