Tag Archives: pasta

Apr14

Spicy Chicken Pasta

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Spicy Chicken Pasta

  

Y’all remember just last week I posted about my new Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Slicer, Makes Veggie Pasta and how much I loved it. Well I made another dish with it very similar to the Seafood Arrabbiata, except this is a quick and easy weeknight meal I made with leftover grilled chicken. If you don’t have any leftover chicken on hand, 1/2 of one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store would be perfect! 

Ingredients:

  • 1 sweet onion chopped
  • 1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes 
  • 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 lb diced chicken
  • 1/4 – 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how hot you like it)
  • 2-3 cloves chopped garlic
  • 4 zucchini or squash for Vegetti noodles
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Dried parsley flakes

1. Add onion and a drizzle of olive oil to your skillet and season with salt and pepper. Sauté 3-4 minutes on medium high heat. 

  

2. Now add your chopped garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté another minute.

  

3. As I explained in my Seafood Arrabbiata post, whole peeled tomatoes are the highest quality canned tomato, so I prefer to use them over diced tomatoes. Drain and chop them up and add them to your skillet with tomato sauce as well as your parsley flakes and bring to a boil. 

   

 

4. Now add your squash and zucchini noodles to your skillet and throw in your diced chicken as well. Turn the heat down to a simmer and allow noodles to soften up a bit in the sauce. Taste to see if you want to add any salt and pepper or any additional heat with more red pepper flakes. 

   

  

 

Enjoy your quick and easy meal!

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Mar15

Shrimp Linguini With Lemon Butter Sauce

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Shrimp Linguini With Lemon Butter Sauce



This is soooo yummy! It has a light white wine/buttery/garlicky/lemony deliciousness and I absolutely love it! You can of course use any pasta like angel hair, whole wheat spaghetti, penne, etc… But my favorite is linguini 😄

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb shrimp peeled and de-veined 
  • 3 T butter
  • A drizzle of olive oil
  • 1 lemon (juice and zest)
  • 1/2 lb pasta (8 oz)
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2 glugs of white wine
  • Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and dried parsley

1. Start boiling your water for your pasta. I like to add salt in there to help flavor it up a bit. Then add your noodles.



2. Start melting your butter over medium high heat in a large sauté pan and add a drizzle of olive oil to it.



3. Once the butter is melted, add your shrimp. It’s best to use shrimp after you’ve pat it dry a bit, otherwise it can make the sauce watery. Season it with salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.



4. Now add two glugs of white wine. That’s the sound your bottle makes when you turn it into your pan. If you’re going with box wine, press the spout for a couple seconds over your pan. See how I keep it classy with my pinky out? 😄



5. Now add your lemon juice and garlic and cook for about five minutes. You’ll know the shrimp is done when it turns orange and form little c’s.



6. Once it’s done, turn the heat off and add your lemon zest and sprinkle parsley flakes all over it. Stir it all together.



7. Your pasta should be done by now. Drain and add noodles to your sauce pan. 



Stir it all together, pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy! 

Dec4

Beef Stroganoff

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Beef Stroganoff

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Back in college I used to eat frozen dinners all the time, and this was one of my favorites. Thankfully, I’ve learned to cook since then and no longer shop in the frozen meals section. But I was craving beef stroganoff the other night and thought I could make it myself! You can use practically any beef for this. I used the “boneless family steak” cut from the 40% off clearance meat section of my grocery store. I have no idea what cut of beef “family steak” is, but when I figure it out, I’ll let ya know! You can use top sirloin or ground beef for that matter in this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 sweet onion
1 package of mushrooms (8 oz – 10 oz)
2 cups beef broth (about 75% of a box)
2 garlic cloves
1 stick of butter
1-1.5 lbs beef
12 oz (1 bag) egg noodles
4 T flour
Splash of worchestishire sauce
Splash of wine (optional)
Splash of heavy whipping cream (optional)
Salt and pepper

1. I forgot to take a picture (oops), but take about a tablespoon of butter and melt it in a hot skillet for your steak you’ve seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook your steak until pink in the middle, then take out and let it rest. Leaving the juices in the pan, now throw in 1/2 of your butter and chopped onion and cook for about ten minutes. I like to let the onions go first so they get a little golden before adding the mushrooms.

