Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta
I have been making this dish since I saw Giada making it on her Food Network show a few years ago. She tops this yummy sauce over baked potatoes, but I far prefer it served with pasta. This dish looks really similar to another dish I made, Cheesy Sausage Pasta, but it is very different. I just like to use shells as my pasta of choice. 🙂
There are many things that I like about this dish. It’s a great weeknight meal, because it comes together quickly. The sausage adds so much flavor on it’s own. It’s almost fool proof! You can easily switch out the arugula for spinach, should your local grocery store not carry it. Like I did this time around. I do prefer arugula, though, as it doesn’t go mushy as quickly as spinach. But, my daughter loves both, and that’s enough for me!
In a pinch, you can use pork sausage for this recipe, as it is more readily available, but be sure to drain off the fat. Sweet sausage is also much more kid friendly than the spicy variety. My daughter picked up on the spice in this dish right away when I couldn’t find sweet sausage, and she wasn’t as big a fan. So, I stick to the sweet stuff now.
The arugula or spinach will look like too much when you first add it to your dish. But, it will wilt down really quickly.
See? Mmmmm….this is yummy stuff.
Here’s what you need to do:
Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta
Turkey Sausage and Arugula Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white or yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1 package of sweet turkey sausage about 4 or 5 sausages, casing removed
- 1 jar tomato basil sauce 2 cups
- 3 cups arugula or spinach
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 pound pasta your choice of noodle
Instructions
- In a large skillet, sauté the onions in olive oil over medium high heat until translucent. Add minced garlic and salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add the turkey sausage and cook until the meat has cooked through. Add in the tomato sauce and arugula. Let the arugula cook into the sauce until it reduces in size. Add in the mascarpone cheese and stir till combined. Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the parmesan cheese. Add pasta into the sauce, and finish with more parmesan cheese.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
As I sit here at 7am on a Saturday morning with a tea in my hand, the fire lit and debating eating an oatmeal raisin cookie that I made last night, I thought it might be a good time to write a post about them! And eat a cookie. It’s basically breakfast ingredients, right??
For Christmas, my husband got me a Le Creuset cookie jar! Cute gift, since cookies are kinda my thing. At least at Christmastime. Little did I know, he had a plan that I should keep this cookie jar full of cookies all the time! Sneaky.
He’s been asking for oatmeal raisin cookies for weeks! I promised him I would make them once the jar was empty of the rice krispy treats I had made previous. Now that report cards are done, the pressure is off, and it’s the start of the weekend, I thought that last night was the perfect night to make them!
I found this recipe over 10 years ago on a bed and breakfast site that I can no longer locate. I have tweaked this recipe quite a bit over the years. At Christmastime, I make these cookies, with cranberries and white chocolate chips. They have been a long time favorite.
The original recipe is made with shortening, which I generally don’t like to bake cookies with. I’ve tried this recipe with both salted and unsalted butter. Either is fine. I, honestly, don’t notice much of a difference. In truth, I think I prefer these cookies made with salted butter. I have also cut back on the sugar in this recipe, as I found 2 cups to be way too much. I opted to add more brown sugar, because I like my cookies chewy. But, if you like a crispier type of cookie, just switch the amounts of white and brown sugar.
Oatmeal Raisin Cokies
Ingredients
- 1 cup or 2 sticks, butter (softened at room temperature)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups quick cook oatmeal
- 2 cups raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Farenheit
- Cream butter and sugars together.
- Add the eggs and vanilla.
- Slowly add flour, baking soda and salt until combined.
- Add oatmeal and raisins until all is combined.
- With your cookie scoop, or spoon, drop cookies onto a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes - A medium sized cookie yields 3 dozen.
- Enjoy!
Weeknight Beef Stroganoff
My mom used to make beef stroganoff for special occasions when I was young. It’s still one of my brother’s favorite dishes. I came across this recipe that is so similar to my mom’s, and such a cinch to make! I’ve made it several times now. Mid week! Easy and so tasty! And a great way to introduce steak to your littles.
