One Pot Creamy Sausage Pasta

I am not a huge ground meat fan. Everyone else in my family is, so when I saw this recipe on Smells Like Home, I knew it would be a hit. I pawned off most of my meat to Miss F, who was happy to eat it.  C complained that it was too "saucy" but Miss F and I enjoyed it very much.  The one pot pasta trick makes for such an easy clean up.  Why haven't I been making pasta like this all along?  It really makes sense.   I used a jar of Kroger brand marinara, which worked just fine and only cost $1.

One Pot Creamy Sausage Pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 pound ground Italian sausage
¼ cup dry white wine
24 ounce jar marinara sauce
4 cups water, divided
16 ounces penne pasta
½ cup cream
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and sausage to the pan. Break up the sausage as it sautés. Cook for 5 minutes until the sausage is browned. Add the wine to the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the sauce and 3 cups of the water into the skillet, bring to a simmer and stir in the pasta. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, adding more water if necessary. Stir in the cream and cheese, cook for 2 minutes more. Salt and pepper to taste and cool for 5 minutes before serving.

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Calzones

C and I visited New York to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We visited the Transit Museum in Brooklyn and realized that it was the first time we had ever been to Brooklyn, it was exactly as we expected it to be.  After visiting the museum, we decided to find pizza.  C and I always disagree on toppings, so I just ordered a slice while he had a calzone.  His calzone looked so delicious, I knew I wanted to make them when we got home.  We each were able to personalize our calzones with our preferred toppings and it was a huge dinner success.  I used Wolfgang Puck's pizza dough recipe, just divided it into four to make four calzones.  Miss F loved assembling them and was a big fan of her personalized calzone.

Calzones

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 ½ cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees )
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing the pizza crusts
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
20 slices pepperoni
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 mushrooms, quartered
1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

In the bowl of the stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water. Add the honey and stir together, let sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, then the flour and salt. Use the dough hook to knead at low speed for 2 minutes. Turn up the speed to medium and knead 5 minutes more. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead by hand for 3 minutes more. Oil the mixing bowl and return the dough ball to it, tossing well to coat with oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes to an hour in a warm spot. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, shape each by gently pulling the dough and tucking it underneath the bottom of the ball. Roll the ball on a smooth surface until it is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Cover with a towel and let rest for 30 minutes more. The dough can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 1 to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone inside. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Press out each dough piece on a lightly floured surface, gradually spreading each into a circle 8" across. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cheese on half of each circle, then top with pepperoni, bell pepper, mushroom and tomato. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cheese on top of each, then fold over to create a half circle. Press the edges to seal. Transfer the calzones to the preheated oven and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown.

While the calzones are baking, simmer the crushed tomatoes over medium-low heat with the Italian seasoning. Serve the calzones with tomato sauce on the side.

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Lasagna

I am generally not a huge lasagna fan. C is a huge lasagna fan, so I figured I would make him a large pan on our last day in Aspen so he could have it for leftovers. The plan was to freeze some for the future. He liked the lasagna so much, there wasn't any leftover to freeze.  And I must say that I really enjoyed it as well.  I usually don't like ricotta, but the ricotta in this recipe works.  Mainly because I think there isn't a ton, so what is there really melts in with the mozzarella.  Miss F had never had lasagna and she loved it.  C has requested that I make a pan of lasagna every time we visit.  Or at least until he gets sick of it.  I adapted this recipe from All Recipes per a recommendation that it was the best ever.  And it was!

Lasagna

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 pound lean ground beef
½ cup minced onion
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
½ cup water
1 ½ teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
18 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
¾ pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, carrot and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with basil, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, and pepper. Simmer, covered, for about 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes or use no-bake noodles dry. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with shredded mozzarella, egg, and ½ teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To assemble, spread 1 ½ cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one third of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 ½ cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers twice more ending with the mozzarella slices on top. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes, until cheese starts to brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

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Penne with Vodka Sauce and Italian Sausage

I remember the first time I had vodka sauce, I believe it was after seeing an Oprah episode about it. And I was in heaven. I still have no clue what the vodka does that makes it so much more amazing than your regular tomato-cream sauce. I thought adding sausage and trying a new recipe for vodka sauce seemed like it would be a winner in my house. To my shock, Miss F was not a huge fan of the sausage, but she loved the pasta. I really liked this sauce recipe, it was incredibly easy and didn't use much vodka at all, which leaves more for drinking. Thanks to Janet for the great recipe!

