Penne with goat cheese, broccoli rabe and chicken sausage

We are pasta lovers here. I love pasta for it's ease and speed. A fabulous and flavorful meal can be prepared in no time at all. While I adore pasta, I really do get bored of the same old red sauce all the time. My daughter and I had a pasta with broccoli rabe (at Molto in Fairfield, CT) that was fabulous. But it was greasy. I wanted to keep the flavor the same but cut out some of the fat and calories. For starters, I substituted regular sausage for turkey sausage. (Chicken sausage works well too.) I used a minimal amount of olive oil and tossed in a little bit of crumbled goat cheese to create a rich and creamy consistency. The goat cheese ended up complementing the broccoli rabe and the sausage perfectly!

1 box of pasta (any shape) cooked per directions on the box. (I really prefer Barilla)
2 bunches of brocolli rabe, washed and trimmed
2 packages of good quality chicken or turkey sausage. (4 to 5 sausages per package)
1/2 cup of crumbled goat cheese
2 tbs (eyeballed) of olive oil, plus more for cooking
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Add some non stick spray or olive oil to a large saute pan. Then add sausages, cut into 1/2 inch slices to the pan. Do not add all sausages at once! Cook so that the sausages are well browned on both sides. When done place on a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat until all the sausages are cooked.

Meantime add water to a large pot and bring to a boil. When boiling add pasta to the water and cook per directions on box, approx 9 - 11 minutes.

When the sausages are done add a dash of olive oil to the pan and toss in the broccoli rabe. When broccoli rabe is well cooked, maybe 7 minutes, remove and set aside.

When pasta is done, drain and place back into pan. Into the pan toss 2 tbs of olive oil, the sausages, brocolli rabe and goat cheese. Toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is a great meal to serve on those night when your kids are all over the map between after school sports and extra-curricular activities.

Pasta Salad from the Pantry

I have talked before about the importance of a well-stocked pantry. There are times when time is short and yet you must prepare dinner. Salads are easy and quick, but sometimes the family simply isn't in the mood... It's the end of the summer and we're pretty much all sandwiched out... Pasta is a pretty reliable palate-pleaser in the Entertaining House. I had some hot Italian sausage in the fridge that I needed to use up. But there was not much else... So I took to the pantry and loaded the tins into my arms and ended up making a fabulous, simple and delicious warm pasta salad. Perfect for a coolish night!

Ingredients:

1 can black small, pitted black olives -- I used about 3/4 of the can
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 small jar of small green pitted olives -- I used about half the jar
1 small jar of sun dried tomatoes, Julienned -- I used about 8
2 Tbs of the sun dried tomato oil
1 Can of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
Olive oil, a good dose!
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 package of Italian sausage -- or 4 links -- Chicken sausage is perfect in this as well. (Or cook the entire package and use the remaining half to place on home made pizza another night!)
1 1/2 Tbs Italian seasonings
Sea salt to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste
1 lb of your favorite pasta (I use Barilla)

Directions:

Cook pasta in large saucepan per directions on the package
In a large saute pan cook sausage in batches. As sausage is cooked set aside on a plate lined with paper towels.
When pasta is done and cooked al dente drain and return to pan. Add a touch of olive oil to keep from sticking together. When the sausage has cooked put desired amount into pasta. The rest can be refrigerated for another day.
In the saute pan add 2 to 3 tbs of olive oil and cook garlic until lightly browned. Gently scrape out garlic and add to the pasta pot. Add onions to the saute pan and cook until translucent. Add the olives, chick peas, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, sun dried tomato oil, crushed red pepper, Italian seasonings, and sea salt. Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes to marry the flavors.
When ready add to the pasta pot. Mix well. Serve immediately or as people are ready to eat. This dish is simple but packed with flavor that lends itself to tasting wonderfully whether hot or warm.

Jambalaya: Hot Stuff for a Cold Day!

Trying to feed my family warm comfort food that is not loaded with unnecessary fat and calories can be hard to do. We all love soup, but we all love different soups. I thought the jambalaya would be a big hit because we all love all the ingredients. I loosely followed Emeril's Mardi Gras Jambalaya -- well, we'll just say (as Randy Jackson would) that I took his and made it my own!

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 yellow pepper, finely diced
3 stalks celery, finely diced
1 medium to large onion, finely diced
4 Tbs Olive oil
1 lb chicken breast, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
1lb chicken sausage
1 1/2 cups of excellent quality jarred salsa
2 cartons organic chicken broth

1 1/2 cups of rice
2 bay leaves
Emeril's Essence (Recipe follows)

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
Yield: 2/3 cup
This creole seasoning is fabulous and should be a staple in your pantry!

Traditional jambalaya does not use salsa but chopped or canned tomatoes. I like the ease of the salsa and the additional flavors it brings to this dish. I also use salsa in my Tortilla Soup.

Directions:

In a large pan saute sausage. (I remove  bite-sized bits from the casing and toss them into the pan) When sausage is nicely browned -- the darker the better -- place into a paper towel lined bowl. Add 2 tbs of olive oil to the pan and toss in vegetables. Cook until nicely browned. Add 1 tsp of Emeril's Essence. When done, add the vegetables to the bowl the sausages are in. Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and add the cubed chicken. Season with another teaspoon or so of Emeril's Essence. Cook until well browned. Add to bowl.

In a large sauce pan cook the rice per directions on the box. When the rice is done add the broth, salsa, bay leaves, meat and veggies. Simmer until ready to serve.

We sliced up and toasted a Parmesan baguette and used it to sop up the broth. Fabulous!

Paella Mexican Style! (One Pan Meal)

Paella (pronounce pie-aye-ah) is a Spanish dish, originally of the Valencia region. Typically it consists of several types of meat such as chicken and sausage (chorizo) and various types of seafood such as clams, mussels, lobster and shrimp. A soufrite is a tomato based sauce that serves as the flavor and essence of the dish. A good soufrite can often take hours to make. Rice is then cooked in the soufrite and then the seafood and meats are added. It's a wonderful dish. My husband has a fabulous recipe which I will share at some other time.

I had some chicken and some sausage to use the other night and thought I might make a much easier, faster version of paella that promised to be equally as tasty. I gave my dish a Mexican flare and instead of slaving over a soufrite I used salsa! What a wonderful burst of flavor it added... instead of the saffron, I added cilantro. And black beans and corn. And shrimp. Our quick and easy shortcut was nothing less than spectacular and was devoured by the entire family.

From start to finish the dish took no longer than 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, trimmed and cubed

4 sausages (preferably chorizo) sliced into 1/2 inch slices

1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of corn, drained (or 1 cup of frozen corn)

1 container of fresh chunky of salsa
Long grain rice, enough for 6 servings

Olive oil

2 cups of water

Sea Salt, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
25 medium/small shrimp, cooked and deveined

In a large saute pan add about 1 tbs of olive oil. Turn pan to high to heat the oil, then as soon as it starts to sizzle turn the heat to medium and add the chicken. Coat each piece with a little sea salt and a good shake of garlic powder and cook until it browns. When browned sufficiently remove from pan onto a plate lined with a paper towel. Set aside.

Add sausage to saute pan and cook well, until sausage also browns. Place on a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.

Add a drop more of olive oil and add the rice. Cook until the rice browns slightly, then add the fresh salsa and water. Cook per directions on the box, until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked. If needed add more water.

When rice is cooked, turn heat to low and add chicken, sausage, shrimp, beans, and corn. Keep on low heat. Chop cilantro, about a handful, and sprinkle over the rice mixture prior to serving.

This dish is so simple and yet so easy to make!