Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Sausage

Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Sausage

I am freaking out (dramatically) about how good and how easy this dinner was.

Ingredients:
12 oz pasta
2 T olive oil
Chicken Sausage, sliced (I found Applewood Smoked with Gouda)
1 C Pumpkin Puree
1 C Heavy Whipping Cream
Fresh Sage, chiffonade
1/2 t red pepper flakes
8 oz Fontina Cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Menu of the Week #5

Harper says hi. This week I tried two new recipes, and both will make a return on our menu this year for sure. Cuban Shredded Beef with Rice and Beans, Salmon over Faux Risotto, Old Bay Shrimp Rolls, Chicken Picatta over Egg Noodles, and Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Sausage.

Sausage, Greens and Beans

My family loved this cold weather pasta dinner, and I thought it was pretty easy to pull together. I used hot Italian sausage, cannellini beans, rigatoni and hearty swiss chard leaves.

Menu of the Week #2

This menu of the week is in line with every typical January meal plan, don't you think? You will find lots of veggies, exceptionally healthy leafy greens and lean proteins. If you are looking for healthy and delicious dinner ideas, here you go!

Menu of the Week

Our menu of the week focused on fairly healthy dinners from Cooking Light. I tried a few new recipes and had to improvise on Wednesday when dinner took a nose dive. Keep reading to find out what dinners we enjoyed.

Menu of the Week

Our menu of the week features a repeat from last week...because it was just THAT good. Of course I tweaked the ingredients and I think it's even better. Keep reading to see what we had.

What I Cook on Repeat

I'm often asked what I like to cook the most, and frankly I do not have an answer because I do not like repeating recipes that much. In fact it used to drive Jim crazy that I always wanted to try something new instead of recreating a successful dinner that he loved.

I think it was partly due to the fact I FELL so hard and so fast IN LOVE with cooking. Like anything obsessive, you can imagine my craving for knowledge was so great that I was ravenously consuming recipe books and food blogs for new cooking techniques and new ingredients to try.

Lots of Seafood this Week

I neglected to renew my domain name. Ooops! It's gone and I doubt I will play $60 to get it back from the company who is holding it hostage. For the time being you can find my recipe archive at www.homewithmandy.blogspot.com and I may be doing a re-branding later this year. We will see what happens.

Let's get back into the swing of regular blog posts shall we? This was our menu from last week and I mostly appreciated how quickly everything came together each night. There are times when I relish the long list of ingredients I chop and tend to. This was not that week.

Italian Mussels: Mussels are one of our favorite meals to cook and eat on a weekend. I do my grocery shopping on the weekend and this is an item you really don't want sitting in your fridge, it is best to cook it the day you buy them. Mussels are also a fabulous dinner party food because I serve them family style in a big shallow bowl. I have changed up the recipe over the years to keep things interesting, but my standby is posted here. I now add 2-3 sausage links to the pot while I'm softening the vegetables. The way I do it is to squeeze 1/2 inch size balls of meat out of the casings right into the pot. I like how rustic it makes the finished dish in the end.

Menu of the Week

Our family enjoyed some new recipes this week. A few of these were requested to be "regulars" from now on. Keep reading to find out which we loved the most... Company Pot Roast from Ina Garten, Smoked Samon Tartines and Crab Cakes, Spaghetti Carbonara, Crawfish Pie, Mini Pizza's and Salisbury Meatballs over Egg Noodles.

Salisbury Steak Meatballs

When I was a child I remember hearing adults say how so-and-so is photogenic but so-and-so is not photogenic. I didn't understand what that meant until I started blogging and realized how some foods don't photograph well - no matter how scrumptious it may be, the picture looks like a regurgitated version of it's former self.

 

Trust me this is a before picture.

 

Salisbury steak is a dish made from a blend of ground beef and other ingredients, which is shaped to resemble a steak, and is usually served with gravy or brown sauce.

 

Menu of the Week

Here is another full Menu of the Week from our home. The top three favorites this week were the Spicy Tilapia with Olive, Zucchini and Tomato Relish, Sloppy GI Joes and the Roasted Shrimp with Feta. Keep reading for links and photos.

Crunchy Tilapia with Veggie Orzo

 

This Crunchy Tilapia reappears on my weekly menu often. I usually have everything on hand and can whip it up for the family on nights that I get home late and don't have a lot of time. Harper even loves it!

Menu of the Week + Pork Chops with Kale, Polenta and Anchovy Gravy

This turned out to be a great meal plan, pulling from both my HWM archives and some recipes I’ve previously made with Plated.