Penne with Vodka Sauce and Italian Sausage

¼ cup olive oil
4 links Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
28 ounces crushed tomatoes
¾ teaspoon salt
1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons vodka
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup chopped fresh basil

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Fry the sausage for 3 to 5 minutes, until browned. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring until garlic is golden brown. Add tomatoes and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook penne according to package directions. Drain. Add vodka and cream to sauce and bring to a boil. Remove sausage from sauce and slice. Stir pasta and sliced sausage into the sauce; cook over low heat for 1 minute. Stir in basil and serve.

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Sausage and Peppers Baked Penne

One of the first dishes I ever made without following a recipe was baked ziti. I despise ricotta cheese, so generally I avoid most recipes for lasagna and baked ziti. Mozzarella is delicious and binds the pasta together well enough together that you don't even miss the binding properties of the ricotta. Miss F gobbled up this pasta and ate most of the meat from my plate. C really enjoyed the dish as well, so it is definitely a keeper in our house. The sweet bell peppers and spicy sausage are perfect together. I bought a new basil plant, let's see how long I can keep it alive this year.

Sausage and Peppers Baked Penne

1 pound Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces each)
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon salt

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound penne pasta
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In a Dutch oven, sauté and break up the Italian sausage until cooked through. Remove to a plate and drain all but 1 tablespoon of grease from the pot. Sauté the onions until soft, adding the garlic for the last 30 seconds of cooking. Add the tomato paste and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, red pepper and salt; return the sausage to the pan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the bell peppers with the olive oil and place the peppers on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes. When the peppers are done, reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Prepare the pasta per package directions, under cooking by two minutes. Drain.

Add the bell peppers, pasta and 1 ½ cups of the cheese to the sauce. Stir to combine. Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Add the pasta mixture to the pan and top with the remaining 1 ½ cups cheese. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

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Recipe Swap: Crockpot Spaghetti and Meatballs

The theme of this week's recipe swap was One Pot Meals. I received Crockpot Spaghetti and Meatballs from The Cookaholic Wife. I am not a big fan of meat sauces on my pasta, so meatballs are perfect for my family since both C and Miss F love meat.  I adapted the recipe a bit because I didn't want to use jarred sauce.  This recipe is a keeper.  The meatballs were a huge hit with Miss F and surprisingly, I really enjoyed them as well.  The house smelled amazing all day as the sauce simmered away.  The meatballs held together beautifully and were perfectly cooked.  Thanks so much to A Taste of Home Cooking for hosting another fantastic swap.

Crockpot Spaghetti and Meatballs

½ pound ground beef
½ pound Italian sausage
1 egg
½ cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 - 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
6 ounce can tomato paste
½ cup red wine
½ onion, diced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound dried spaghetti

In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, sausage, eggs, bread crumbs, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Form the meat mixture into 16-20 meatballs. In the crock pot, add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, onion, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Add the meatballs into the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 15 minutes before serving, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add in the spaghetti noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain and serve meatballs and sauce over noodles.

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Breakfast Tacos

These make a great breakfast that can easily be made on a busy weekday morning. Rotel can easily be substituted for the tomato and jalapeno, if you have that on hand. Bacon can also be used instead of sausage. Honestly, any breakfast food you like can be wrapped up in a tortilla and served with cheese and salsa...well, maybe not pancakes...

Breakfast Tacos
makes six tacos

½ pound breakfast sausage
¼ onion, chopped
½ jalapeno, minced
1 tomato, chopped
6 eggs
6 tortillas
1/3 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
salsa

In a large sauce pan, sauté the sausage, onion and jalapeno over medium heat, breaking the sausage up. Saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sausage is cooked through. Add the tomato and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes more.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs. Add the eggs to the sausage mixture and cook until eggs are set.

Warm the tortillas and fill each with the sausage and egg mixture. Top each taco with 1 tablespoon of cheese. Serve with your favorite salsa.

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Breakfast Braid

I originally wanted to make this recipe for my playgroup, but I chickened out at the last moment and made Sausage Swirls instead. I should have gone for it, it was amazingly easy to make and turned out beautifully. I adapted it from a Cooking Light recipe, making it un-light.  C said that it needed more cheese, I wonder how he would have felt about the Cooking Light version?

Breakfast Braid
6 servings

1 (13.8-ounce) can thin crust refrigerated pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons frozen chopped onion and bell pepper mix
8 ounces breakfast sausage
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 425°. Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 17 x 12–inch rectangle (size of the baking sheet).

