Category Archives: Pasta

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Posted in Entrees, Pasta by

Happy (hah!) Monday everyone!

I made this recipe over the weekend and husband and I both enjoyed thoroughly.  I hope you will enjoy it too!

I got the recipe idea from an old Better Homes and Garden magazine and I totally misread the recipe.  Apparently this was supposed to be a stuffed shells recipe… as I got half way though the recipe,  I learned that the next step was to “stuff the shell.”  (Way to read, Laura!) So instead, I ended up tweaking it a bit and it turned out delicious, full of great flavor, and the left over’s were just as good for lunch the next day.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups pasta, cooked
  • 1 large green pepper chopped
  • 1 large  red sweet pepper chopped
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 cups chicken chopped
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
  • 1 10 ounce can red enchilada sauce
  • 1 cup shredded Mexican-style four-cheese blend
  • 1 cup nacho cheese-flavored tortilla chips, crushed
  • Avocado dip and/or sour cream

Instructions: 

1.  Cook pasta and set aside.  Chop green peppers, red peppers, and jalapeños, set aside.

2.  In pan, heat olive oil.  Add onions and chicken.  Continue until chicken is fully cooked.  Add chili powder, taco seasoning, chopped vegetables, and can of enchilada sauce.  Cook for 5-10 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

3.  Add pasta and cheese to mixture.  Serve with sour cream/avocado dip and top pasta with crushed chips (this part seems a little strange, right?  I just went with it though and I’m kind of glad I did.  I liked the little surprise crunch).

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Posted in Crockpot, Entrees, Pasta by

If you have ever had any type of buffalo chicken dip (will post my recipe soon!) then you know it’s pretty much like crack.  Once you have that first bite you just can’t stop!  I found this awesome buffalo chicken pasta recipe and it reminded me so much of the dip, that I had to try it. You know what else was so great about this recipe?  Its a crockpot recipe!! Perfect for long days and no time for real cooking!

This pasta dish ended up being a HUGE hit for us. If you’re a fan of the buffalo chicken dip or even delicious traditional buffalo chicken wings – then this is a must try!

Enjoy 🙂

Ingredients: 

  • 1 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into pieces
  • 1 can reduced fat condensed cream of chicken
  • 3/4 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce, I used Franks Red Hot
  • 2 cups light sour cream
  • 1/2 cup ranch dressing
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 pound cooked penne pasta
Instructions:
1. Add cream of chicken soup, buffalo wing sauce, and raw, diced chicken to crockpot.  Mix well and make sure that all pieces of chicken are covered in the sauce.
2. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
3.  Cook pasta.
4.  While you are waiting for your pasta too cook, turn your crockpot on low (if it isn’t already there) add the sour cream, ranch dressing. Stir until well mixed.
5.  Once pasta is cooked, mix with buffalo chicken sauce.  Top with shredded cheese.  Enjoy!

Three Cheese and Chicken Stuffed Shells

Posted in Entrees, Pasta by

I love pasta recipes, especially ones that don’t turn out too heavy.  Although this recipe has three different types of cheeses in it, it still turned out to be a light pasta dish!  Also, I’d like it to be noted that Husband never liked stuffed shells…until this recipe! Bam, it’s like magic.

Enjoy 🙂

Ingredients: 

  • 6 ounces large shell pasta
  • 2 chicken breast half, cooked and diced
  • 8 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1 cup shredded monterey Jack cheese
  • 1 tablespoon light sour cream
  • 3 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1  1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook large pasta shells according to directions on passage.  Drain and set aside.

3. In a l arge bowl, combine half cooked, diced chicken, ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 1 cup of monterey jack cheese, sour cream, bread crumbs, parsley and salt and pepper. Mix well.

4. Spray a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick spray and cover the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce. Fill each large shell with the chicken/cheese mixture and place in the dish. Cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on top.

5.  Bake in the preheated oven uncovered for 40 minutes; serve warm.

Source: Taste and Tell

Beefy Tortellini

Posted in Crockpot, Entrees, Pasta by
This is another quick and easy crockpot recipe that I discovered from food.com.  I made a few changes to the recipe. I like this recipe because there’s so much room for creativity,  you can really tailor it to what you and your family like in your pasta.  I also love this recipe because, well I get home from a long day and already have a meal 99% made.
Enjoy!
Ingredients: 
  • 1 lb ground beef (can also substitute this for ground turkey, ground sausage)
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 3/4 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
  • 1/2 cup sliced black olives (optional)
  • 1/2 cup diced mushrooms (optional)
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and salt
  • 1 package of tortellini
Instructions: 
1. In skillet heat olive oil, add garlic and onion.  Once golden yellow, add ground beef and cook.
2.  Transfer drained and cooked ground beef to crackpot. Add ALL other ingredients, except for tortellini. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3.  Add tortellini, stir to combine.  Cover crockpot on low for 15-20 minutes, until tortellini is tender.  Sprinkle with parmasean cheese if desired.

