Pasta suggestions?!
Answers: I'm bored of plain old spaghetti and tomato sauce. Any suggestions for dinner tonight. I'm looking for not too fattening pasta recipes. Thanks!
why not make baked spaghetti
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/rec...
Kraft Foods is an excellent source for recipes
you can try a pesto with chicken
alfreddo but thats fattening.
red or white clam sauce
garlic and butter sauce
go to cooks.com its a really good site where people submit there recipes.
If you wanna spice it up a bit, Barilla has a nice ricotta and spinach tortelloni pasta on the boxed pasta aisle (except it is in a little blue bag), and so far all the Barilla and Bertolli sauces are to die for. I used the Barilla tomato basil, but they both have a nice selection..even some have Italian sausage in it already. Buy some Farfalla (bowtie), it's not a heavy pasta and yet it doesn't take that many to fill you up. Barilla's is like 98 cents where I live. Quite a cheap meal, and very tasty!!
cook a semi-rigid pasta (penne, rigatoni), and layer the bottom of a buttered casserole dish. top with 1 package of pre-cut fresh broccoli and cauliflower spears.
brown 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts in a frying pan, cut into cubes and place in a layer on top of the veggies
in a double boiler combine
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1/4 c. sour cream
3 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp unsalted butter
12 oz parmesan cheese
when mixed through, pour over the top, then top with more parmesan cheese and bake 25-30 minutes at 350 until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through...
Here's my very favorite pasta, and it's EASY to make! I developed this recipe because our local Italian restaurant has such goof clam linguine, but it's so expensive. It took me several tries, but I finally figured out how to get mine to taste like theirs.
Linguine with White Wine & Clam Sauce
1 pound linguine pasta
Olive Oil (for pasta)
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs. olive oil (for sauce)
2 (10 oz.) cans baby clams, (with liquid)
6 oz. clam juice (bottled)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
Dash Cayenne Pepper OR 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (to taste)
2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions, until al dente. Drain the pasta and toss with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking.
Meanwhile, drain the clams, reserving the liquid. In a skillet over medium heat, warm the 3 Tbs. olive oil, lighly brown the garlic (do not burn), then add the reserved clam liquid, the clam juice and wine. Simmer, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the parsley and the clams and simmer another 2 minutes, until the clams are heated through. Stir in the cheese and grind on some black pepper. Pour over pasta and serve, adding more parmesan cheese on top, if desired. desired.
Depending on what you use, here is a pasta recipe that I really like. It is called Hamburger Macaroni Skillet.
First I take lean ground beef and brown it in a pan and drain the grease. You can use ground turkey if you prefer. In a pot I will cook my macaroni noodles according to the directions on the box. Alot of times I like to use differnet pastas just to give it a little twist. I use egg noodles and I have used rotini pasta. Once the meat is browned and the noodles have been drained and returned to the pot, add hamburger to noodles and then add canned tomatoes. You can use some diced tomatoes and a large can of tomato juice and season it to taste. Let it all cook together and you have a new pasta dish..
I knew you were not looking for a tomato sauce but this is not a sauce per se.....it is really just tomato juice and chunky tomatoes!
Lemon-Chicken Pasta
2 servings
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced
1/2 cup frozen baby peas
1/3 cup carrot, coarsely shredded
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons nonfat cream cheese
2 cups farfalle pasta, cooked (bow tie pasta)
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add oil. Place over medium-high heat until hot. Add garlic; saute 15 seconds. Add chicken; saute 1 minute. Add peas and carrot; saute 1 minute. Remove from skillet; set aside. Add broth and cream cheese to skillet; cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Stir in chicken mixture, farfalle, and next 4 ingredients; cook 1 minute.
One thing I do is take whatever non starchy veggies I have and steam them in the mic until they are almost done. Then in a sautee pan I use about 1 tbsp. olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, about 1/2 tsp. red chili flakes and about 1/2 a diced onion. Make sure you season it well with salt and pepper. I would say about 1 tbsp. each. Then add slightly undercooked pasta you have cooked in well salted water to the sautee pan with the veggies. Reserve some of the pasta water just in case the pasta gets a little dry. Right before you are about to serve add some fresh basil and parm cheese. I am not a big meat or fish eater, but if I am making this for dinner I will add some seared scallops or shrimp to it.