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in eggs; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until set. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle ½ cup Monterey Jack lengthwise down center of dough, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch border on each side. Spoon egg mixture evenly over cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese over egg mixture.

Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Arrange strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally over filling. Press ends under to seal. Brush with egg white. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

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Sausage Swirls

The first time I ever had these, I had been at my friend Shannon's house for a pool party. We had been swimming all day and her friend Shelley arrived with these amazing bites. I couldn't get enough of them. They are always a huge hit at parties and are ridiculously easy. I made these for a morning playgroup and they were gobbled up in no time.  I was amazed how easy they were when Shelley shared with me how she made them.

Sausage Swirls
makes three dozen

1 pound of spicy breakfast sausage
1 package of refrigerated crescent rolls

Roll out the crescent roll dough and press together to form one large rectangle.  Spread the uncooked sausage all over the dough, leaving a 1/4" border at the top.  Roll up the dough, starting at the long side of the rectangle, working up to the 1/4" border at the top.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Cut the refrigerated log into 36 equal slices.  Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until sausage is cooked through and the dough is golden brown.  Serve.

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Pepperoni, Sausage and Mozzarella Stuffing

One of C's favorite meals we ever ate was at Butter in New York City. Imagine my surprise when I caught The Cooking Loft on the Food Network, hosted by Alex Guarnaschelli, executive chef at Butter. If anyone from the Food Network is reading this, bring it back, I like it so much better than her current show, but I am still thrilled she is on television. She did a Thanksgiving show featuring roast turkey with a pepperoni, sausage and mozzarella stuffing that looked unbelievable decadent and C had to have it. Every time I make a turkey, he requests it. He finally got his wish yesterday. I adpated her recipe a lot, so it was really an inspiration, not a go-by. I didn't stuff the turkey with it, because I selfishly wanted traditional stuffing, not a meaty-cheesey one.

Pepperoni, Sauasge and Mozzarella Stuffing
printable recipe

6 slices of white bread
1 tablespoon butter

½ pound breakfast sausage
30 pepperoni slices
2 ribs celery, sliced
½ onion, diced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
¼ cup white wine
½ pound mozzarella, cubed
½ to ¾ cup chicken broth

Toast the bread, butter each piece on both sides. Cut into ¼ to ½ inch squares and place in a large bowl.

In a large sauté pan (I prefer stainless to non-stick for this recipe), cook the breakfast sausage over medium heat, breaking it up as you cook through. Add the sausage to the bowl with the bread, keeping the fat in the pan. If the sausage didn’t produce a lot of fat, add a tablespoon of butter to the hot pan. Sauté the pepperoni, celery and onions until tender, for approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, making sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan left by the sausage. Add the thyme and sage, simmer for a minute. Add the pepperoni, celery and onion mixture to the bowl with the bread an sausage, stir. Add the mozzarella and the chicken broth so that all the bread is moistened.

Add this mixture to a large covered casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes to warm through or stuff a turkey with it.

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Sausage Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I adapted this from an Emeril recipe. Both pork sausage and portobello mushrooms were on special, with Foodie Points, at Central Market this week. I love stuffed mushrooms, so I figured to give giant stuffed mushrooms a try, entree sizing the wonderfully poppable stuffed mushrooms. Next time I will just use one giant mushroom and cut it in half, neither of us was able to nearly finish the whole giant portobello. I served it with a spring green mix tossed with buttermilk ranch.

C's first comment, "I like mushrooms in small doses". Uh oh!

After he tried it, he admitted to liking it. Phew! Though he did think that it would be better topped on a pizza instead of a mushroom. His grand plan is to combine the sausage mix with the pizza crust from the Thai Chicken Pizzas. That idea may not be half bad.

Sausage Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

2 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed (reserve minced stems)
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
5 ounces hot Italian sausage
5 ounces sweet Italian sausage
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/8 cup finely chopped celery
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Using your hands, lightly rub each portobello mushroom with 2 teaspoons of olive oil.

Cook the sausage in a medium skillet until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and mushroom stems and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

Transfer sausage-vegetable mixture to the bowl of a food processor. Add, 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Pulse until mixture is finely chopped and comes together slightly, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the egg, and stir until well combined.

Divide the filling among the mushroom caps, about 1 cup for each mushroom. Place the filled mushrooms on a baking sheet. Combine remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs and 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small mixing bowl. Divide the bread crumb mixture evenly among the tops of the mushrooms. Bake until golden brown on top and the mushrooms are tender, about 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Garnish with remaining tablespoon of parsley.

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