One Pan Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta

In my never ending quest for quick, healthy, and tasty weeknight meals, I find myself referring more to Pinterest and a few favourite food bloggers, and less to the collection of cookbooks I've built over the years.

Which is how I stumbled across this recipe at Iowa Girl Eats.  I made some minor changes to accommodate what I had on hand, and increased the quantities to allow for many teenagers feeding at the same time.  I ended up with an amazing dish that everyone ate, it took me less than an hour to make, and I only dirtied one pan....and a cutting board...and a knife... and a spatula.

Red and green peppers, and a Vidalia onion.

Mild Italian sausages, because not everyone in our house likes the hot ones.  Use Hot Italian sausages if you prefer.

When they're finished cooking, remove them from the pan and cut into quarters.  Then sauté your veggies in the same pan.

Pour in some chicken stock and marinara sauce, along with a few spices.  Add the pasta and sausages.  Simmer until the pasta is cooked.  Eat.

One Pan Italian Sausage and Pepper Pasta

adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

2 packages Italian sausage, 10 sausages total

1/4 cup water

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1/2 large white Vidalia onion, or one small cooking onioin, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

4 cups chicken broth 

3 cups marinara sauce

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp crushed chili pepper 

1/4 tsp thyme

1 lb / 900 g penne pasta

Cook the sausages in a large pan, this will feed eight people....unless you cut the quantities in half.  Once they start to brown, pour in 1/4 cup of water so they don't blacken and stick to the pan.  While they're cooking, slice up your peppers and onions.  When the sausages are cooked through, remove to a plate or cutting board.

Sauté the peppers and onions in the same pan that the sausages cooked it.  Don't clean it...you want to keep those pan flavours.  When the veggies are crisp tender, add the garlic and sauté for another minute or so.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour in the chicken broth (I used turkey broth) and a good quality, authentic marinara sauce.  This is not the time to be opening up the Ragu or the Prego.  I used a jar of the White Linen Marinara Sauce from Costco. Stir in the spices and bring the mixture to a boil.  Add the pasta and ensure it is entirely covered by the liquid. Cut the cooked sausages into quarters and place them on on top of the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Cover and simmer 8-10 minutes until the pasta is cooked al dente. Stir and serve, with or without some shredded cheese or shaved parmesan on top :)

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Shamrocks, and Tater Tot Casserole

We celebrated a birthday in our house on St. Patrick's Day.   

The tradition is that the birthday child, or in this case adult, is allowed to choose their favourite meal for dinner on their birthday.  So we decked out the kitchen in shamrock swag and made Tater Tot Casserole.

Creamy, spicy ground beef, green beans, frozen tater tots, and shredded cheese.  This is simple comfort food, and it was devoured in record time.  The potato topping and GREEN beans made it work as a St. Patrick's Day meal which was an added bonus.

Tater Tot Casserole

1 pound lean ground beef.

1 onion, diced

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp Montreal Steak Spice (if you can't find it, there's a DIY recipe here)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup, OR this Basic White Sauce, if you prefer to avoid canned soups

1 tbsp ketchup

Dash of hot sauce (optional)

1 can of green beans, or fresh steamed green beans

1 bag of  frozen Tater Tots

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F.  In a large pan, scramble fry ground beef with onion until the meat is cooked and the onions are soft.  Depending on how lean your ground beef is, you may want to drain some of the fat from the pan.  I usually buy extra lean ground beef and don't bother with draining the fat from the meat.  Add garlic and seasoning, stir and cook for another minute or so.

Stir in the basic white sauce OR cream of mushroom soup, along with the ketchup and hot sauce, if using.  Heat through while stirring occasionally.  Transfer to casserole dish.  If using canned green beans, drain first and pour over meat mixture.  I like to use fresh green beans which I've cut into bite sized pieces and steamed until crisp-tender.

Add a layer of frozen Tater Tots over the green beans, and top with shredded cheese.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked and the cheese is melted.

