Skillet Toasted Pasta with Chicken Sausage

I think I really should have some Italian in me ... somewhere?!  I love pasta...and potatoes (at least I can blame that on the Irish).  Anyway, I found this recipe and was simply intrigued at how it could possibly turn out by making pasta the way you make risotto.
I followed the recipe for the most part but didn't have an onion on hand so I just threw in a little onion powder.  I'm sure the real onion would be great!  I also used probably 4 cups of chicken stock (reduced sodium) and 2 cups of water.  I didn't end up using it all.  I also added more than 1 cup of the stock at a time to create a little "boil" - you can see (hopefully) in the pictures below.  I think that helped the pasta cook.
All in all, this was so flavorful - a little smokey and creamy - which is crazy since there is no cream, milk or butter in the whole meal!  An easy weeknight meal that is so tasty!

I cooked the chicken sausage whole for a few minutes, then chopped it and finished cooking it so it had a little crispy edge

Here's the pasta after it was "toasted" and as I started adding the liquid

I added more than 1 cup of liquid to enable a small simmer / boil for the pasta

 The finished product - AMAZING!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

Olive oil

12 oz. penne pasta

1 small sweet onion, chopped

¾ pound spicy Italian chicken sausage

2 Tbls fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

2 Tbls Parmesan cheese

Italian Seasoning

Instructions:

In a pot heat chicken stock & water to a simmer, do not boil.

In a large skillet, swirl a little olive oil. Heat over medium high heat. Add sausage and onion. Break up sausage, and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove from pan.

Reduce heat to medium. Swirl about a tablespoon of olive oil in skillet. Add penne tossing to coat in the olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until lightly toasted.

Add about a cup (or more) of chicken stock to the pan. Stirring freqently, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add another cup of stock. Keep doing this until the pasta is cooked through.

Add sausage back to the pan. Add Parmesan cheese, squeeze lemon juice over pasta, and season with salt and pepper. Stir and heat until sausage is warm.

Serve with additional cheese, and Italian Seasoning if desired.

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

It's been so cold here and I was craving a hearty soup.  I found this recipe on Pintrest and liked that it didn't look super labor intensive.  This soup is pretty fast to throw together and turned out really tasty!  I didn't add the bell peppers but followed the rest of the recipe.  I'd definitely make this one again!

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Ingredients:

1 lb Italian Sausage, rolled into 1/4 teaspoon size balls

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 red bell peppers, diced (I omitted these)

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

8 cups chicken broth

2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes (I only used 1 can that had basil & oregano)

1-1/2 cups chopped kale

2 cups cheese tortellini (fresh or frozen)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet, brown the mini sausage balls until cooked through - about 5-7 minutes.  Drain the grease & place on a plate lined with paper towels

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and cook until tender.  Stir in garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.  Stir in peppers, bay leaf and red pepper flakes.  

Stir in broth, tomatoes and kale.  Add the cheese tortellini and cook until the pasta is tender - about 7-10 minutes.  Stir in fresh basil and season with Salt & Pepper.  Stir in mini sausage balls & heat until warm.  Remove bay leaf & serve.

Enjoy!

Spiced Boneless Chicken Thighs

I was in the mood for chicken but wanted something a little different.  I found this recipe and thought it sounded good.  I had everything on hand to make the marinade too so I did that.  This was very flavorful and tasty!  The best part is you can whip up the marinade and it doesn't require hours to sit.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
Salt & Pepper
1-2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 cloves of garlic
Couple dashes of Red Pepper Flakes

Instructions:
Heat the oven to 425 degrees
In a large bowl, combine Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, garlic and red pepper flakes.  Add the chicken and toss to coat.
Place chicken in a baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Tots with Dill Dust

I saw this on the Food Network while I was working out one day (why do I torture myself and watch food shows while working out?!).  I really like dill so I thought I'd try it for our Super Bowl gathering.  I cut the amount of Kosher salt that was called for in the dill dust and it was still WAY too much.  Other than that, this is a good recipe.  Next time, I would put maybe a couple teaspoons of Kosher salt and more dill.

Ingredients - Dill Dust:

1 bunch dill, roughly chopped

1-2 tsp Kosher Salt 

Ingredients - Sweet Potato

1 large sweet potato

Kosher Salt

1/3 cup flour

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups Safflower Oil

Directions:

For the Dill Dust - Heat oven to 250 degrees.  In a small food processor, blend dill and salt until it's finely ground.  Place mixture on sheet pan and bake until dried, about 30 minutes.

For the Potato - Fill pot with cold water and a little Kosher salt.  Place potato in water and let it come to a boil.  Boil for approximately 5 minutes, until you can insert a knife into the exterior of the potato but the inside is still firm.  

Remove potato from pot and place on cutting board to cool.  Once it's cool, peel the potato.  Cut into small / rough chunks and put in a large food processor.  Pulse the potato 10-15 times to make smaller chunks.  

In a small bowl, combine flour & pepper.  Slowly add that to food processor and pulse a couple of times to mix.  

Heat oil to 350 degrees.  Form potatoes into small balls and gently place a few at a time in the oil.  Fry the potatoes, turning a couple of times, until they are crispy & browned - about 2 minutes per side.  Remove from oil & place on paper towels.  Sprinkle a little of the dill dust over the potatoes as they come out of the oil & are still warm.  Continue frying in small batches until the potatoes are done.  

Enjoy!

Cajun Chicken Puffs

We had some people over for Super Bowl and I wanted to try some new appetizers.  I found this one on Pinterest and thought it looked easy enough but good.  It takes some time if you bake the chicken yourself (you could buy already cooked chicken to speed up the process).  I baked mine with some Cajun seasoning.  The original recipe is for a Garlic chicken but I wanted a little more kick.  I thought these were just "ok" when I had them for Super Bowl.
I made a 2nd batch today and kicked it up a little by adding very little cream cheese, a bit of light Mayo, maybe 3-4 tbsp of Mexican shredded cheese and a few dashes of Rockfish Johnnies Hot Sauce.  I also cut the triangles in half to make the dough smaller.  I think these were perfect!
If you haven't tried Rockfish Johnnies, you're missing out on some really great hot sauce!  You can purchase it from their website or learn where to buy it in certain stores.

Here's what they looked like on Super Bowl.

Here's what they looked like today:

Recipe (for the spicier version):

2 oz cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)

1/2 c cooked shredded chicken (I seasoned mine with Cajun spice)

2 (8 oz) cans refrigerator crescent rolls (I used low fat)

1-1/2 tbsp light mayo

3-4 tbsp shredded Mexican spiced cheese

A few dashes of Rockfish Johnnies Hot Sauce

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Mix cream cheese, chicken, mayo, shredded cheese and hot sauce until well blended

Unroll crescent rolls.  They are already pre-cut into triangles.  Using a sharp knife, cut each triangle in half to form 2 triangles.  

Place a small amount of chicken mixture in each small triangle and roll up.  

Place on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil & sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake at 375 for 11-14 minutes, until the rolls are a golden brown.  

Enjoy!