Pure Wow Dump Cake aka Chocolate Bundt Cake

Posted on December 17, 2023 | 1 comment
IMG_5877 pre glaze
IMG_6406 Heavier Type Glaze–same glaze just waited till cake was completely cooled down for a few hours. Yum!
IMG_5879 post glaze but most of the glaze will disappear into the cake unless you make a heavier frosting type glaze.

IMG_5875  If you’re looking for a last minute easy delicious cake for the holidays this could be the one. I love a great bundt cake and I love that they are now calling Bundt Cakes Dump Cakes. You really just throw it all together and bake it! It’s so easy anyone can do it and look good doing so. I got this particular Dump Cake from a blog I love to follow–Pure Wow so that’s why the name pure wow dump cake. Originally posted a few years back and am re-posting for those of you who haven’t seen it.   I made a change in that I added my vanilla glaze because I love a good chocolate cake infused with a glaze. It’s not really a frosting and it sinks into the cake which just gives it a little more “pure wow ” factor.  I included recipe for my Vanilla Glaze.

Just go out and buy a really good Bundt Pan, it’s a worthwhile investment. You’ll also need a cooling rack while you’re at it.

Happy Holidays from my kitchen to yours.

http://www.purewow.com

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup brewed coffee

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 stick unsalted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk ( I do buy low-fat buttermilk, if you can find it)

2 eggs — room temperature for baking always (unless otherwise specified)

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Glaze Ingredients:this is totally optional

2/3 cup of confectioners sugar

4 teaspoons whole milk ( and maybe a touch more)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a Bundt Pan with non-stick spray ( I love Baker’s Joy)

In a medium size heat safe bowl, combine the sugar with the coffee, chocolate, cocoa powder and butter. You can heat in the microwave or on the stove top over a pot of simmering water ( about 5 minutes) that’s what I do. I mix occasionally until the butter and the chocolate are fully melted and the sugar dissolves.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt to combine. Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. I let the chocolate mixture cool just a touch first.

Now add the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and mix with a spoon until the batter is smooth and fully combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared bundt pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40- 50 minutes. I let the cake sit for at least 15 minutes and while it’s still warm I inverted it onto a cooling rack ( which is essential to baking , so if you don’t own one get one)

I let the cake cool completely before glazing it. The glaze will melt right into the cake if you do too early. This cake was super light and super moist. I served with raspberries/strawberries and it would be awesome with some home-made whipped cream.

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Saucy Stuffed Shells – Baked and Meatless

Posted on December 14, 2023 | Leave a comment

Shells 007
Shells 009

  I just love a baked pasta — nothing like it for good old fashioned comfort food. This recipe is delicious and perfect comfort food for those cold winter nights. I wanted a crowd pleaser that was vegetarian and something that can easily be made ahead and frozen and that would appeal to both kids and adults equally.

     I served with a salad with my Homemade Maple Syrup Salad Dressing ( see on blog) and it was really pretty awesome. Took a few hours to prepare, mostly because I made my own sauce ( Sunday night sauce) but feel free to use a jar of prepared sauce if you’d like. This is a perfect meal to make ahead of time, and just pop into oven.

*This dish will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months. Assemble the shells with the cheese and cover tightly and freeze. When you’re ready to eat, you can bake from frozen but be sure to add another 30 minutes to the cooking time. You can also freeze individual sized portions of leftover shells that have already been cooked. Reheat previously baked shells in the microwave in 90 second intervals until heated through. 

Perfect for Christmas and New Years.

Of course if you love it with meat you can make a meat sauce and follow same directions.

Happy Holidays to all — and visit me on Instagram @cookingwithcandi

Ingredients:

1 box Jumbo Shells ( you won’t use all but a lot of them break, etc.)

1 lb. Ricotta ( I used Part Skim)

1 Egg

1 lb. Mozzarella Shredded ( I used Part Skim) if you can obtain fresh mozzarella and shred it that would make it even better! whatever works for you

1 cup grated Parmesan ( any kind you like)

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

*marinara sauce or any red sauce I made my own and use my own recipe. If buying sauce and there are some delicious good sauces out there, you’ll need at least 1 large jar of Sauce and my go-to if not using my own is Raos Marinara.   It’s nice to have a little extra sauce in case you need it when you re-heat the stuffed shells. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare Pasta , cook for between 12 and 15 minutes, you’ll want them soft but not undercooked at the center. Drain pasta and cool for easy handling.