Speaking of steak, this dish doesn’t require an expensive cut. Sirloin is what most people use. I used Rib Eye because that is what I had in the freezer. Any cut would work.
The first time I made this, I used a whole can of tomato paste, because I didn’t want to throw away what was left in the can. I could instantly tell that the sauce was too tomato-y, so I added more broth and it turned out just fine. The second time I did this, I only used the recommended amount, and it was also very good. So, you can’t really go wrong.
Weeknight Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
- 2 Rib Eye Steaks thinly sliced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Medium onion diced
- Mushrooms sliced (8 ounces)*
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 Cups beef broth
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 Tablespoons dry sherry
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 Cup sour cream**
- 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cook egg noodles in boiling salted water until al dente (soft but still a bite); toss with butter once cooked (about 2 tablespoons), and set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat oil and add the beef in batches, so that the meat doesn't overcrowd and boil. The beef will cook very quickly. Cook for about 2 minutes per side, depending how thinly you sliced your steak. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Add in the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the mushrooms and cook until soft, another 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 1 minute.
- Stir in the beef broth and tomato paste and stir until the sauce thickens a little, about 2 minutes.
- Return the beef, and all its juice, to the pan.
- Add in the sherry, salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Reduce the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add in the sour cream.
- Sprinkle chopped parsley into the sauce, reserving some for garnish.
- Serve over buttered egg noodles.
- Enjoy!
Notes
**You can use whatever type of sour cream you like, but full fat makes this dish much more scrumptious
Nonna’s Tiramisu
Years and years ago, I made tiramisu for a boyfriend, with the help of a good Italian friend from high school. It turned out great, but I haven’t made it since. About a month ago, my husband, and some family and I went to a wine club that we are new members of for a private dinner, and tiramisu was for dessert that night. The tiramisu was good, but the cookie still had some bite to it, and I felt like I could make it better.
Fast forward two weeks later, over my lunch break, I found myself at McCall’s Cake Decorating store in Toronto for some Christmas baking ingredients. Surprisingly, they were selling ladyfingers, and since I wanted to make tiramisu, I bought them. I asked the girl behind the counter if she thought I could make two pans of tiramisu with the amount of lady fingers I had. She told me she would ask the woman that was in the basement, as she makes them all the time. From the basement, a lovely, little Italian Grandma comes up, and proceeds, in broken English, to tell me the recipe she has used for 30 years! 1 egg, 1 spoonful of sugar, and 100 grams of mascarpone, is what she said. She told me that for an 8×10 pan, she uses 5 eggs, 5 spoonfuls of sugar, and 500 grams of mascarpone. I thought that was all she was going to share, but then she kept going! She told me to separate the eggs, and beat the yolks with the sugar and then the mascarpone.
Till it looks like this.
In a separate bowl, beat your egg whites until they reach a soft peak.
Like this.
Fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture.
This is what you end up with. Just the right amount of sweetness.
I will tell you, that the container of mascarpone that I bought was only 475 grams, which I knew was 25 grams short from what Nonna told me to use! But, I figured, I’d be fine. In truth, and this is just between you and me, I think 6 eggs, 6 spoonfuls of sugar, and 600 grams of mascarpone would have been better, as we all felt that it tasted a bit heavy on the coffee and could have used a bit more custard. BUT, it was still damn good and needs to be shared.
Nonna's Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 3 cups of espresso cooled
- 1 package of ladyfingers about 50 ladyfingers
- 5 eggs separated
- 5 tablespoons of sugar
- 500 grams of mascarpone
- Cocoa for dusting
Instructions
- Working quickly, dip each lady finger, one at a time into the espresso, on both sides. Don't let the ladyfingers sit in the espresso, as they will absorb way too much liquid. A quick dip.
- Place each ladyfinger side by side, to fill in the space of the pan.
- Once your bottom layer has been filled with ladyfingers, put half of your custard on top and spread smooth.
- Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers.
- Finish with the remainder of your custard.
- Dust generously with cocoa to finish.
- Enjoy!!!
(Source: Boss Of The Apple Sauce)
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