pasta

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
i've got 1 & 1/2 shelves of various types of pasta that hafta be cooked. suggestions would be appreciated; my pantry & i thank yinz in advance~
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
one of our favs is browned chicken tenders/breast over rice - oft with a chicken breoth white sauce or even (gasp!) cream of mushroom/celery soup.

tonight just because I'm being onery, it's angel hair instead of rice.

macaroni and cheese - but with curly or other shaped pasta vs typical elbows

hot pasta salad - make up batch of "green salad" with whatever you like, cook/drain/dress/add pasta while still hot - kinda' a "wilted something or other" - unless of course you used spinach, then it's a wilted spinach something or other.

saute up a big batch of mushrooms, butter is nice...., with balsamic /chives/green onion/leeks (not all, any combo or pure batch that strikes your fancy)

pasta: cook/drain/dress with vinaigrette; mushrooms on top; stuff face.
 

Miniman

Mini man - maxi food
Gold Site Supporter
Cook the pasta, drain and stir in some pesto. It will go with lots of things.

We often make a pasta bake which can be a bit heavy. Mix the cooked pasta with cooked meatballs, some bolognese or marinara sauce and some bechamel sauce. Put in a casserole dish, top with grated cheese, we usually use cheddar. Bake until cheese melted & golden and sauces are bubbling.

Then I just make up dishes as I go. Another family favourite is mac & cheese with sausage in as well.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Ooooo! I love all of these ideas!

More:

American Chop Suey ("goulash")

Pasta Fagiole (my friend makes it with vegetarian baked beans, country style ribs and pasta - talk about heavy!)

Pasta Carbonara (yum!)

Chili Mac

Chicken, Ziti, Broccoli (this is a huge dish in restaurants around here)

Lee
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
thanx! so many sweeeet suggestions. lee, we have chix/ziti/broccoli here, too. luv that stuff. i found bulk, inexpensive pasta last time i shopped. they have turned a few aisles into a place fer bulk-buying- so, i may well return w/ further pasta. (& candy, grains, herbs, spices, & other items i'll buy & then try & remember why i bought 'em.)
 

PanchoHambre

New member
Pasta is the perfect base for almost anything!

What shapes do you have mostly?

In this cold nothing better than Mac N' Cheese or Baked Ziti
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
i have most shapes- elbows, flat pastas, ridged, egg, rice, spinach, wheat, kluski noodles- i've got so many types.

i'll toss 'em in my buggy on a whim some daze.
 

High Cheese

Saucier
Lidia Bastianich has a great shrimp scampi recipe. I always sauteed the shrimp first and never really liked how it came out. Lidia butterflies/bakes the shrimp seperately, then adds them at the last minute to the sauce. Gives a much cleaner taste.

Other than that, most of the pastas I make are Mediterranean style. Some sort of protein, lots of olive oil, roasted red peppers, capers, lemon, white wine, garlic, herbs d' provence, etc.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
1 of her restaurants is w/in pgh's strip district. i've seen her show before. thanx, high cheese. both recipe concepts suit my style of cooking.
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I spent about 2 hours in my Dr's waiting room yesterday, so I had a lot of time to read health magazines. I ran across a recipe for butternut squash mac-n-cheese. It looked pretty good.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
cooksie, that seems familiar to me. an excellent recipe to begin w/, then adapt as you cook.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Here is one of my favorites and gets better the second day.

Taco Hamburger Helper

1 pound ground beef
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 onion diced
4 cloves of garlic crush and diced
2 Jalapeno peppers diced (optional to taste)
1 lb of elbow macaroni (other styles can be used as well)
1 package of Taco seasoning (brand optional or home made)
1 tbl spoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 cup low salt beef broth (chicken can also be used or water)
1 to 2 tbl spoons of Salsa (your favorite brand)
1 tbl spoon of crushed red peppers (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onions and jalapenos in olive oil until onions are translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Now add ground beef to the skillet and brown with onions and peppers. Salt and pepper to taste. Once meat is browned add garlic, rotel tomatoes, cayenne pepper, crushed red peppers and broth. Bring to a boil the turn down to a simmer. Allow to reduce. You can now add your pasta to a boiling pot of water. Once pasta is cooked to your taste add pasta to skillet and mix completely. You can add cheese to the top of this when serving and it is better the next day reheated.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Geesh, Joe! LOL!

For one pound of burger ....

Rotel tomatoes
2 jalapenos
a TABLESPOON of cayenne
a TABLESPOON of crushed red peppers

Heat is coming out of my ears, just reading that!! :furious:

Lee
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
I like to make this using mini bow tie pasta but any noodle/pasta will do. PS I like to serve this with lamb chops pan fried with garlic and lemon.


Peep's Creamy Garlic Béchamel Sauce
Quantities depend on how much pasta/noodles you are making.

Butter
Flour
Fresh garlic - chop fine, pressed or grated on a micro plane - to taste
1/2 & 1/2 and/or milk
Salt
Ground black pepper
Dry mustard
Fresh parsley - chopped fine - to taste

In a pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add grated fresh garlic. Cook slightly. Add flour to make a roux and cook, whisk briskly to remove any lumps. Add salt, ground pepper and dry mustard to taste. Slowly add the 1/2 & 1/2 and/or milk and whisk briskly after each addition to prevent lumps. Add enough milk to make a smooth medium thick consistency. Lower heat to low and simmer 2 minutes. Add fresh parsley and toss.

Pour over pasta/noodles and toss well. You may add baby sweet peas if desired to add flavor and color to dish.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Geesh, Joe! LOL!

For one pound of burger ....

Rotel tomatoes
2 jalapenos
a TABLESPOON of cayenne
a TABLESPOON of crushed red peppers

Heat is coming out of my ears, just reading that!! :furious:

Lee

All is optional really as most would just use the taco season pack with the Rotel tomatoes. I like it hot personally so make it that way even using hot salsa too.

It is kind of funny how I came up with this. I was home with 2 of my 3 kids one night and my wife was at works. I asked them what they wanted for dinner and both said tacos. So I had everything for it in the house I thought. There was a box of taco shells in the pantry so I made everything up as per the Old El Paso instructions. Now I go to open the box of taco shells and the two twerps had eaten them out of the box. I did up some elbow macaroni using the lettuce and such to make a salad. The next day the kids came home from school and dove right into the left overs. I liked it myself and started experimenting but using beef broth instead of water and letting it reduce to make kind of a gravy instead of just having the water evaporate. I then added first stewed tomatoes later changing to Rotel. Over time it turned into what I do now. I originally called it Mexican Hamburger Helper but had someone take offense so changed it to Taco. :readytoeat:
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Good story, Joe!

Someone took offense to "Mexican Hamburger Helper"????

Lee
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Good story, Joe!

Someone took offense to "Mexican Hamburger Helper"????

Lee

Sure did, go figure. Politically correct crowd and it happened when all the flack about the Taco Bell Chihuahua commercials was going on. I changed it then and never changed it back.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I have an unopened box of lasagna noodles that need to be used.

God thing, because in the February, '14 issue of BH&G, there are recipes for different types of lasagna dishes! One is Bolognaise Lasagna, which I want to try! :eating2:
 
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