Combine ricotta, 1/2 of the mozzarella, 1/2 of the Parmesan, parsley and egg in a bowl. Taste for Salt and Pepper.

When shells have cooled down, fill them with rounded spoonfuls of cheese mixture and arrange them seam side down in casserole dish. I used a 9 x 13 Pyrex and spray with cooking spray. Top Shells with remaining sauce and remaining mozzarella and grated cheese. Place shells in very hot oven . You can turn on broiler for last few minutes , it should be slightly browned and bubbly. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Delicious!

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Bolognese Sauce — Turkey or Beef

Posted on December 10, 2023 | 2 comments

I must say Pasta is probably my most favorite food to eat. Bolognese sauce is one of my most favorites and this is my easy version.  There are different variations of this recipe that I use. One is with beef and pork sausage, another is dark meat turkey with turkey or chicken sausage. I do use dark meat turkey because I think it is much more flavorful, it is ideal but if you really don’t want to use the dark meat use 1/2 white and 1/2 dark or all white meat it’s up to you . The only negative to this sauce is that it really needs 3- 4 hours for the sauce to cook down and if you want to shorten the simmer use crushed tomatoes and probably 2 hours would be fine. The longer the sauce cooks the more flavorful it will be.  This sauce would probably serve 4 nicely with 1 lb. of pasta. You can easily double it and freeze the leftover sauce. So nice to have it in the freezer and just have to make the pasta and you have a wonderful homemade meal. I have now started serving the sauce over shredded zucchini as well.  It is so delicious and you may feel a little bit better eating it over zucchini or spaghetti squash than noodles.  Pasta or Vegetable it’s pretty awesome. Look on my blog for Zucchini  Bolognese.  And  it  freezes  beautifully.

Should serve 6-8 and it freezes beautifully so put sauce in the freezer for the next time.

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons Olive Oil, plus more if necessary

1- 1 1/2 lbs. Italian style Turkey or Chicken Sausage, removed from casings. You can also mix in hot or sweet Italian pork sausage if you don’t mind using the pork. I think the pork has the best flavor — just saying

1 1/2 pounds ground Turkey ( I used dark meat ) or 1 lb. ground beef — I don’t love to cook with the lean version because it’s very dry so if using any ground meat use 85/15 at least.

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 medium yellow onions, peeled and finely diced ( app. 2 cups)

3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 28 oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes with their juice or you can used diced tomatoes which break down much quicker but you’ll definitely be adding liquid to that. Just keep an eye on it. If you’re in a real hurry and don’t have time for a 4 hour simmer use 2 cans of crushed tomatoes.

1/3 cup tomato paste

1 box. Rigatoni ( or any other macaroni you like ) or spaghetti or if you like use *shredded zucchini or *spaghetti squash

Grated Parmesan Cheese for serving

Directions:

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large heavy pan over medium high heat. ( I use my Le Creuset ) Add the sausage meat and break it up as it cooks, turning now and then, until browned all over, about 10 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside, add the ground turkey to the pan along with a good pinch of salt and a few fresh grind of pepper. Cook the meat stirring here and there, for 10 minutes as well, till meat is nicely browned. I remove and put in bowl with the sausage which was set aside. Add another 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and add the onions and garlic. Cook until onion breaks down and gets soft, another good 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice along with 1/2 cup of water. ( You may need more water as you go) Add the sausage and ground turkey, stir the sauce well. Bring the sauce to a boil, season to taste with salt and pepper and turn the heat to low. Cover almost completely with a lid (allowing a little steam to escape) and gently simmer for 4 hours. You may want to add splashes of water if sauce is drying out. After 2 hours I added the 1/3 cup of Tomato Paste, and replace lid and continue simmering for 2 more hours. I added water as it cooked, you’ll have to judge for yourself how much water you add. I added 1/4 cup at a time. The longer this sauce cooks for the better it is.  You will have to continually stir and check for water which I do at least once an hour if not more often. Also a splash of red wine works well here too if you have an open bottle of a medium dry red wine — chianti or malbec or pinot — you know what I mean.