The Pork Chops with Kale, creamy Polenta and Anchovy Gravy is a repeat dinner in our house. Jim loves pork chops but I’m kind of indifferent towards this cut of meat. I love polenta however, and by incorporating kale into the meal – this dish is a winner for all. Keep reading for the step by step instructions on how I did it.

Meatball Tortellini Soup

I was really surprised how much we all liked this recipe, Harper included. Although it's not as quick of a meal for a weeknight, there are ways to prep on the weekend to speed up the time spent standing over the stove. It's perfect for a Saturday or Sunday because it can feed an army or you can plan to eat this for lunch during the week like I do.
The recipe has three main components: Soup, Tortellini and Meatballs. I used this recipe from Food Network as my inspiration, but called on a couple other blogs and recipes I've made in the past as I went along. Keep reading to find out how it all came together.

Weekly Menu + Lasagna Roll Ups

Here is another menu for the week at our home. Chicken Tacos is always a winner. I make it in the crock pot with frozen chicken breasts along with a jar of salsa and a package of taco seasoning. I mean, this could not be easier.

 

The Asian Grilled Salmon with Quinoa recipe came from Ina Garten and it was just okay. It was a "popular" recipe on Food Network but it lacked that WOW factor that the Barefoot Contessa usually has in all her recipes. You basically mix up Dijon mustard, olive oil, soy and minced garlic. This goes on the salmon before you bake it and you add more before serving. It was okay, but not amazing.

 

The Thai Tilapia with Coconut Curry Broth was AMAZING. Click the link to see my step by step photos of this wonderful meal that I can't wait to make again.

 

Lasagna Roll Ups was a conglomeration of several recipes I read online. Giada's rendition is what inspired me first but I knew that I could improve to better fit my family's taste.  I had the idea to make these lasagna rolls instead of one large pan of lasagna so I could freeze them in smaller portions. This is the recipe I want to share with you today.

 

My idea worked brilliantly and I really like the way these turned out. I cut some corners, making this easy enough for a week night meal - and better yet, I have three pans of this in the freezer!

Cheater Beef Stroganoff - Crockpot Cooking

I was inspired by a pinterest recipe described as, "melt in your mouth crockpot cube steak." My interest was peaked because cube steak is a cheaper cut of beef and now that I have a littel one, crockpot cooking is helpful on days that I don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.

The original recipe, posted by The Jilly Bean claims to be a favorite among her family. Although her husband comments that it looks like dog food, she says that it is full of flavor. I took her recipe and made it my own. Here we go...

Mint Love Letters with Spicy Lamb Sausage

A few years ago Jim and I took a trip to New York and chose to spend one special dinner at Mario Batali's highly acclaimed restaurant, Babbo. This may by my favorite memory from the whole trip.

The restaurant is quaint and service is helpful and friendly. We dined side by side in a romantic atmosphere and just enjoyed each others company and the wonderful food. Oh the food. The food and the wine. The wine and the food. It can make me cry just thinking about how beautiful everything was.

My favorite course by far were these Mint Love Letters with Spicy Lamb Sausage, a signature dish of Mario Batali's. The homemade sheets of pasta were so fresh and dainty. Inside the ravioli was the most unusual combination of mint, sweet peas and salty parmesan. The ravioli's were tossed in a spicy lamb sausage tomato sauce. These are explosive little flavor packages. Notice, you get three for $20.

When I ran across the recipe on Food & Wine, I knew that I just had to make these for Jim so we could recreate that very special evening in New York. The sauce came out perfectly! The first batch of ravioli, although it tasted spot on, were not very pretty. My second batch had a much better presentation - just wait until my next blog post where I show you what I can do with a little practice!

Keep reading for the step by step recipe with pictures...

Fettuccine Pasta from Scratch

Cooking for one doesn't have to mean that I'm stuck eating pb&j sandwiches and bowls of cereal. With Jim traveling for work I thought it was a good time to give homemade pasta making a second try. You can read about my first pasta making experience here, which was actually for my parents...Jim didn't get to try that either. For this meal I tossed homemade fettuccine with slivered Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, parmesan and cream. Dinner took me about an hour and a half to assemble but it was the most fun 90 minutes that I spent with myself in the kitchen.

I did it. I finally broke down and bought myself the KitchenAid 3-piece pasta roller and cutter set.

The adjustable roller lets you work the dough through the press until its so thin it's practically transparent. There is also a spaghetti cutter and a fettuccine cutter in the pasta kit.

