Spaghetti Pie
I have been looking for new recipes to try that are good weeknight dinners. Misha’s aunt knows about the blog, so I thought that I would try something new on our usual Monday night dinners. We usually do a 5-ish mile hike on Monday nights while Misha is in class, so I was looking for something easy to finish/do after a hike.
Spaghetti Pie
Adapted from Allrecipes via About a Bit of Everything.
Ingredients
2 ounces uncooked spaghetti, broken in half (we used barilla plus, and maybe a bit more than 2 oz)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tablespoons sour cream (I used low fat)
1/2 pound ground turkey (I could have used more)
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped onion
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
2/3 cup tomato sauce (I would use more if I added more ground turkey)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- In a bowl combine the egg, Parmesan cheese, and cooked pasta.
- Press the pasta mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased casserole dish or pie plate. Spread with sour cream. Note: The sour cream was easier said than done, I spreaded it as best I could.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Crumble turkey into a skillet, add the pepper, onion, and butter. Cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.
- Drain fat out of meat.
- Add minced garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomato sauce, oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Spoon into spaghetti crust.
- Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
I could have used more ground turkey. It was good, but just a different way to do spaghetti. I liked the variation though, a nice way to change the usual pasta dinner.
Herbed Chicken Parmesan and Orzo with Parmesan and Basil
We have been pretty stuck on dinner ideas lately. I was browsing around cookinglight.com and found this recipe, and decided that it sounded good.
Herbed Chicken Parmesan
Adapted from Cookinglight.com.
Ingredients
1/3 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced (I used dried)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 large egg white, lightly beaten (I just used a whole egg)
1 lb chicken breast tendres (I used chicken breasts, tenderized them a bit and cut them up)
1 Tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup (1.5 ounces) shredded provolone (we used slices)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine 2 Tablespoons of parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and 1/8 teaspoon salt ina shallow dish.
- Place egg in another shallow dish
- Dip each chicken piece in egg then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture.
- Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Add chicken and cook 3 minutes on each side (or until done). Put in a casserole dish when done.
- While chicken is cooking, combine 1/8 teaspoon salt, pasta sauce, vinegar, and pepper.
- Pour sauce over chicken (in casserole dish) and top with parmesan and provelone cheese.
- Cook in the oven until cheese is melted and pasta is heated through.
- Serve with Orzo with Parmesan and Basil and enjoy!
Orzo with Parmesan and Basil
Adapted from Allrecipes.com.
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1/2 cup greated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I use dried)
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
- Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed (15-20 minutes).
- Mix in parmesan cheese and basil, season with salt and pepper
- Serve and enjoy!
Both of these recipes are keepers! I love chicken parmesan, and it was a nice change to add the parmesan to the breading and the balsamic to the pasta sauce. Two very easy changes that made a difference.
This was our first time trying orzo, and it was good. I will be making it again!
Pasta Carbonara
I have made Tom Cruise’s Pasta Carbonara before and loved it. On Sunday night Misha was busy studying and I really didn’t feel like going out to go get something to make dinner. I started looking through the pantry and realized that I had everything for Pasta Carbonara. I was thrilled, so I pulled up PW’s recipe and decided that I would surprise DH with an amazing dinner.
Much to my later dismay, after I started my surprise was ruined and dinner was just about a disaster. Right when I was at the point of cooking the pasta… I started putting it in the water. At first it felt a little.. well.. it might have been a bit old but since it was a special type of pasta made out of legumes I thought that this was maybe how it “got old”. I got impatient and dumped the whole box in only to discover a bunch of bugs!
So DH heard the noise downstairs and discovered the mess that I had gotten myself in. He was a sweetheart and ran to the store and got me more pasta. I really didn’t want to wast a whole pound of bacon and onion. I was totally paranoid though that some buggies jumped over from the pasta box into the cooking onion. After much inspection DH and I determined that our onion was safe.
Ends up it was a wonderful dinner. I served it with our yummy garlic bread.
Pasta Carbonara
Adapted from PW Cooks.
Ingredients
1lb linguine pasta Note: I used Barilla plus spaghetti.
4 eggs
1 pound bacon or pancetta
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese
8-12 cloves of garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup white wine (or substitute another cup of stock) Note: I used more chicken stock.
1/4 cup butter
1 handful of parsley
1 Tablespoon black pepper
Directions
- Slice up the bacon into 1-inch wide pieces.
- Cook the bacon until browned and crisp.
- While the bacon is cooking, set a pot of salted water to boil. When it comes to a boil add the pasta and cook until all dente.
- When the bacon is done cooking, remove from pan reserving the grease in the pan.
- Saute the onions until they are soft and translucent (a couple of minutes).
- Add the garlic to the onions. After they are cooked remove from the pan. Discard the grease.
- Place the pan back on high heat until it starts to smoke a little. As soon is the pan is hot, pour in the wine (or chicken stock). Whisk until all the little brown bits on the pan have come off.
- Add the chicken stock to the pan along with the bacon, onion, and garlic. Let simmer over medium heat.
- Crackand scramble eggs into a large bowl.
- Add most of the Parmesan cheese to the eggs, along with the parsley and pepper. Mix.
- Drain the pasta, and immediately add the pasta to the egg mixture and toss with a fork.
- Add the bacon/onion mixture to the pasta.
- Add the butter.
- Toss it all together well. Serve with parmesan.
- Enjoy!
I forget Tom Cruise’s recipe, I’m not sure how different they are. But as usual, PW’s recipe was a hit!