When the sauce is ready for serving, bring a large pot of water and prepare pasta according to package directions. You may want to reserve a little pasta water if you still need to thin it out.

serve with sauce over the rigatoni ( or any pasta you like) with a nice grating of Parmesan.

Yum!

*so many stores now sell zucchini already shredded and it’s dry and ready to go.

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Easy Chicken Soup with Orzo and Lemon

Posted on December 8, 2023 | 1 comment

photo 4 (24) photo 5 (27)I literally started this soup at 5 p.m. and app. one hour later I was eating it.  Now that’s always a good thing in my book. Usually I slow cook my broth etc. and it takes hours ( Homemade Chicken Soup ) but this time there was no time, I wasn’t feeling great and wanted that homemade flavor without all the work . You can certainly cook your own chicken if it works out for you time wise. This would also be perfect with leftover chicken. I bought a rotisserie chicken and this is what I did. For those of you who saw it on Instagram and Facebook–this one’s for you. One more little thing, the fresh dill is the secret ingredient and gives it that wonderful layer of flavor, don’t skip it. I also squeezed fresh lemon into each bowl of soup , this added yet another wonderful layer of flavor to this soup. This is also a fairly low-calorie soup because whole soup is made with only 1/2 cup of orzo and it was plenty. I used these vegetables this time but feel free to add parsnips, mushrooms, kale or any other veggies you like.

Ingredients:

1 Rotisserie Chicken, skin removed and shredded .

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 leek, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise about 1/2″ thick

2 stalks celery, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices (app.)

2 large carrots cut into 1/2″ rounds. I found beautiful organic baby carrots and used them, it’s about 2 large carrots but feel free to use a little more or less.

1/2 cup of orzo

6 – 8 cups chicken broth, if you have homemade broth/stock good for you and use it. If not the box ones are awesome. Low-Sodium is good here if you’re concerned about the salt.

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

app. 1/4 cup of chopped fresh dill

*Lemon halves for serving

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the leek, celery and carrots. Cook veggies, stirring often, until vegetables are soft, 10-15 minutes. I threw a little salt and pepper in to vegetables during this period, you can taste for salt and pepper again.

Add 6 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Then lower to a simmer for about 20 minutes, just till carrots are soft.

After about 20 minutes, I added 1/2 cup of orzo and cooked for 8- 10 minutes. Taste for Salt and Pepper. I added another 2 cups of broth after the orzo cooked. If you need more broth prior to this you can easily add before the orzo as well.

I then added the shredded chicken and dill and I also added a bit more of the chicken stock at this point since broth cooked down a bit. You can always add a little water if you’ve run out of broth.  I heated soup a bit more and served with lemon halves, squeezing a bit of lemon into each bowl of chicken soup before serving.

this was last night’s soup and I obviously didn’t have fresh Dill in the house which I missed but wanted to make this soup and had all other ingredients — sometimes this happens and it was totally delicious and no one missed the Dill but me.

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Homemade Applesauce– Sweet and Tart–Not Diet and Diet

Posted on December 5, 2023 | Leave a comment

photo (42) photo (40) photo (39) photo (38)

It’s almost Chanukah and what better to serve alongside Potato Pancakes? I love apples and I love applesauce,  it’s great by itself, with meat, poultry,  over ice cream , yogurt or pancakes,  in muffins, any time you feel like applesauce.  Easy shopping list, most ingredients you probably have in the house. If you’d like you can add a pinch of nutmeg or allspice. A little butter or maple syrup is also a good thought. I used a little bit of maple syrup ( maybe 1/4 cup) . Play around with flavors. Quick prep time , very easy to make, 3 lbs. will probably serve around 6 – 8 people. Cook Time is about 1/2 hour.

This is the obvious more fattening way to go, I also wrote up a more diet conscious recipe for those looking to cut calories and it’s on this page as well. It is obviously more tart than the sweet one, you can add a little sugar-free maple syrup if you’d like.

Your kitchen will smell glorious. Enjoy!

Add to your potato pancakes for Chanukah!! Enjoy

Pantry ingredients:

Lemon, Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup, Cinnamon, Allspice, Butter, Nutmeg.