There are many recipes for pasta dough - various ratios and all types of flours. For this batch of homemade fettuccine I sifted one cup of all purpose flour into my mixing bowl along with 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Making a well in the center of the flour, I cracked two eggs.

Using the paddle attachment, turn speed to 2 and mix for 30 seconds.

Next, exchange the paddle for the dough hook.

Mix on speed 2 for two minutes. After kneading for two minutes in the mixer the dough will form a ball around the dough hook.

Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead by hand for 1 - 2 minutes.

The ball of dough will become smoother, wrap in plastic wrap and set under a bowl to rest for 15-30 minutes.

And THIS is the second item I purchased at Williams-Sonoma. It's a 3 QT All-Clad Pan Roaster. I cracked up when I opened the box, and the pan was wrapped in a silk bag. Ha!

Isn't she beautiful?

And what an inaugural meal to break her in with!

I didn't quite use an entire bag of Brussels sprouts, but lopped the bottoms off and removed any outer leaves that were wilted.

Here are my ingredients for my entree: the Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, fresh garlic, butter, chicken bouillon, parmesan cheese, cream and St. Francis chardonnay. Not pictured is a chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper.

To sliver the Brussels sprouts I used the slicer disk on my cuisinart food processor.

This shreds the small cabbage quickly and uniformly.

Since the caramelized onions were already done, I have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go.

Before I start the next step I go ahead and open the wine. This St. Francis chardonnay will bring the right amount of lemon flavor and acid I need to balance out the creamy sauce for the pasta. If you want to be like me, pour yourself a glass to sip on while you prepare dinner.

Now that the dough has rested for enough time I unwrap it and work on a floured surface.

Because it's impossible to work with a big hunk of dough at one time I cut this in half. If I had made more pasta dough I might have even cut the ball into quarters.

Before I even start pressing it through the machine I flatten it by hand and stretch it into a rectangle shape.

With the pasta roller attached to my KitchenAid and the thickness knob set to the largest setting I start the speed at 2 and feed the dough through the press.

Fold the dough over onto itself and flour as needed to keep the dough from becoming too sticky.

The goal is to work the dough through each setting a couple of times until it is smooth and pliable.

Repeat folding and kneading, reducing the thickness of the pasta roller as you go.

Thinner.

Thinner.

Thinnest! Before I sent this through the cutter I took my chefs knife and cut this into two smaller pieces.

I tried cutting at several speeds and learned that as long as the dough is well floured, it works best at a speed of 2. See Cole there in the background watching me make pasta?

Lay the cut fettuccine on a floured surface. I used my baking sheets for this.

Separate the noodles by hand.

Repeat until all the dough has been pressed and sent through the cutter. Because I was using the pasta right away I just left them on the tray to dry out while I assembled the rest of my dinner.

In my new pan I added a touch of olive oil and a touch of butter, and sauteed a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Because this pan is NOT Teflon, I was able to get a great deal of lovely bits of flavor stuck to the bottom of the pan! Yippee!!

Next I added the onions that were already caramelized and 1/4 cup of chardonnay. The wine steams and bubbles, giving me the perfect opportunity to grab a wooden spoon and scrape the bits of flavor off the bottom of the pan.

I also added 1/2 cup of chicken stock and let the mixture reduce together before removing to a plate.

I simply moved the onions to the plate where my chicken was also resting.

Without cleaning out the pan, I added a pat of butter.

Then threw in the slivered Brussels sprouts in one layer to sear.

I didn't touch the Brussels sprouts for about a minute so they would get dark and crispy on one side. Then I added back the caramelized onions and any juices from the plate.

Because I'm naughty I added about 1/4 cup of cream.

Then I threw in a small handful of parmesan cheese. I turned the heat to low and covered while I cooked the pasta.

Fresh pasta is really something else - in a category all it's own! Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and drop in the fresh pasta. It will cook in as little as two minutes. It doesn't take long at all.

As soon as pasta is ready, add it to your Brussels sprout mixture.

Toss together to coat the noodles and throw in more parmesan cheese too!

I served the sliced chicken on top of the fettuccine pasta. OMG, caramelized onions, caramelized Brussels sprouts, creamy parmesan! The flavors were explosive.

In other news, Jim comes home TONIGHT and I couldn't be more excited. We found out his request for vacation was granted on Friday so I've been jumping up and down all weekend in anticipation of his return.

This dinner was so heavenly that I will surely make it again for Jim. I know he's missed my home cooking so I will definitely wow him with homemade pasta, there really is nothing like it. I hope you give it a try!