Posts Tagged Italian Sausage
Three Cheese Baked Penne
Posted by Eileen Devlin in Italian, Low Calorie, Main Course, Poultry, Vegetables on March 16th, 2010
I needed something quick and easy before I started work and so I came across this recipe. Sometimes pastas can come out a bit bland or the sauce too “tomato-ey” or overpowering. Between the sweet Italian sausage, the three cheeses, and the additional herbs – even my young son (who has turned out to be my worst critic, go figure) can’t get enough!
Your supplies:
2.5 c uncooked whole wheat penne
2 (4 oz) links sweet turkey Italian sausage
1 c finely chopped green bell pepper
1.5 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
dash of salt
10 grape/cherry tomatoes, halved
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (8-0z) can garlic and herb tomato sauce
3/4 c shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 c crumbled goat cheese
1/4 c grated Parmesan
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with spray. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage and cook 2 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add bell pepper and next 6 ingredients; saute for 6 minutes or until pepper is tender. Stir in tomato sauce. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add pasta to pan, tossing to coat.
4. Spoon mixture into a prepped 8 in square baking dish. Stir in mozzarella and goat cheeses; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 7 minutes or until bubbly and top is browned. Makes 6 (1. 25 c) servings.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 326
Fat: 10.9 g
Protein: 20.8 g
Carbohydrate: 38.9 g
Fiber: 4.9 g
Cholesterol: 47 mg
Sodium: 641 mg
Dirty Rice with Italian Sausage
Posted by JT in Main Course, Recipes on April 14th, 2009
My general rule when I go grocery shopping is “only buy ingredients.” What I mean by that is that I don’t buy things that are already dishes and only need to be heated. I don’t buy spaghetti sauce, I keep tomatoes and garlic, etc. on hand. That way if I want spaghetti sauce I can have that, and if I want chili it can also be that. There have been a few exceptions to that rule to satisfy my wife by purchasing things I cannot make better myself. One of those, Stove Top Stuffing, was eliminated last week when I learned the secret of sage, this week I am able to eliminate my final boxed good from my shopping cart by figuring out how to recreate Zatarans Dirty Rice. I don’t know why I didn’t try this earlier because I’ve been mixing my own Cajun spices since I learned how to cook (the first thing I ever cooked was gumbo.) My wife loves Zatarans with Italian sausage mixed in. Here is how to avoid ever having to by Zatarans again.
Dirty Rice with Italian Sausage
1 lb Italian Sausage (hot or mild)
Cajun Spice
2 cups Beef Broth
1 cup Rice
1 pat Butter
1 tblspn minced Garlic
1 tblspn diced Onion
1 tblspn dice Bell Pepper
Cajun Spice
1 tspn thyme
½ tspn oregano
1 tspn pepper
½ – 0 tspn cayenne (depending on your heat preference)
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn garlic powder
1 tspn onion powder
½ tspn celery salt
1. Prepare Italian sausage. What I do is fill my cast iron skillet 1/3 full of water and boil the sausages until the water all evaporated, then I sear them in the fat which has been released from them while boiling. This little trick is how I am able to get the insides and outsides cooked to my desired doneness. I also use this trick to “grill” onions by adding some oil and butter to the water. When the sausages are done, move them to a cutting board, let them rest and slice into bite size pieces.
2. Saute your onion, pepper and garlic (you could add celery too)in the butter until softened.
3. Add your Cajun seasoning and let the flavors bloom a little, once you can smell it go ahead and
4. Add your rice, I always sauté my rice a little
5. Add in your beef broth and cook rice as you normally do
6. When the rice is done and all the liquid absorbed, mix in ½ the sausage with the rice
7. Plate up and add the second ½ the sausage on top
Makes enough for 4.