Another thing we do is sautee up some diced peppers, onions and garlic. When this is done add 1 large can of diced tomatoes and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add about 1/2 container low fat ricotta cheese and a palmful of parm cheese. Taste for seasoning and add the pasta right into the pan. Generally this takes about 3/4 box of pasta and I have leftovers. I don't really like leftovers so I kind of remake it. The next time I make it I add some sliced cooked chicken sausage and sauteed quartered button mushrooms. Mix it up with a little extra sauce, pour it in a pie pan sprayed with Pam and top with parm cheese. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. It sounds funny, but its really good.
Another idea is to stop thinking Italian when you think of spagetti. I cook a fake lo mein my family loves. I cook my pasta in chicken stock and salt with about a 1" chunk of ginger and a clove of garlic. Don't cut them. Again, undercook the pasta. Then toss in a pan with a box of chinese veggie mix, about 1 tbsp. chinese 5 spice, soy sauce and a few packs of chinese mustard and a little more chicken stock. Let it cook down. Right before I am about to serve it I sprinkle on some sesame oil. Again sauteed seafood, meat or tofu would work well with this. Just make sure you marinate the protein first.
Oil and Garlic Sauce (Salsa all' Olio e Aglio) (I double this when I make it, if I'm cooking a whole pound of pasta)
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Heat olive oil in a skillet. Stir in garlic and cook until very lightly browned. If you burn the garlic, start over again. Remove skillet from heat and cool slightly. Slowly stir in water. Add parsley and pepper. Simmer about 10 minutes. Serve over cooked spaghetti. Makes about 1 cup sauce.
Gild the Lily: Leftover grilled chicken, bacon, and Parmesan cheese are all delicious add-ins. So is a little chopped jalapeno pepper if you like it spicy!
I usually toss my favorite pasta with frozen or fresh veggies, some diced chiken breast ( you could also use turkey or ham), a little lite italian dressing for a nice pasta salad that's still pretty healthy. I usually use, tomatoes, broccoli, parmesan cheese. Sometimes I use pepperoni and black olives with tomatoes and shredded mozzeralla for more of a pizza pasta. Also fettucine alfredo is SO easy but not really healthy lol: I use 1 lb of fettucine of your favorite pasta cooked, 1 can of mushroom soup, 1 cup parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup milk, chicken breast diced if desired. Mix the soup, cheese and milk together on low heat. Season with black pepper and a dash of ground red pepper if desired. Mix in chicken, and serve with pasta.
Pasta is really versatile, just use your imagination! I also like www.allrecipes.com
It's a free site that allows you to have a cookbook and do free searches, etc.
My absolute favorite light pasta dish!
1 green pepper - chopped
1 onion - thinly sliced
1 cup broccoli florets
1 chicken breast cubed
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup of red wine
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
Italian seasonings to taste
Favorite pasta
Prepare pasta at the same time according to package directions.
Saute the onions, garlic and chicken in the olive oil until lightly browned. Add pepper, and broccoli, wine and Worcestershire Sauce and simmer until broccoli tender.
Season this dish while cooking to taste. I like mine on the spicy side, so I use crushed red pepper, garlic salt, herbs de Provence and kosher salt.
Sometimes I will add some roasted bell peppers to the dish or to save time, I will use a package of those Perdue precooked chicken strips.
You can add any vegetable you want to this.
Usually I serve this tossed with Farfelle pasta (bowties). Only use about 2 cups of cooked pasta and top with freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese, if you have it.
FETTUCINE ALFREDO
(4 servings)
8 oz. medium egg noodles
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter
Grate cheese. Cut butter into quarters. Cook noodles. While noodles are standing, in glass serving bowl, combine cheese, butter and cream. Cook at MEDIUM 3 - 4 minutes or until butter melts. Stir twice. Stir in drained noodles, toss well. Season with pepper.
Hmmm.....How about a 20 inch pepperoni pizza with extra cheese garlic base and extra pepperoni!!!! Yummy!
P.s.....welcome back gorgeous ;-)
you should go on kraftfoods.com ....this is where i get some of my recipes when im tired of the same old thing. You will find any recipes for healthy and delicious pasta meals. Or you can go to foodnetwork.com and look up recipes by Giada Delarentis...shes always doing pasta thats kind of healthy