Shopping List:

Apples, Apple Juice or Apple Cider

Ingredients:

3 lbs. apples , peeled, cored and cut into 8 slices (any kind you have) I had Macintosh in the house and just used them

1/2 cup Apple Juice or Apple Cider

Juice of 1 Lemon, a small regular lemon is fine

1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon, more or less to taste

*1/4 cup of pure maple syrup, you can use sugar-free maple syrup

*1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

*1/2 teaspoon Allspice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large enough pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes, till apples break down. Now I like a chunky applesauce and it broke down so beautifully in 1/2 hour, I just mashed with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon.  If you’d like it smooth and not chunky puree it in food processor. It really broke down so beautifully a few mashes with a masher and it was perfect for a chunkier like consistency.

Store in the fridge.  Will keep for a week or two. Joel ate it all the next day so that was the end of that.

Enjoy!

Diet Version of Homemade Applesauce:

Ingredients:

12 medium apples, peeled cored and sliced (use whatever kind you have on hand)

2 sticks cinnamon if no cinnamon sticks , sprinkle ground cinnamon over apples.

Directions:

Place apples and cinnamon in a large Pyrex type dish with a lid or cover with aluminum foil.

Bake covered at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours

Allow to cool slightly and remove cinnamon sticks.

Crush apples with a potato masher until sauce is consistency that you like .

Serve with Latkes.

Enjoy!

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Classic Potato Pancakes –Latkes

Posted on December 4, 2023 | Leave a comment

Chanukah will be here starting this Thursday night, December 7 –Here is my recipe for delicious Potato Latkes.

It is a delicious fairly easy recipe for simple latkes. If you eat them hot they’re best but that’s tough to do sometimes. They really are most delicious hot off the frying pan. Serve with Applesauce or Sour Cream . Enjoy and Happy Chanukah from my kitchen to yours. I do have a delicious recipe for homemade apple sauce on my blog if you’re feeling inspired to make it along side the potato pancakes. Homemade Apple Sauce is it’s title and just put that into the search bar or google homemade apple sauce cooking with Candi .

This is what I do with a food processor and Happy Chanukah

This recipe should serve 4

Ingredients:

2 large Russet Potatoes — peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters

1 large Spanish Onion–peeled and cut into quarters

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 Teaspoons Kosher Salt

1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 Teaspoon baking powder

Vegetable Oil for frying

Directions:

Using a food processor with a coarse grating disc, grate the potatoes and onion. Transfer the mixture to a clean dishtowel ( I prefer a thin one for this task) and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. This is key to a delicious latke.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the eggs, flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder and pepper and mix until the flour is absorbed.

In a medium heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour in about 1/4 inch of the vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot use a heaping tablespoon to drop the batter into the hot pan, cooking in batches. Use a spatula to flatten and shape into round discs. When edges of the latkes start to brown and get crispy ( about 5 minutes) , transfer the latkes to a paper towel lined plate to drain . Repeat.

If you’re making double the recipe I would swap out the oil and wipe with paper towel and start with fresh oil. For one batch the oil was fine. Just control the heat on your stove.

Enjoy and Happy Chanukah.

 

 

 

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White Chicken Chili

Posted on December 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

This is so my kind of meal once the weather starts to turn a little colder. It’s made with a store bought rotisserie chicken and this chicken chili is all made in one pot on the stove-top. It’s filling and the different peppers add a wonderful mix of flavors to the chili. You’ll need a large dutch oven sort of pot for this and you’ll have some left overs for sure depending on how many people you’re cooking for.

I crumbled some tortilla chips on top of my chili and added a dollop of sour cream which added to the flavor. Cheese is also a wonderful topping here.

Of course if you hate cilantro you can eliminate it and be careful cutting the peppers, the seeds and ribs in the pepper hold all the heat. It’s your call how spicy you’d like it. I like spicy but don’t really use the seeds and I keep it mild and more family-friendly because you never really know how spicy it can get adding the seeds and ribs. I also use rubber or latex gloves while cutting and be careful not to touch your eyes till you’ve completely washed your hands. If I want heat I can add a shot of Chohula to my own.

