Caprese pasta with turkey meatballs

I hope everyone is recuperating from the holidays! We are still working through all our leftovers and cookie platters. My kids are still in that post-Christmas honeymoon stage, waking up early and staying up late to play with their new toys. I'm just trying to decide if it's silly of us to keep our Christmas decorations up year round. Not only do they make me happy, they are a pain to put away and I just don't have the drive to do it right now.

 

On to this delicious dish...I made a similiar dish several years ago, following a recipe from Giada. Of course we loved it and, of course, I lost the recipe. So I created my own. For all I know it's exactly the same, but I'm pretty sure there are so changes. I think she used ground chicken, which is great if that's what you want to use, but I happened to have ground turkey.

 

 

This dish is amazing. The meatballs are bite size and loaded with flavor. The tomatoes are warm and burst in your mouth. The cheese is melty and soft, gathering the flavors of the dish. You will impress your family with this dish. Promise.

 

 

Fry up your meatballs. You'll have to do this in batches.

 

See all those beautiful brown bits? You'll scrape those off with the chicken stock. They add a lot of flavor.

 

Letting the meatballs hang out for a bit.

 

You'll add the chicken stock to the pan and use this to cook through the meatballs and soften the tomatoes.

 

Here's a great how-to for cutting basil. Stack your basil on top of each other, roll in up, and chop. You'll end up with a beautiful pile of julienned basil, and it took less than a minute.

 

Adding everything together. Yes, I used two different pastas. I just happened to have half a box of each.

 

 

Caprese Pasta with Turkey Meatballs

by Girls in Aprons, inspired by Giada di Laurentiis

 

1 lb ground turkey

1/4 Italian bread crumbs

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 eggs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 14-oz can chicken stock (about 2 cups)

10 oz grape tomatoes

1 lb pasta, preferably bowtie, penne, or rotini

Salt, for pasta water

1/2 lb (8 oz) mozzerella cheese, cubed

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, julienned

 

Mix ground turkey, bread crumbs, dried basil, tomato paste, eggs, Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, and Worchestershire sauce together. Form into small meatballs, about the size of a ping pong ball. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add meatballs, cooking in batches, browning the meatballs on all sides. Remove meatballs from pan and set aside. In the same pan, add chicken broth, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits left over from the meatballs. Bring the broth to a simmer and add the tomatoes and return the meatballs to the pan.

 

While tomatoes simmer, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 tsp salt. Cook pasta according to package directions.

 

When tomatoes are soft and the meatballs are cooked through, 7-8 minutes, remove from heat. Add the cooked pasta using a slotted spoon. Toss everything together. Transfer to a serving dish. Immediately add cubed mozzerella cheese and basil, stirring until the cheese starts to melt. Serve warm.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

My kids are spoiled. At least when it comes to pasta. Well, not even the pasta. It's the sauce that they are quick to judge.

 

For awhile they were fine with just about anything related to pasta. Cheap macaroni and cheese, pasta with butter, garlic spaghetti. Even Prego. It was my saving grace after a busy day. Within fifteen minutes my family could eat spaghetti with Prego and everyone was happy.

 

Then, my amazing sister-in-law, Melanie, gave me a recipe for a large batch of homemade meat sauce. I gave it a try one afternoon and within a few hours I was freezing 6 servings of meat sauce. And not just any meat sauce. The Best Meat Sauce.

 

Now, my kids refuse Prego. I can't even jazz up some Prego with a few home additions, such as a can of drained diced tomatoes, spices, or cheese. They can tell. It's not The Sauce. So while they will continue to eat pasta with butter and garlic spaghetti (and the occasional boxed mac and cheese, but that's another story)...we will forever use The Sauce for our spagetti dinners.

 

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
by Girls in Aprons

1 lb. spagetti noodles
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
2 small-medium carrots, diced
2 rib celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 4-oz can mushrooms, drained (optional)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the ground beef, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Continue stirring until meat is cooked and vegetables are starting to be tender, 5-7 minutes. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and mushrooms (if using) and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Toss with cooked and drained spaghetti noodles and serve.

