Tag: Pasta

Family, Food

Italian Sausage Spinach Soup

thestlouiscooks

 

 

Italian Sausage Spinach Soup

Soup is the perfect comfort food, especially on cold winter days.  It’s also the perfect meal for a busy family that doesn’t have time to sit down for a meal.  Soup is always our “go to” meal when we have a night packed full of practices or meetings which happens a lot.  It was one of those kind of nights.  Time to make some Italian Sausage Spinach Soup, leave it on the stove, and eat at your convenience.

Italian sausage is used in this house at least once a week. I love Italian sausage!  It probably has something to do with my Italian heritage, but it also adds so much flavor.  You can taste the extra bold flavors and spice of the sausage in this awesome Italian Sausage Spinach Soup.  This soup is also very versatile. If you are looking for a low carb option, then leave the pasta on the side.  My husband eats the Italian Sausage Spinach soup with out the pasta. The kids enjoy it with the pasta so everyone is happy. Of course, we double the recipe because we like left overs. Italian Sausage Spinach Soup is a favorite in this house.  Check it out!

Ingredients:

  • 16 Ounces of Bulk Italian Sausage
  • 4 Cups of Chicken broth
  • 2 14 1/2 Ounce cans of Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano
  • 2 Cups thinly sliced celery hearts with leaves
  • 1 Cup uncooked Small Shell Pasta
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 2 Tablespoons of Italian Seasonings
  • 4 Cups of bagged Spinach Leaves
  • 4 Tablespoons freshly Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1.  Heat a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the sausage to the pan and cook.  Stir the sausage, breaking it up to crumble for approximately 10 minutes, or until browned. Drain, and return to the pot.
  2. Add broth, tomatoes, celery, pasta, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until pasta is done.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in spinach until wilted. Sprinkle each serving with fresh grated parmesan cheese.  Serve with hot Italian bread!

Optional Low Carb – If you want to add the pasta separately, prepare pasta according to package directions.  Do not add pasta as indicated in step 2.  Leave the pasta on the side.  It can be added individually to each serving.  Another note, we used a larger shell pasta because that is what we had at home.  Remember, you can get a little creative and adjust accordingly to what you might have in your kitchen.

Enjoy!

Family, Food

Pasta Primavera

thestlouiscooks
Vegetables

It’s Friday folks so that means no meat for us so I wanted to share another quick meatless meal. We make Pasta Primavera several times a year. I add different vegetables every time. This time I used vegetables that I had in the refrigerator. I was missing a frozen bag of peas but I highly recommend using peas in your Primavera. The beautiful thing about Primavera is you can make it so many different ways: butter/olive oil sauce, red sauce, Alfredo sauce, and so on. Our favorite is a light butter/olive oil base.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Bag of Spaghetti or any choice of pasta noodle (17.6 ounces)
  • 3-4 Cups of Mixed Vegetables (cut carrots in match sticks, zucchini and squash in match sticks or quartered, and cut cauliflower)
  • 1 Medium Onion, chopped
  • 4 Garlic Cloves
  • 4-5 Tablespoons of Butter
  • 3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasonings
  • Sea Salt and Fresh Pepper to taste
  • Dash of Cayenne or Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
  • Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

  1. Prepare pasta according to directions.  Meanwhile, cut and prepare all vegetables.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large wok or saucepan over medium to high heat. Add the onions and fresh garlic along with the cauliflower and carrots. Cook for 4-5 minutes.  Add the butter and the zucchini and squash. Cook for another 4-5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.
  3. Next, add the Italian seasonings, sea salt, pepper, and red pepper.  Add pasta to pan and toss lightly.
  4. Heat on low heat for 3-6 minutes or until heated through.
  5. Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Cooked Vegetables
Pasta Primavera


Family, Food

Pasta with Peas and Bacon

thestlouiscooks

Bacon Pea Pasta

It was one of those kind of nights.  I didn’t want to do take out and I didn’t want to go to the grocery store.  It was time to get creative and pull together a meal with some of the ingredients I had at home. Of course, I picked out some of my favorites – pasta, garlic, peas, and bacon!

This meal was so quick and easy and the entire family loved it. It’s a light dish (not low fat), but light and not heavy.  You could use any kind of pasta and/or vegetable.

Who doesn’t like a dish with bacon in it anyway?

Ingredients

  • 1 Bag of Frozen Peas – defrosted
  • 1 Box of Linguine Pasta
  • 1 Small Onion Chopped
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic
  • 6-7 Slices of Cooked Bacon
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • 4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Directions

  1. Cook Pasta according to package directions.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, add olive oil to large pan and sauté the onion and garlic.  I use a lot of garlic.
  3. Add peas to pan and stir.  Cook the onion, garlic and peas over medium heat and add salt and pepper as desired.
  4. Drain pasta and add to pea mixture on the stove.  Lightly toss to coat all of the pasta and pea mixture.
  5. Break up bacon pieces and add to pan.  Lightly toss bacon into pasta.
  6. Serve immediately and add fresh parmesan.

Enjoy!  This one is a keeper.