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2. Now add your mushrooms, garlic, a few dashes of Worchestishire sauce, the rest of your butter, and salt and pepper. Cook for another ten minutes or so until everything is golden and delicious.

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3. Are you drinking wine while making dinner? Lean over your sauté pan and spill some wine from your cup into the veggies and deglaze your pan. If not, you can skip this part, but it makes it soooo yummy 🙂 Oh, hello Mr. Box!

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4. Now add your flour to the pan and stir around for 3-4 minutes. You want the flour to thicken up your veggies and cook a little bit before adding your liquid.

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5. Now add 2 cups of beef broth and allow this to come to a boil. While you’re waiting for this to happen, go slice up your steak into this bite sized strips.

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6. Once it’s boiling, add your steak strips to the pan and turn the heat down to a simmer. This will continue to cook the meat and make the meat tender. Also, it gives the flour a chance to thicken up the sauce. Allow to simmer 20-30 minutes. Now is a good time to start your noodles if you want everything to come out at the same time.

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7. Lastly, and this is optional, add a splash of heavy whipping cream to your pan. It’ll take this sauce into a creamy heavenly perfection. Ahh, so good 🙂 If you don’t have heavy whipping cream, a few dollops of sour cream will do or 1/2 and 1/2. Or you can omit entirely if you’d like. Taste for salt and pepper needs before serving over egg noodles. It’s so perfect 🙂

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Jul18

Chicken Spaghetti

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Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken Spaghetti

Who loves cheese? Well then this chicken spaghetti recipe is for you! It has an ooey gooey cheesy sauce that is absolutely delicious! Also, this is a great recipe to chop up veggies into tiny pieces and hide them in the sauce so your kids eat them. I’ve got lots of squash and parsley in my garden right now and my son had no idea either were in this dish. I think you could easily substitute zucchini, peas, chopped asparagus, finely chopped broccoli, finely chopped spinach, or any combination of those veggies into this dish easily!

Ingredients:

1 sweet onion finely chopped

1/4 c roasted red peppers chopped (or two jars pimentos)

Additional chopped veggies of your choice (I used one yellow squash and a few sprigs of chopped parsley)

1/2 lb linguine pasta (I used whole wheat)

4 oz Velveeta

1 can cream of mushroom

2 T cream cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 2 lbs)

Chicken bouillon cube

Salt and pepper

2 chopped garlic cloves

3 T butter

1 T garlic and herb seasoning

Additional mozzarella or other Italian cheese for topping

Italian breadcrumbs

1. First we’re going to season the water you’ll be using to cook the chicken (and later the noodles). Bring a pot of water with chicken bouillon and garlic herb seasoning to a boil and add chicken to pot. This will need to boil about 20-25 minutes.

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2. Add chopped onion, chopped veggies of your choice, butter, salt, and pepper to a sauté pan. Cook until veggies become tender and add chopped garlic and roasted red peppers and cook a few more minutes on medium high heat.

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3. Turn heat down to medium low and add cream of mushroom, cream cheese, mozzarella, and Velveeta. Stir and allow mixture to melt and come together.

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4. Pull your chicken out of the boiling seasoned water and cut into bite size pieces.

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5. Add chicken to sauce mixture.

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6. Add linguini to the boiling seasoned water and cook using directions on the box. Once it’s done, add the drained pasta to the chicken and cheese mix.

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7. Pour this into a buttered 9×11 baking dish and top with more cheese and sprinkle top with Italian breadcrumbs.