Italian Pasta Bites

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I've been wanting to make this for a long time. My family loves pasta, which is a good thing because it's cheap and easy and we have it at least twice a week.

After I had my two boys, I went on a carb-free diet for about a month, which was honestly about all I could handle. The only thing that kept me sane during that month was Diet Dr Pepper which luckily has no carbs :) Anyway, my husband wanted nothing to do with my diet. He comes from a French-Italian family and the idea of eating no carbs is about as foreign as not breathing. While I ate grilled chicken, salad, and scrambled eggs for a majority of my meals, he gladly piled his plate with pasta and potatoes and bread.

Luckily I'm over that diet. Like forever. I'd much rather amp up my exercise routine than say no to pasta. And this recipe is one of the reasons why.

I used a variety of white cheeses, so it's not your traditional macaroni noodles with cheddar. I also steep fresh rosemary and thyme in the milk before adding it to the sauce to give the dish. The taste is earthy and aromatic. While I like using thyme in dishes, rosemary is a bit tough to eat and I didn't want to ruin the creamy texture of the pasta, so by steeping the herbs in the milk you get the taste without actually adding the herbs to the pasta.

Start by greasing your mini muffin tin with butter and then with a mixture of breadcrumbs and Parmesan. This will give your pasta bites a great crusty, cheesy bottom.

The pasta is delicious on its own. If you wanted to serve it as a side dish, go right ahead. The pasta bites are just a fun way to serve the pasta, especially for a party.

Stuff the pasta into the muffin tins. You'll want to lightly press down so the pasta sticks to each other and keeps its shape. Top with a bit of the breadcrumb and Parmesan mixture.

Doesn't it look delicious! You can reheat the pasta cups in the muffin tin or just on a baking tray for about 5 minutes at 400 degrees. The recipe makes 3-4 dozen pasta bites, depending how much you stuff your muffin tins.

Italian Pasta Bites
by Girls in Aprons

Butter, for greasing the pan
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups milk
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 cup shredded smoked gouda
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Using a mini muffin tin, butter each mini muffin cup. Mix 1/4 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Add 1-2 teaspoons of mixture to each muffin cup. Spread the mixture around so that it adheres to the butter. Set aside.

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, pour milk into a small saucepan on low heat and add fresh herbs. Stir frequently until bubbles begin to form around the edges. Turn off the heat and let sit 15 minutes.

In a large pot over medium low heat, melt 3 Tbsp butter. Add 4 Tbsp flour and whisk until butter and flour are combined. Whisk for one minute. Remove fresh herbs from milk. Slowly stir in milk to butter and flour mixture. Continue to cook on medium low heat until sauce starts to thicken. Add shredded cheese a handful at a time and whisk until melted and incorporated. Quickly whisk in egg yolks and salt. Add in cooked macaroni.

Using a tablespoon, place macaroni mixture into prepared mini muffin tins, pressing down lightly. Slightly overfill each cup. Sprinkle remaining bread crumb-and-Parmesan mixture over each cup. Bake for 15 minutes or until the macaroni was starting to lightly brown.

Let cool slightly before removing. Serve warm.

Cheesy Florentine Stuffed Chicken (and a bonus stuffed pasta recipe)

Isn't everything better with cheese? Okay, well maybe not everything. I worked in a preschool for a little bit and there was this little boy would had to have ranch on everything. Literally. Pizza, nachos, even his fruit. Ranch certainly doesn't make everything taste better, just like cheese in your brownies (unless it's cream cheese, of course) might be a little, um, gross.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

My kiddos, probably following in their Italian daddy's footsteps, love cheese. The more the better. They eat the mild cheeses like cheddar and mozzerella but they'll also eat gouda and gruyere.

I'm always looking for ways to incorporate cheese into my dishes. Cheese is easy to use, delicious, relatively cheap, and, in moderation, good for you.

