Peanut Sesame Noodles Cool Peanut Sesame Noodles, highly additive and flavorful rendition of Chinese cold noodles tossed in fresh toasted sesame and peanut butter sauce, with added crunchy vegetables. Cold sesame noodles are a favorite of mine that I forget to make very often. In fact, I hadn’t made them in years until a few weeks ago. With the …
Spaghetti with Bacon Sauce Spaghetti with Bacon Sauce, simple and rustic version of the Italian classic all’Amatriciana, adapted from my dad’s Romeo Salta cookbook. I grew up in the 70’s with a father who was an amazing cook. He used to make a spaghetti with bacon sauce that I loved. If I came home from school and asked what’s for …
Classic Bolognese Ragù Full disclosure here ~ if I take my favorite jarred marinara sauce and doctor it up with browned ground beef, some onions and spices, Meathead thinks it’s the best pasta sauce he’s ever had. And it’s good, but it’s not Bolognese ragù. I’m not talking a quick 15 minute sauce here ~ this is a …
Pesto Cheese Stuffed Shells in Marinara Sauce Pesto Cheese Stuffed Shells ~ pasta shells stuffed with creamy ricotta, Italian cheeses and basil pesto, baked in marinara sauce. I found myself staring at one of my last jars of homemade marinara, wondering what I should make. Then I remembered a baked pasta dish I made years ago in Chicago. I would come back …
Pumpkin Sausage Lasagna Pumpkin sausage lasagna ~ creamy layers of pasta, savory pumpkin parmesan cream, Swiss chard and Italian sausage. I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty good home cook who learned from my parents, friends, cookbooks, food magazines and cooking shows ~ just to mention a few things. Isn’t that how most of us learn …
Pasta with Bacon, Onions and Mushrooms Quick and easy Pasta with Bacon, Onions and Mushrooms, all in one pan and on the table in 30 minutes. Adapted from Martha Stewart. I remember clipping this recipe out of Martha Stewart Living and tossing it in my recipe drawer. Rummaging through my drawer a few months later, it caught my eye and I thought it’d …
Italian Baked Spaghetti My great granddad’s Chicago-style Italian baked spaghetti, beef-mushroom sauce layered with cheddar cheese and spaghetti and baked in a casserole dish. Granddad’s Spaghetti, my favorite comfort food of all time. This is a baked spaghetti dish that my great grandfather made, and my grandmother and mom and aunts continued to make it and pass down …
Mom's Lasagna My mom’s lasagna recipe, classic beef lasagna with cottage cheese and mozzarella. I got a text the other day from Always Hungry in New York. “Can you put your lasagna recipe on your blog soon? I’m craving it.” She read my mind as I was planning to make it that weekend. This is the lasagna …
Creamy Italian Sausage Peasant Pasta Creamy pasta with Italian sausage, this rustic and comforting peasant pasta is made with simple ingredients for an easy weeknight dinner. My love for one-pot meals has no end. I used to make this peasant pasta dish, from Rachael Ray, all the time. I haven’t made it in awhile, and for some reason I started …
Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta with Sausage A spicy and creamy Cajun pasta dish with blackened shrimp and andouille sausage. Do you have a dish that you always order at a favorite restaurant? I do, and it’s Creole Pasta at this lovely little bistro in our new neighborhood. I crave it and I wish I could try something else from the menu, but I …