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8. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

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Mmmmmm would you look at that beautiful masterpiece?! It’s delicious with a hunk of crusty garlic bread and large glass of red wine 🙂

Jul7

Garden Vegetable and Shrimp Alfredo

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Garden Vegetable and Shrimp Alfredo

Garden Vegetable and Shrimp Alfredo

I am so happy when summer veggies start coming up in my garden and love to use them in tons of different recipes. This pasta I made tonight was so yummy, and it uses summer squash and zucchini as the vegetables, but really any veggie you could want would do great in here. Peas, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, etc would be tasty! I also added shrimp for some protein, but feel free to leave it out or substitute grilled chicken instead.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb linguini pasta
1/2 pint (1 cup) heavy whipping cream
5 oz shredded Romano cheese (or use Parmesan if you prefer)
1 zucchini sliced into 1/2 rings
1 squash sliced into 1/2 rings
1 lb shrimp that’s been peeled and de-veined
1 stick of butter
1 clove garlic chopped
1-2 T chopped fresh herbs (I used flat leaf parsley and basil from the garden)
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper (optional)

1. First get your water boiling for the pasta and get your veggies started in a separate skillet with 2 T butter. Oh hello there cast iron skillet! You know how much I love you 🙂
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2. Saute on medium-high heat for a few minutes and season with salt and pepper, then add your chopped garlic and saute a few more minutes. Drain into a bowl and set aside.
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3. Next, saute your shrimp in 4 T of butter and season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. The last minute they’re in there toss in your freshly chopped herbs. Remove pan from the heat and set aside.
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4. For the sauce, just melt 2 T of butter in a small sauce pot over low to medium heat, and add your heavy whipping cream once it’s melted. Season liberally with salt and pepper, then add 3-4 oz of your shredded Romano cheese.
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5. Once it’s thickened and melted, it will stick to the back of your spoon and become a deliciously sinful white cheesy sauce.
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6. Combine your veggies, pasta, sauce, and shrimp all together and stir.
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7. Top with more freshly chopped herbs and the rest of your shredded cheese, then serve with cheesy garlic bread for a yummy summer Italian meal!
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Mar24

Pasta Salad

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Pasta Salad

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Hey y’all! I bet you’ve been wondering where I’ve been and why I haven’t posted anything in a while. Well, that’s because I just finished my first trimester of my pregnancy and I am just now able to begin to look at food again. Seriously, looking at or smelling food in any way was a big no no up until now, so slowly but surely I’ll be coming back to post more Blonde Bitchin West Texas Kitchen recipes!

Here is my go-to pasta salad recipe whenever I’m going to a BBQ or even packing a picnic. It’s so yummy and kids love it too because of the string cheese surprise in there! Who puts string cheese in a pasta salad? I do 🙂

Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (spiral or penne works best)
1 cup Italian dressing (my favorite is the original Wishbone kind in the green bottle)
4 sticks of string cheese cut up into slices
1/2 bunch of green onions chopped
1/4 sweet onion finely chopped
1 cup total red and yellow cherry tomatoes chopped in half
*I also like to add whatever I have in the fridge that looks good and these are optional – chopped marinated artichoke hearts, chopped marinated green olives, sliced roasted red peppers marinated in oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. First chop up all your ingredients and add them to a large bowl and add your Italian dressing and let that sit in the fridge while your pasta is boiling according to the instructions on the box.
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2. Add your cooked pasta noodles to the yummy mixture you have in your bowl and add salt and pepper all over and stir together.
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3. Place your pasta salad in the fridge and allow it to chill at least 1 hour prior to serving. So good!
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Jan22

Chicken Parmesan

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Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan

I’m sure most of you are used to your traditional breaded and fried Chicken Parmesan, but this is a baked version. Read: I did not say this was recipe is better for you, but we can pretend I did if that makes you feel better 🙂 As I was saying, this recipe is less mess and so much tastier than the traditional version! So crack open a red and let’s get started!

Ingredients:
1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup REAL mayo
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs divided
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (Notice I said shredded, not that imitation grated stuff on the shelf)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper

1. In a mixing boil combine mayo, 1/4 c Italian breadcrumbs, and Parmesan cheese.
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2. Place your chicken on a cookie sheet that’s been lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick spray. Season with salt and pepper. Then spread your mayo mixture evenly over the chicken.
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3. Sprinkle remaining Italian breadcrumbs over the chicken.
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4. Place chicken in a 375F oven for 40 minutes.
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5. Pull chicken out after about 40 minutes and sprinkle mozzarella all over the chicken. Put back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
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Serve with whole wheat angel hair pasta, marinara sauce, and cheesy garlic bread for a delicious dinner!