Chicken and Pasta in Tomato Butter Sauce

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thin sliced
• salt and pepper
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 15oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• one handful chopped fresh basil
• ¼ cup salted butter
• 8 ounces spaghetti

1. Boil Pasta according to package directions.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
3. sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper on both sides
4. Add chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes per side until cooked throughout
5. Place cooked chicken and set on a plate
6. Remove skillet from heat for a minute, then add the tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened
7. Add garlic and butter to tomato sauce, after butter has melted add chicken to warm up in the sauce
8. Stir in basil
9. Serve over prepared pasta

Ultra Easy Mac&Cheese

Another quick vacation is over and now I'm heading back into the kitchen with everyone's favorite Mac&Cheese!  Mac&Cheese is the ultimate comfort food but anything from a box contains a bunch of processed items that we can all do without.  So here comes a great tasting recipe that uses real food.

There you have it...6 ingredients is all that you need!!

Simmer the milk and noodles until tender

Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and you are done.

Here is what you will need:

• 2 cups dry pasta
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (do not use pre-shredded cheese)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

Here is what you are gonna do with that stuff:

• Add milk and pasta to a sauce pan over medium heat until milk simmers (not boiling)
• Reduce heat to low and simmer until pasta is tender (mine took 12 minutes) - stir frequently
• Turn off heat and stir in rest of ingredients until cheese is melted.
• Add additional milk until you reach your desired level of creaminess 

Creamy Spinach Fettuccine

With the start of the new year lots of people try to make healthier choices in their meals, and hopefully doing so without sacrificing taste!  So I will be doing my best to help out by posting some good tasting and healthier dishes.  How my usual process works is that I find a recipe, make it, take some pictures and find some taste testers to get feedback.  Based on the feedback I receive I either post it as is or make some adjustments and retest before posting.  So in the end you end up with a recipe that gets approval from someone other than just me!

Today we start with Creamy Spinach Fettuccine which in the end comes in just under 300 calories per 1 1/4 cup serving.

Lets get cooking...

Start by sauteing your garlic and shallots in some olive oil in a large skillet

Then whisk in your broth slurry and milk bringing to a boil

Add your fresh spinach....

....until it wilts down

Add in your cooked fettuccine

Toss it all to coat the pasta

Plate and eat!


Here is what you need:

• 8 ounces fettuccine 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large shallot
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flout
• 1 cup milk
• 10 ounces of spinach (can be less is you can't find a 10 ounce bag)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan

1. Cook pasta in salted water
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
3. Add garlic and shallots, cook for a couple minutes
4. Combine the vegetable broth and flour in a small bowl, whisk to combine
5. Add broth slurry and milk to skillet and whisk until it comes to a boil
6. Add fresh spinach to skillet and reduce heat to medium, cook for a few minutes until spinach is wilted
7. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and parsley
8. Turn off the heat and add the parmesan and fettuccine tossing until pasta is well coated

** you can substitute whole wheat pasta
** this dish can be pared with various proteins like..shrimp, chicken, steak..etc

Cashew Chicken Pasta Salad

I have made this pasta salad multiple times over the years and it always seems to be a hit.  I only made one minor tweak to the original recipe to help cut down on some of the sweetness.

For this recipe I made my own farfalle pasta...because that's just how I roll! If you are a little less ambitious feel free to use a box of dried farfalle...I won't judge you!

Toss the bulk of the ingredients into a bowl and mix it up!

Here is the recipe:

Toss the following into a large mixing bowl

• 1 pound of cooked farfalle pasta
• 4 Cups cooked chicken (cut into bite sized cubes)
• 1 20 oz can of drained pineapple tidbits
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 1 cup seedless grapes (any mix of color)
• 1 6 oz package of dried cranberries

In a smaller bowl mix the following:

• 1 cup ranch dressing
• 1/3 cup miracle whip
• 1/3 cup real mayonnaise

Now add the dressing mixture into the large bowl and stir to combine

If you are going to be eating the salad right away go ahead and 2 cups of cashews,  if not wait until just before serving to add them so they don't become soggy.

Spaghetti and Meatballs!

I have always loved Italian food...be it the classical dishes from the boot or the many Italian-American version of dishes almost all of us grew up with.  When living in Arizona there was a great Italian restaurant just around the corner from our apartment that had a special deal every Monday and Tuesday on spaghetti and meatballs.  I have experimented with many recipes trying to replicate the flavor of their meatballs and the following recipe is the one that I believe to be the best of the bunch.

This recipe uses a mixture of beef, pork and veal....the last being the magic ingredient that gives the flavor notes that always seemed to be missing in any other recipe that I tried.

After mixing and forming the meatballs into the desired size you want to brown them on all size in a little bit of olive oil

After you have them all browned you want to let them simmer in your favorite pasta sauce for about 45 minutes

Then you are left with a batch of great tasting meatballs that you can decide how to use them...on spaghetti, a great meatball sub, or even just eaten alone covered with some sauce

Here is the recipe.....

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground veal
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• salt and pepper

Mix all of that into a bowl and form into meatballs of desired size.  I use a disher so that I get a uniform size for even cooking.

Heat up a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 cup of olive oil to the pan.

Brown the meatballs on all sides, you are just browning them and not cooking all the way through

Add browned meatballs to a dutch oven or sauce pot over medium low heat with enough pasta sauce to cover and let them simmer for about 45 minutes.

**For those in the Janesville area the only place I have been able to find fresh ground veal is at Festival Foods.  Sorg's Meat Market on Hwy 14 between Janesville and Darien carries frozen packages of ground veal that also work well

Thanksgiving....with a twist!

Today I'm melding two things i love, Italian food and Thanksgiving!

The only time I have trouble sleeping at night is when I get recipe ideas running around inside my head, this happens to be the latest one, I call it Thanksgiving ravioli.  I am going to call this dish a success and it even received a stamp of approval from one of my official taste testers.  Now after reading this post if you are left thinking "I really want to learn to make my own fresh pasta"...you are in luck because I just so happen to teach classes on how to do it!

Now let's break it down...

A few days ago I roasted a couple turkey legs and made some cornbread stuffing, these will become the ravioli filling, those parts weren't nearly exciting enough for pictures.

I added some of my homemade kale powder to my fresh pasta dough...

Next I spaced out some of the chilled scoops of turkey, stuffing and cranberry that I prepared ahead of time on the dough...

Then covered them up with the second sheet of pasta, pressed out the air and started stamping out ravioli...

After letting the ravioli hang out in the freezer for a bit it was time to give them a quick 4 minute bath in boiling water...

After they finished boiling, drop them into a skillet with a little gravy and some reserved pasta water to thin things out a bit and they are ready for the plate....

Finished things off with a little fresh minced sage and cranberry reduction.