This chili does thicken considerably as it sits. If you make it ahead of time, you may want to add broth or water depending on how thick you like it.

Leftovers are great and this chili can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat it on the stovetop over medium-low heat and you may want to add some broth or water to it as well.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth, divided

2 15 oz. cans white beans (cannellini)–drained and rinsed

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper , seeded and minced

2 medium poblano peppers, seeded and diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

Kosher Salt to taste

1 Rotisserie chicken, skin removed and shredded

3/4 cup frozen corn

1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice, from one lime

*1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro –we like it a lot but not everyone does I know so just omit it

Optional Toppings:

Sour Cream

Crushed Tortilla Chips

Shredded Pepper Jack or Cheddar Cheese

Lime Wedges

Directions:

Get all ingredients chopped and ready to cook.

In a food processor , blend 1/2 of the beans (1 can) with 1 cup of the chicken broth and set aside with the remaining drained beans

Add the olive oil to a large pot or Dutch Oven and heat it over medium high heat. Add the onions, jalapeño pepper and poblano peppers and cook, stirring frequently until soft about 4-5 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so, then add the cumin, coriander and ancho chili powder and continue to cook, stirring frequently for another few minutes. Add the Chicken Broth, pureed beans and app. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Stir in the shredded chicken, reserved whole can of beans, corn and lime juice; bring back to a simmer and cook until everything is heated through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt . Stir in the chopped cilantro. It will be somewhat soupy still and that’s OK. The longer it sits the thicker it will get. I let it cook for probably an hour or so and If it’s too thick you can add a little water. It’s really a chili so I like it thick but it’s totally up to you how you like it.

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Baked Greek Shrimp

Posted on December 1, 2023 | 2 comments

I cannot believe it’s December 1 already! the months just seem to fly by. This recipe could make a perfect Holiday meal. A pretty easy recipe and very delicious meal for guests, for the holidays, or just for you!

I saw this recipe for Baked Greek Shrimp on the NY Times Cooking site by David Tanis and he was my inspo for this recipe. I made a few changes to the original to make it my own and I think it was wonderful . So thanks to David Tanis and the NY Times Cooking site which I absolutely love.

This is Greek Shrimp and not Italian mostly by the fact that obviously the Greeks don’t mind adding cheese to their seafood and I have to say it all tastes rather delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 large shallots, minced ( use a mini processor if you have one)

4 garlic cloves, minced

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes– drained

a nice size pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 lb. of large shrimp, peeled and deveined and tails off

app. 4 oz. of crumbled feta cheese or block that you crumble

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

I use my mini food processor and I mince the shallots and the garlic together. If you don’t have this little machine I suggest purchasing it it’s a life saver in terms of chopping and mincing garlic and onions. Put 4 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat . Add shallots and garlic, season with a little salt and pepper and cook till softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Stir around to keep mixture from browning. Add drained can of diced tomatoes to the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste and add a large pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook stirring, until mixture is juicy and tomatoes have softened, about 10 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Put shrimp in a mixing bowl and add 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, season shrimp with salt and pepper and stir to coat. I used about 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and a little black pepper.

Transfer tomato mixture to a shallow baking dish ( not metal) glass , ceramic or earthenware. Add shrimp in one layer over tomato mixture in one layer. Crumble cheese over surface and sprinkle with oregano.

I baked for about 15 minutes , you’ll want tomatoes to be bubbling and shrimp to turn pink and curl a bit and cheese has browned slightly. Put under broiler for the last 3-4 minutes till cheese browns up a bit. Remove from oven and let sit for a minute or so.

I cooked up some orzo and served shrimp over the orzo and it was perfect. Served with a nice light green salad as well.

