Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cream


This is a recipe I printed from allrecipes.com a few years ago, and I often come back to it. In fact I was kind of shocked I haven't blogged about it yet (...or maybe I have, but I just didn't find the post!!!). It's really easy to make but especially delicious. It's slightly spicy, slightly sweet, with a creamy pink tomato sauce.

I make a few slight alterations to the recipe below: instead of Italian-style plum tomatoes I like to use a can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano (this time I used Hunt's), and instead of diced onion I like to use 2 tablespoons of minced dried onion, the kind you buy in the spice section. I also leave out the parsley at the end. I like to serve it with some garlic breadsticks and a tossed salad with Italian dressing.

  • 1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

  • Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
  • Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage and pepper flakes until sausage is evenly brown. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream, and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Ramen!


Ramen noodles are one of those stereotypical "college" foods, because a package of the noodles and seasonings usually sells for something ridiculous like 5 for $1. While I didn't live on them in college like some people I knew, I had definitely tried my share of them, so I was intrigued when I came across a cookbook called "101 Things To Do with Ramen Noodles" while perusing the shelves at my local library.

So far I've tried one of the recipes, called "Spicy Chicken." It wasn't really spicy, and it wasn't that pretty (as shown in the above photo), but it did taste surprisingly good! The recipe is below. I plan on trying a few more recipes before I have to return the book. There are even dessert recipes that involve using uncooked noodles!

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
2 cups water
2 packages chicken ramen noodles, with seasoning packets

In a frying pan, brown chicken until done. Add garlic powder, tomatoes, peppers, water, and seasoning packets. Simmer 10 minutes. Add noodles and cook 3-5 minutes more. Makes 2-4 servings.