Easy Skillet Chicken Parm

Posted in Entrees, Pasta by

Tonight for dinner I made an easy chicken parmesan recipe that I discovered on allrecipes.com.  I didn’t make too many changes to the recipe.  Chicken parm and eggplant parm are two of my favorite things to order at Italian restaurants, so I was pretty excited to find this recipe.  I like it for a couple of reasons, first because it doesn’t take forever to make and second because it didn’t involve any breading or deep frying, so it wasn’t as heavy (or unhealthy) as so many other chicken parm recipes are.  This turned out delicious, it’s a must try!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon garlic
  • 2 chicken breast, cut in half
  • Salt, pepper, italian seasoning
  • 2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
  • 1/2 pound of cooked pasta (pasta’s come in one pound packages, so I used half for the two of us)
  • 1/4 cup grated parmasean cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions:
1.  On medium-high heat, heat olive oil in skillet. Once hot, add garlic and chicken.  While chicken is cooking add pinch of salt, pepper, and italian seasoning to each side of chicken breast.
2.  Cook chicken breast for about 15 minutes total, until each side is a golden brown.
3.  Add pasta sauce and parmesan cheese. Reduce to medium heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked through.
4.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and let stand until cheese is completely melted.  Serve over pasta of your choice.
On the side I made some asparagus, that I cooked the same way that I made the zucchini with parmesan.  It turned out delicious! (Although Mina’s thoughts on the asparagus were – ewww whats that, those look alive).
Tonights meal was a success!

Three Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake

Posted in Entrees, Pasta by

Tonight for dinner I made this three cheese pasta bake.  I’ve been eyeing this recipe for awhile and I finally got the chance to make it.  It was cheesy, delicious and fairly simple to make!

I got the original recipe from allrecipes.com, but after reading several reviews, I made a few changes.

Diesel stood with begging puppy eyes the entire time I was in the kitchen cooking... How can you say no to these eyes?

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups multigrain rotini pasta
  • 1 large handful spinach leaves
  • 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets (I added this because I needed to use it before it went bad!)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
  • 1 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/4 cup light cream cheese
  • 1 cup mozzarella shredded cheese
  • 2 tablespoons grated light parmesan cheese
Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta as directed on package. Add spinach and broccoli to the boiling water for the last 1 minute.
2. Heat a large skillet and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add chicken, garlic and basil; cook diced chicken.
3. Add 2 cups of pasta sauce and 1 1/2 cups of diced tomatoes; bring to boil. Stir in 1/4 cup of cream cheese spread until melted.
4. Drain pasta, spinach, and broccoli. Add chicken, broccoli, and spinach to the sauce mixture; mix lightly. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Spoon into 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
4.  Cover with foil and bake in oven on 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and add other 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese. Put back in the oven for 3 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.
 Enjoy!

 

Bow Tie Pasta with Italian Sausage

Posted in Entrees, Pasta, Recipes by

So I have a confession to make.  You see, Mina hates sausage in his pasta. I was tired of doing pasta with a simple meat sauce…so I decided to try to be sneaky by taking the sausage out of it’s casing and I treated it like ground beef to make a pasta sauce.  So when I came to serve dinner, I didn’t mention that there could possibly be sausage in the pasta… just to see if perhaps he would give it another chance. Sneaky sneaky, I know. And  well, I failed. I suppose it was a worth a try though!  He noticed the sausage and wasn’t a fan. On a more positive note, I liked it and so did a friend who was having dinner with us!   So, if you’re a fan of sausage then I think this recipe is worth trying!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spicy or sweet Italian sausage (I used spicy)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 can (15 ounces) tomatoes, diced
  • 3/4 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano, crumbled
  • 1 teaspoon dried leaf basil, crumbled
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 8 ounces bow-tie shaped pasta, or farfalle
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
1. Remove Italian sausage from casing.
2. Heat olive oil and brown garlic, onion, and sausage.  Drain excess fat.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
4.  Cover and put on low, allowing it to simmer for about 20 minutes.
5.  Cook pasta and drain water. Mix sauce and cooked pasta together.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
I ran out of lettuce for a traditional salad, so on the side I made a cucumber, tomato (I had red and yellow tomatoes), feta cheese, and dried cranberry salad.  I seasoned it with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and some parsley.  It was delicious!