Baked Greek Shrimp

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Chicken Noodle Soup with Ground Chicken– Easy Peasy

Posted on November 28, 2023 | 2 comments

I know that most of the time I post a soup recipe with chicken it’s using a rotisserie chicken which is a convenient hack but this time out I used ground chicken. Saw this recipe on my favorite cooking site @nytimes.com/recipes and knew I had to make this . Of course I made a few changes to our tastes but feel free to check out original recipe. Very very easy and very delicious. You can definitely add egg noodles or any small pasta or cavatelli. I used ditalini which I almost always use for a small pasta. You may need to adjust amount of stock so have extra on hand.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

5 Tablespoons olive oil–

1 pound ground chicken ( if you can get dark meat I would but unless you’re going to a butcher you probably won’t find it) white meat is fine

Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes or slice and cut in 1/2 moons —

2 celery stalks, halved lengthwise, then sliced 1/2″ thick

1 large shallot , finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme– if you want to use fresh thyme about 1 Tablespoon of thyme leaves

7-8 cups chicken stock, more as needed

1 cup dried small shaped pasta

Directions:

In a large stock pot , heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the chicken, season with some salt and pepper and cook, using a wooden spoon to crumble chicken, app. 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and coriander and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked through, app. 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove chicken to a small bowl and cover with aluminum foil to retain moisture, cover and set aside.

Add the carrot, celery, shallot, thyme and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pot, season with some salt and pepper and cook stirring until everything is slicked with olive oil, app. 3 minutes. Add the stock — I started with the full 8 cups and brought to a boil over high heat.

I cooked my noodles in a separate pot . When the soup cooked down for a while and vegetables were very soft ( probably a 1/2 hour or more) I added the ground chicken and any and all juices that were in the bowl and heated until warmed through, taste for salt and pepper.

I placed some pasta in the individual bowls and poured the hot soup over the pasta and if you’d like a squirt of fresh lemon is always delicious here.

Enjoy!

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Bowtie Pasta with Sausage, Peas, and Mushrooms

Posted on November 26, 2023 | 1 comment

This is one of my “oldies but goodies” if you’ve been following my blog you most likely have seen this recipe or made this recipe and if you haven’t it’s time to make it.  It is a sauce-less pasta and a perfect week-night staple. One of our very favorite go to dinners.  Very light, very tasty, and very easy to make. There aren’t a lot of ingredients, and it doesn’t take a long time to make. My husband, Joel, hates green things and loves this dish. And he even eats all the peas on his plate, which makes me very happy.  Easy obtainable ingredients and a simple “light” sauce makes for a very easy delicious meal! Enjoy! One of the family favorites.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup olive oil

1 lb turkey sausages, casings removed (just squeeze all the meat out; I like Italian-style turkey sausage) or chicken sausage works perfectly if I can’t find turkey or chicken sausage I use regular Italian pork sausage — and I like the spicy one but sweet will work just as well

1 box of cremini mushrooms (Baby Bella), approx. 10 oz. (roughly chopped) I actually used 2 small  8 oz. boxes because I had them ( not an exact science)

About 3/4 bag frozen peas (take them out of freezer about an hour before, just slightly thawed is perfect)

1 box Farfalle pasta (bow ties) or any pasta you like , bowties are perfect  (1 lb.)

Salt and pepper, to taste — adjust to your own taste , you can do at the very end but I usually add with mushrooms and then check at end

Freshly grated parmesan, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large, sauté pan, heat up two tablespoons olive oil (medium to high flame). Add the broken up turkey sausage and make sure to break up the large clumps. Cook for about 10 minutes (I like the sausage browned). When finished cooking, remove sausage from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Heat a little more olive oil (approx. 2 TBSP). Add the chopped up cremini mushrooms and kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (approx. a little less than a teaspoon of each, depending on your taste. Keep in mind that sausage is naturally salty.) Sauté until all the liquid is gone—about another 10 minutes. Add the frozen peas and cook for a few minutes. Return the sausage to the pan and cook for another few minutes (I turn off the heat at this point and just let the flavors blend.)

*just a little note if using pork sausage it will throw off enough fat to cook mushrooms in so you will not need the extra 2 Tbsp. of Olive Oil

In the meantime, cook pasta (according to package) al dente. Drain the pasta, reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water from pasta (this is the trick with “sauceless pasta”) and add pasta to the pan with all other ingredients. Combine well, adding some of that pasta water at a time; as needed. Drizzle in the 1/2 cup of olive oil, mixing as you go. Taste for salt and pepper. I also add red pepper flakes, but I love spicy.

Serve with freshly grated parm cheese and you’re good to go.

*Serves 4 as a main dish and 8 as a side.

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