Pasta with Vodka Sauce

I'm in love with homemade pasta sauces specially simple ones with lots of flavor. This one is so similar to this pasta with tomato cream sauce recipe so if you've tried that one, you're guaranteed to love this one. It's heavenly. I think it will become a huge staple in our house and just thinking about it right now makes my mouth water, yum!


Pasta with Vodka Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup Vodka
• 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, silvered, plus additional for serving
• 1lb penne pasta
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated, plus additional for serving
• red pepper flakes, generous pinch

Directions

1. Cook pasta in well salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water, drain pasta and set aside.
2. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking until fragrant, about a minute more. 
3. Stir in tomatoes and their juices. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the tomato paste and vodka. Cook until most of the alcohol has evaporated, at least 5 minutes. 
4. Stir in cream, red pepper flakes and salt. Bring to a a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low.
5. Cook sauce until thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. 
6. Stir in basil and cheese.
7. Add pasta to skillet and toss to coat, adding pasta water as needed to thin the sauce.
8. Serve topped with additional basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
   
   

Sweet & Spicy Bacon Chicken

I came across this recipe by a friend and wanted to try it out for some time now. I finally got around to making it the other day and it was so good. The whole house smelled delicious as it was baking. I served it with rice and a veggie, but it would go nicely with mashed potatoes too. My friend likes to serve hers on ciabatta rolls for a lighter meal.

Sweet & Spicy Bacon Chicken by Full Bellies

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thirds (12 pieces)
• 1 pkg of bacon
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Garlic Powder
• Chili Powder
• Brown Sugar

Directions

1. Mix together garlic powder, chili powder, salt & pepper to desired consistency
2. Cut each breast into 3 pieces, and season with season mixture
3. Wrap each piece of chicken in bacon then roll in brown sugar. Place chicken in a 13x9 baking dish.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 30- 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is nice and brown and crispy. 

Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

A few weeks ago while I was couponing I came across Kraft Philadelphia Cooking Creme on sale. I was able to pick up 15 of these but had no idea what to actually make with them. I found this recipe on the Kraft website and it's really good! Normally I am not a big fan of Kraft recipes, it seems like 95% of them call for Italian dressing (I'm not even kidding!), but this was nice and creamy and light. Definitely will be making it again!

Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

Ingredients

• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1/3 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tub (10oz) Philadelphia Original Cooking Creme
• 2 cups grape tomatoes
• 2 cups farfalle (bow-tie pasta), cooked
• 12 fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions

1. Cook chicken in a large nonstick skillet on medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, or until done. 
2. Stir in broth and garlic powder; cook 3 minutes.
3. Add cooking creme and tomatoes; cook and stir 3 minutes.
4. Stir in pasta
5. Top with basil, and serve

Beef with Peppers

I saw this recipe on Pioneer Womans site and thought it looked delicious. We dont eat usually come across too many meals that have steak in it that look appealing so when I saw this I knew we had to make it. I was worried it will be too much like peppered steak but the flavor was delicious and my husband enjoyed it and he is not big on "stir fry". Definitely worth a try!

Beef with Peppers by Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1-½ pound Flank Steak, Sliced Very Thin Against The Grain
• ½ cups Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Sherry
• 2 Tablespoons Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 teaspoon Red Chile Paste (or A Few Dashes Red Chile Oil)
• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 1 whole Medium Yellow Onion Sliced
• 2 whole Red Bell Peppers, Cored And Sliced Into Rings
• 1 Tablespoon Diced Fresh Jalapeno (or 1 Teaspoon Dice Hot Pepper)
• Red Pepper Flakes, For Sprinkling
• Cilantro Leaves

Directions

1. Mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, garlic, and chili pasta (or chili oil.) Place sliced beef in the mixture and toss to coat. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high to high heat. When it is very hot throw in the onions, cook for less than a minute. Remove to a separate plate.
3. Return skillet to flame, allow to reheat, and add bell peppers (and hot pepper/jalapeno if using). Cook for a minute, tossing, until peppers have brown/black bits but are still firm. Remove to a plate.
4. Return skillet to heat and allow to get hot. Add the remaining tbsp of oil to the skillet. Add 1/3 of the meat mixture, evenly distributing over the surface of the skillet. Allow to sit for 20 to 30 seconds then turn with tongs. Cook for another 30 secionds then remove to a separate plate. Repeat with remaining meat until all brown. 
5. Reduce heat to low. Add all meat, onions and peppers to the skillet and toss to combine. Pour in remaining sauce (the sauce the meat marinated in*) and stir. Allow to simmer on low for a few minutes. Sauce will slowly thicken. Turn off heat.
6. Turn off boiling water, then throw in noodles. Stir, then allow noodles to sit in hot water for 8 minutes or so (check package directions to be sure). Drain, then add 1/2 the noodles to stir fry. Toss together, then add more noodles to taste. Add very hot water if needed to thin.
7. Top with cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.

* Update/Note: you can also whip up extra batch of liquid if you do not want to use the same liquid you used for the meat.

Gorgeous Garlic Shrimp

I was addicted to the Real Housewives of New Jersey since the very first episode and even though Teresa comes off as a big mouthed, big hair, guidette, I couldnt help but love her. I received her cookbook for Christmas and not only is is full of really good information on Italian cooking (real Italian cooking, none of that fake stuff!), it is also full of delicious recipes, this being one of them.

My husband whipped this up real quick last night as a sort of "snack" since we had a late lunch and werent hungry. We had originally planned to serve it with rice and a veggie but ended up just making the shrimp to nibble on.

Gorgeous Garlic Shrimp by Teresa Giudice

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Heat oil and garlic together in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil is hot and the garlic is softened, about 1 1/2 minutes.
2. Add the shrimp and season with the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the shrimp turns opaque, about 4 minutes. 
3. Add the lemon juice and parsley and stir well. Serve hot. 

sausage, spinach & roasted red pepper alfredo

We've made this before... several times actually but it was so yummy the other night I had to take a picture to share. Click below for the original recipe.

Recipe: Sausage, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'm only a little bit late on this one ;-) but at least it's still March? We enjoyed some delicious corn beef, cabbage, potatoes & carrots on St. Patty's Day and it was delicious! All of the the leftovers are officially gone... bummer :(