And this was the requested dessert.  Stay tuned.

*Update*

The recipe is up for the Coconut Banana Chia Chocolate Snack Cake

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Back to School, Busy Night Casseroles, and a Basic White Sauce

It’s September.  The kids are back to school and hockey is back on the calendar.  The weekend before school started I made the mistake of asking the kids to clean their rooms.  I ended up with eleven loads of laundry.  

Someone needs to kick my photo-a-day-arse because I've been missing plenty of photo opportunities despite the charming capture of Laundrygate.  I managed the obligatory back to school photos, four out of six anyway... although I find as the kids get older they get decidedly more scowly.  

I'm getting up earlier to pack lunches, and discovering that it's still dark... which strikes me as the most depressing thing about fall.

I know there's plenty to love about fall, but right now I'm in an end of summer funk.  

As hard as it is to let summer go, it’s time to welcome some structure and routine back into our lives.  A big part of that is dinnertime.  Something nourishing, and on the table shortly after everyone gets home from work and school, yet quick and easy enough for the nights when we’re heading right back out the door.  I’ll often throw together some kind of a casserole, combining meat, veggies, and grain or pasta… making it up as I go along.  Unfortunately, many casserole recipes call for some version of a creamed soup in a can.  I’ve used them in the past, and I’d be lying if I said I’d never use them again (our favourite tuna casserole depends on cream of mushroom soup), but I've come up with a slightly less convenient, healthier option which I have been using more and more often.

I'm sharing it with you, because I know I'm not the only casserole lover out there that wants to kick the canned soup addiction.  It's not exactly a recipe... more a basic framework that's easily modified based on what's in the fridge or cupboard.

It's a super simple, basic white sauce.  I started making this as a pasta topping when the cost of the fresh Alfredo sauce at the grocery store crept past the $10 mark for the two containers needed to feed eight of us.  A simple roux of butter and flour, some milk, seasonings and cheese will give you an amazing multi-purpose sauce.  

Use cream and Parmesan with a dash of nutmeg for a cheesy, creamy Alfredo.  Or Cheddar for homemade macaroni and cheese.   I recently discovered the shaved Parmesan at Costco and I am loving it... I could eat it right out of the container (okay, I DID eat some straight up), it’s that good.

Add generous amounts of basil and garlic, some cooked chicken, steamed broccoli, and cooked rice or quinoa for the casserole that comes in at a close second to our beloved tuna casserole.

This one’s also really good. Lean ground beef and onions scramble fried with Montreal Steak Spice, mix in the white sauce with some steamed green beans, and add a scalloped potato topping.  Or skip the potatoes and combine with pasta.  Delicious either way.

We do a seafood version too.  Sauteed scallops and shrimp are added to the sauce along with a bag of steamed mixed veggies and served over pasta.

The ingredient combinations are limitless, and easy to adapt to personal preferences.  Here's how I whip up an easy, multi-purpose white sauce:

Using your favourite whisk, mix up a basic roux with equal parts melted butter and flour until well combined.  This it not my favourite whisk, it's my second favourite.  My favourite whisk was nowhere to be seen and I later found it in the backyard.  I don't want to know why.  I'm glad my dishwasher has a sanitize setting.

Once the rue is bubbling and golden, slowing pour in milk, whisking constantly while it thickens.  Once you've achieved a nice smooth consistency, add some seasoning.  This is the batch that went into the quinoa, chicken, broccoli concoction so it's heavy on basil, with a dash of Worchestire sauce, some minced garlic and a dash of nutmeg.

And here's my beloved Parmesan.  Once you've seasoned your sauce you can add the cheese.  Your sauce will thicken as the cheese melts, so keep whisking and add milk as needed.  I find myself adding milk frequently throughout the entire process as it has a tendency to keep thickening even as it sits.

Basic White Sauce

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

dash salt

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Whisk in flour until smooth and well combined.  Gradually pour in milk, whisking constantly.  Season, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.  That's it!

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