I used to chart what my first born ate every day, just to make sure he was reaching the dietary guidelines for proper nutrition. Now I just hope that somewhere during the day they had their fruits, veggies, and grains, and in doing so try to incorporate good food in whatever I make for them. In this recipe, for instance, I've used low fat cheese, protein filled chicken, and spinach. Dairy, protein, veggies. With a side of brown rice and strawberries for dessert I felt like this might make up for the hot dogs they insisted on for lunch followed by the cookies for snack :)

Mix all that delicious cheesiness together with the spinach. It's quite good on its own, really. I let the kids taste test for their approval.

I know no one likes to see raw chicken in a picture. There's no way to make that pretty. Sorry. But here's a picture of the "pocket" you need to create for your filling.

Fill up the chicken. Don't try to use all the cheese mixture, you'll use it for a pasta recipe in a few nights and thank me for the 2-in-1 dinner idea.

Cheesy Florentine Stuffed Chicken
by Girls in Aprons

4 large chicken breasts
1 15-oz container ricotta (whole or skim)
1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 2 Tbsp, divided
1 tsp garlic powder
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
Olive oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch pan.

Using a paring knife, cut a pocket in the side of each chicken breast, making sure not to pierce the opposite side. Place each cut chicken breast in the prepared pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together ricotta, mozzerella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, garlic, and spinach. Using a spoon, stuff the chicken pockets with the ricotta mixture. You will not use all the ricotta mixture. Use it for the following recipe. Brush the tops of the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and the 2 Tbsp Parmesdan cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear and thermometer reads at least 165 degrees.

Beef and Cheese Stuffed Shells
by Girls in Aprons

1/2 lb ground beef
Leftover ricotta spinach mixture
1 box large pasta shells
1 cup prepared pasta sauce

In a large pan, cook ground beef until browned. Drain. Remove from heat. Add leftover ricotta spinach mixture.

In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook large pasta shells for about 8 minutes or until still slightly hard. Drain and cool on an oiled baking sheet.

Using a small spoon, stuff the shells with the meat-ricotta mixture. Place in a greased 9x13-inch baking pan. Top each stuffed shell with a spoonful of pasta sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melty and the pasta is cooked.

Penne with Beef and Arugula

You know that feeling of excitement you get when you go out to dinner at a nice restaurant? You know you're going to get great food that you might not be able to replicate at home. You are going to be served, you'll have unlimited Diet Coke (always a plus for me!) and no dishes. We don't eat out that often, but when I do I always get giddy.

That same feeling applies when I eat dinner with anyone from my husband's side of the family. They are all stellar cooks - you know, the kind that can throw something together without a recipe and somehow it magically tastes amazing. I hang out in the kitchen like a star-struck apprentice just to learn a few things.

My sister-in-law, Sophie, grilled romaine hearts once. Amazing.

My mother-in-law, Josette, made a split pea soup for Christmas Eve once. I don't even like split pea soup but I can't stop thinking about how delicious is was. And no, she doesn't remember how she made it. She just "threw a little bit of this, a little bit of that" together.

I really could go on and on.

Sophie had us for dinner one night, and made this great recipe that included penne pasta, steak, arugula, basil, and a balsamic vinaigrette. My husband, Jeremiah, was immediately in love and begged Sophie for the recipe.

Turns out, the recipe comes from my idol, Giada. Love her! So sadly, we can't take credit for this one, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't share one of our family's favorite dishes? I will be making this one for Jeremiah for Valentine's Day, and probably again for Father's Day. It's always his first request.

Penne with Beef and Arugula

by Giada de Laurentiis



1 (1-pound) New York strip steak (I use any thick steak on sale)

1 teaspoon herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning)

1 garlic clove, minced

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons

1 pound penne pasta

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for steak and pasta water

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for steak

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

2 cups chopped arugula

Season the steak with salt and freshly ground black pepper, herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning), and minced garlic. In a skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook steak about 7 minutes per side. Remove the meat from pan and let it rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak. Set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water.

