dinner in a snack boat

:hungry ~(o.o)~

I love all things Italian and pasta. I put together this quick meal one night after much running around with my teenage daughters. I used everyday ingredients found in my pantry and refrigerator. Given the day and items on hand, I will add asparagus or mushrooms if available. I hope you enjoy.

This is a great, quick recipe that combines sauce and pesto. Not many Italian Sausage recipes out there so you have to get creative. Trust me this will ens up in your comfort food fallback menu.

I develop recipes based on what I have on hand when I make them, so if you don't happen to have all the ingredients in my recipe, there's almost always some kind of reasonable and accessible substitute.For instance - not everyone has fresh parsley on hand all the time (nor do I). A smaller quantity of dried parsley would work in lieu, of course, as would, say, 2 to 3 teaspoons of dried Italian herb mix in lieu of all the herbs I listed.Some of the ingredient choices were quite deliberate - for instance, ketchup to bring that developed sweetness that's hard to achieve on a low slow cooker setting, fish sauce and Worcestershire to intensify the umami and give the sauce more depth of flavor, and stock to bring more richness, thickness and body than would water.But if you don't have fish sauce, it's fine to just put a little more salt (like maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon). Even better to throw in a Tablespoon or two of a grated dry cheese like Parm, Romano, Asiago, or Manchego - here's a perfect use for the rinds! All the better to give the sauce the same kind of complexity and depth of flavor you would get from the funk of fermented fish sauce.So many options I couldn't possibly go into all of them now, but you get the idea...

Just another twist on the one pot pasta!

This recipe works well with light flavored sausages. I used a herb de provence turkey sausage.

Pasta's great isn't it? It's fast, it's delicious, and it's the perfect meal to improvise whenever your original plan goes sideways. Like it did tonight, for me, when the mince I was defrosting for a pepper stuffing didn't thaw in time. Fortunately, there were mushrooms and a zucchini in the fridge, and all that was needed to transform them into a delicious dinner was a quick hop to the supermarket to pick up a little sausage and cream. In the end, despite being Plan B, the dish turned out wonderful. Meaty and rich from the sausage and mushrooms, with pops of juicy sweetness from the zucchini, and a splash of silky cream to bring it all together. It was pretty much perfect.

This is a fast easy and delicious week night dinner. A favorite in my house :)

Healthy version of creamy sausage pasta

A comforting dish that combines the rich, natural flavors of savory Italian sausage and velvety tomato paste. The sausage is cooked to perfection, its fat rendered to create a luscious roux that forms the base of a smooth, full-bodied sauce. Delicately balanced with a hint of aromatics, including garlic zested into a silky paste for an even, subtle flavor, the sauce coats every strand of seasoned al dente angel hair pasta. This dish offers a harmonious blend of rich sausage undertones, subtle tomato sweetness, and a velvety finish that spreads effortlessly across every bite.