Hearty pasta casserole
I discovered quite recently that this dish is hubby's favorite pasta dish (yup, he pretty much has a favorite for each category of food out there!). It is very colorful with the different peppers (I like using red, yellow and orange) and the sausage makes it more filling. It is from 300 Best Comfort Food Recipes by Joanna Burkhart. When I was first making this dish, we would get our sausages from Cioffi's Meat Deli. It is this fantastic little Italian deli that was close by our old apartment. Now, I use whatever Italian-style sausages that I can find at the grocery, but I've discovered that President's Choice has recently forayed into Italian sausage, and theirs is pretty good. Enjoy!
Baked penne with Italian sausage and sweet peppers
Baked penne with Italian sausage and sweet peppers
Fruity rice
This recipe comes from Cooking for two & More from the Pampered Chef company. I was looking for a new recipe that was light and easy on prep, and this one fit the bill quite perfectly. The combination of the cranberries and chopped dried apricots with the onions, ginger and curry powder gives the dish a nice sweet and spicy flavor. We had some chopped turkey on the side with the rice, but it can work as a meal entirely on its own. Enjoy!
Cashew-curry fruited rice
Cashew-curry fruited rice
A good, hearty lasagne
This recipe comes from Cooking a commonsense guide. It was a gift from a family friend, given to me before going off to university. It is definitely a Sunday meal, as it does take time to prepare, but it’s easy to freeze once cooked and still tastes fantastic. Since I started making it, I have made several modifications, and the result is the recipe below. Click the link to download the recipe.
Lasagna
Lasagna
Quick German noodles
This recipe is from Ted Allen's new book In My Kitchen. Spaetzle is something that I've been wanting to try, and I really liked the addition of the chives to the noodles in Ted's recipe. The recipe indicates to use a colander over the boiling pot of water, but you can also use the large holes on a box grater or a potato ricer if you have one. I acquired a ricer after my first attempt with the recipe, as the holes in my colander are just a little too small and it was too difficult with my Ikea grater lid. It was definitely much easier with the ricer, just have to figure out the proper dough ratio to put in. Enjoy!
Herb spaetzle
Herb spaetzle
Guy food pasta
This recipe comes from Ted Allen's The Food You Want to Eat. The dish itself is surprisingly filling with all the vegetables combined with the sausage. Ted writes that you can actually do the prep as you are cooking (something that I rarely do; I usually do all my prep first, then put it all together). Begin with the tomatoes and onions. While the onions are cooking, sliced the mushrooms. While the sauce cooks, prep the spinach. Make sure to save the pasta liquid as indicated in the recipe; I found the first time that I didn't need the second 1/4 cup, but it doesn't hurt to have it, just in case. Enjoy!
Ziti with sausage, tomato, mushrooms and spinach
Ziti with sausage, tomato, mushrooms and spinach