In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, fresh herbs, and 3/4 cup olive oil. In a large bowl toss the pasta with half of the salad dressing and the reserved pasta water. Add the arugula and steak, more dressing, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, as needed.

Serve warm.

Chicken Alfredo (without the guilt!)

I love holidays. Christmas and Fourth of July are my favorites, followed closely by Thanksgiving and Halloween. But even the smaller holidays are exciting for me! I consider Valentine's Day to be a smaller holiday. Now all you Valentine's Day lovers don't get all angry. I only consider it smaller because my hubby doesn't get the day off. But....I love to go all out for this holiday! I love to show my family and friends how much I really love them.

This year I'm doing a countdown to V-day with my hubby. Each day he gets a small treat or gift with a cute note attached to it. My kids will get fun treats on V-day, and of course I'm making treats for their classroom friends. We'll post those recipes later!

Here is a recipe that you can make for your sweetie for Valentine's Day. It is super easy, and way healthier than the traditional version of alfredo sauce (hence the "without the guilt" part). Now you can have your alfredo and eat it too! And it's a ROMANTIC meal. There is something about pasta that screams romance to me, more than any other dish (except maybe chocolate covered strawberries, but you can't have that for dinner...or can you? Hmmm...). Maybe it's that famous scene in "Lady and the Tramp" but sharing a big bowl of pasta is the perfect meal for Valentine's Day!

**Valentine's hint: Pour a little tomato or spaghetti sauce in your alfredo to make pink "love" sauce!

Melt your butter and add minced garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and whisk into butter until it bubbles (this is your thickener, or roux).

Start cooking your chicken strips, seasoning with garlic powder and salt.

Cook your fettucini noodles according to package directions (to al dente)

Add your chicken broth (careful - it may splatter!) and stir into your roux. Cut off pieces of your cream cheese and stir until melted in. Add your paremesan. Ta-da! You're done!

Stir noodles into sauce until combined. Add chicken (and I added peas) and serve with extra parmesan cheese. And have a Lady and the Tramp moment.

Chicken Alfredo (without the guilt!)

submitted by Girls in Aprons (adapted from Kraft foods)

1 lb. chicken, cut into strips

1 lb. fettucini noodles

3 T butter

3 T flour

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

8 oz. cream cheese, softened and cubed

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Optional - add 1 cup frozen peas, chopped asparagus, chopped fresh spinach, or any other veggie you prefer

Cook chicken, seasoning with garlic powder and salt. Set aside.

Cook noodles according to package directions for al dente (I used just shy of a whole package)

While noodles are cooking, melt butter in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Add minced garlic and let it saute in butter until fragrant, about 30 seconds or so. Whisk in flour until combined and bubbly. Stir in chicken broth until combined. Then add cream cheese cubes and parmesan cheese and stir until cheeses melt. If using veggies, stir in now until cooked through (or wilted if using spinach). Toss with pasta and chicken. Serve warm.



Lemon Herb Pasta with Chicken

My husband and I are about as different as you can get.

I like romance movies. He likes blow-up-everything-and-hopefully-there-will-be-lots-of-blood movies.

I love shopping (yes, even grocery shopping!). He considers it a form of torture. Or punishment.

I'm a little bit country. He's a little bit rock and roll.

I love pasta. He doesn't. Wait, what??

Really, who doesn't love pasta? My husband, that's who! Seriously, if I would've known this little fact before we were married... I'm just kidding. But you don't mess with me and my pasta! Usually when I make a pot of spaghetti or homemade macaroni and cheese, I get "the look" and it is usually followed with empty threats of running to the nearest burger joint to get dinner. I say "empty threats" because he knows if he did that he'd be in trouble. But that's true love, right? Eating my pasta even though he doesn't want to? *sigh*

Anyway, last weekend my husband Bryan and I went with my sister-in-law Lindsay and my brother-in-law Dave to Friday Harbor. When Lindsay told me she was making pasta for dinner, I was skeptical because I knew I wanted it, but I didn't want Bryan to eat something he wasn't excited about. It was vacation and I was feeling nice. But Lindsay did something magical, or at least did something I haven't been able to do. She made a pasta dish that not only did Bryan like, he said something that I've waited years to hear - he told her he'd actually go to a restaurant and buy her pasta dish.

