Basic Pasta Recipe

Putting this in a safe place for my hubby! ;)

1 1/2C Bob's Semolina Flour (guess where we got the recipe?)
1/2 tsp salt, optional
2 eggs or 3 egg whites, beaten
2 TBSP Water
2 TBSP Olive Oil

Combine Semolina Flour and salt.  Add beaten eggs (or egg whites), water and oil.  Mix to make a stiff dough.  Knead 10 minutes or until dough is elastic.  Wrap dough in a towel or place in a plastic bag and let rest 20 minutes.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out to desired thickness and cut as desired.  Bring large pot of water containing 1/2 tsp oil to a boil.  Add pasta and cook until tender.  When making lasagna, no need to boil noodles.  Add directly to your recipe.  Serve with your favorite sauce or pesto or toss with olive oil or butter, pepper and Parmesan cheese.

** Note from package:  Many People prefer making pasta using 50% Semolina & 50% Unbleached White Flour. **

Greek Pasta with Tomatoes and White Beans

I actually got this recipe from allrecipes.com. We tried it tonight and we all loved it.

Ingredients

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 10 ounces fresh spinach, washed and chopped
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and beans in a large non-stick skillet. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.Add spinach to the sauce; cook for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring constantly.Serve sauce over pasta, and sprinkle with feta.

I substituted the feta with some regular cheddar because I didn't have feta.

Crockpot Italian Chicken

I originally got the base for my recipe from a ward cookbook I got for my wedding.

4-6 chicken Breasts (6-12 chicken tenders)
1/4 C butter, melted (1 stick of butter)
1 pkgs Good Seasons Dry Italian seasoning (any brand Italian dressing mix)
6 oz cream cheese (8 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C water (I usually don't add water, but I start with frozen chicken)
cooked rice or pasta

Chicken breasts can be left whole or cut into pieces. Dip Chicken in melted butter and place in crockpot. Pour 2 packages of Italian seasoning over chicken and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. When chicken is done make a sauce by (adding cream cheese & cream of chicken soup to the crockpot and mix well) mixing in a saucepan the cream cheese, chicken soup and water, stirring until smooth. Pour into Crockpot and stir well with chicken ans seasoning. Warm for 5 (or a few more hours) minutes and serve over rice or pasta.

So that is the original recipe! My modifications to amounts in (). Okay so you can cook the chicken first in the Crockpot, you can also mix everything except rice or pasta in and cook it all together. That is how I usually do it, we ate this almost every Sunday when we were first married! It isn't a super low fat meal but is one I save for special dinners or Sunday dinners.

Carbonara

I just tried this recipe from a friend and it was delicious, as well as easy. My 4 year old and 2 year old even asked for seconds!

1 lb. pasta (bowtie or something fun)
1 lb. bacon
1 onion chopped
4-5 cloves pressed garlic
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 C. chicken stock/broth
2 egg yolks
1 C. parmesan cheese
1/2 C. cream, I used milk and thought it was fine
bunch of fresh parsley chopped
pepper to taste

The recipe doesn't call for it, but I think pieces of chicken or sliced mushrooms would also be great with this.

Get pasta boiling

Saute bacon, onion and garlic. Just before bacon is crispy, add red pepper flakes and cook until bacon is crisp.

Add chicken stock and simmer until it's reduced by half.

Beat yolks, 2/3 parmesan cheese, cream, parsley, and pepper together. Slowly add a ladel-full of pasta water to it.

Add cream mixture to bacon mixture and heat through. Let simmer a couple minutes until it thickens. Add to pasta and enjoy!

Rigatoni Lasagna

I love lasagna, but I don't like the prep of it. Last night, I thought I had all the ingredients to make it, so I decided, why not. I didn't have lasagna noodles, but I did have some rigatoni, so I used that. It was easier for Holden to eat it that way and turned out pretty good.

cooked noodles (6 lasagna or any other kind)
1/2 lb ground beef
1T. Italian seasoning
1/2-3/4 jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz Monterey jack cheese
8-12 oz cottage cheese

Brown ground beef. I like to add onion to mine, either dehydrated or fresh, depending on what I have. Add Italian seasoning and spaghetti sauce. In a 11x7 or 9x9 pan, place a little spaghetti sauce in the bottom. Layer 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the meat mixture, 1/3 cottage cheese and 1/3 of the Monterey jack cheese. Repeat until all ingredients are gone. Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot. You can vary temp/time if cooking with something else.