So here is the pasta dish that changed my world. Not only did my husband love it, but my boys did too. In fact, I didn't even have to threaten them to eat dinner (something that happens almost every night at the table). They ate it up, and for once I ate in peace. It's a win-win all around.

The players: aren't they pretty? I do have to admit that the parmesan cheese is missing from the picture. I'm currently not eating dairy (my baby has a sensitivity) so I omitted the parmesan cheese from the recipe, and thought it was silly to buy the cheese for the photo op. I also switched the butter to margarine - which was fine, but trust me, the butter is better! But in a pinch you can use margarine.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, basil, and oregano. I used a garlic press for the garlic instead of hand mincing them because I wanted them small. If you are a crazy professional mincer, then by all means, mince away. In the mean time, I'll be garlic-pressing. To zest the lemon you can use a microplane (shown above) or the small side of a cheese grater. Zest only the yellow parts - the white part gets bitter. And yes, I know, my thumb bends weird.

While your butter sauce is cooking, cook your chicken all the way through and slice into bite size pieces. Add the chicken to your sauce and let it cook in the sauce for a few minutes. This allows the chicken to soak up all the flavors and makes it oh-so-tasty. You could also use leftover chicken from a rotisserie or from chicken you have hanging out in your fridge. (C'mon, you know you have a chicken just hanging out, right?)

Next add the green onions, parsley, and salt and pepper. I use my kitchen shears (or whatever scissors are lying around) to cut my green onions. It's fast and easy. I also use my kitchen shears to cut lettuce and yucky parts off of meat (so I don't have to actually manhandle the meat with my bare hands), cut up pancakes and pizza for my kids, and about any other thing that I can find instead of using knives. Call me a genius. Call me lazy. Whatever.

Next add the lemon juice. Squeeze the lemon facing up so that the seeds don't fall in your sauce. If you find that your lemon is hard, you can zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to release the juices. Also, before you cut it, you can roll it back and forth really hard on your table to soften it up. Stir the lemon juice in. This is where I taste the sauce to see if I need to add more lemon, salt, or whatever. I always buy an extra lemon just in case I want to add more. Stir in the hot pasta (and here is where you would add the parmesan cheese too). Serve hot - although it's just as super tasty warm and also cold as leftovers the next day.

Lemon Herb Pasta with Chicken

1/2 C. butter (1 stick)

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2-6 large cloves of garlic, finely minced or pressed (I used four, Lindsay uses two or three)

1/2 tsp. hot red pepper flakes (optional, I didn't use it. Most of my kids are anti-spicy)

2 tsp. dried basil

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 fresh lemon (for juicing)
2 whole green onions, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4. C. flat leaf parsley or 2 tsp. dried parsley

1/4 C. shredded parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken, seasoned to your liking, cooked, and sliced to bite size pieces

1 16oz. box of pasta (I used penne, but you can use whatever you have: rotini, gemelli, linguini, etc. You won't use the whole box, but most of it. I cook it all up and use the leftover pasta for lunch the next day with tomato sauce.)

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once melted, add garlic, basil, and oregano. Add cooked chicken, letting it soak up some of the butter sauce (that is the best part!). Then add parsley, green onions, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in lemon zest and cook for several seconds, then toss with hot pasta and parmesan cheese. Squeeze the lemon (both halves) over the pasta. Serve at once with or without extra shredded cheese (but really, who doesn't love extra cheese!!) If you find you need to "stretch" your sauce to cover more pasta (like I did because I have a hungry husband and hungry kids) you can drizzle in some olive oil and add a little more lemon juice. Enjoy!

** I really love to wilt a bag of spinach or salad savoy into my pasta. Just add it to the chicken before you add the pasta to the pan. Let it wilt and then add your pasta. My picky kids eat it up because the spinach tastes like lemony garlic goodness!