Tag Archives: pasta recipe

Sweet Italian Sausage Penne With Peppers – Perfect Comfort Food Recipe In 30 Minutes!

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Sweet Italian Sausage With Red Peppers - The Perfect Comfort Food

Sweet Italian Sausage With Red Peppers – The Perfect Comfort Food

Sometimes you need a dose of good old-fashioned comfort food to get you through those chilly March days. Winter has been sticking around Ohio far too long this year, and this is a perfect, hearty dish that will warm you and your family right up! Even better, it can be made from start to finish in about 30 minutes. If you want to go a little lighter, just substitute chicken or turkey brats in place of the pork, and use wheat or vegetable pasta in place of the traditional.

Ingredients

Brown 1/2 to 1" chunks of Sweet Italian Suasage

Brown 1/2 to 1″ chunks of Sweet Italian Sausage

Add in sliced sweet peppers and roasted red tomatoes and sautee

Add in sliced sweet peppers and roasted red tomatoes and saute until they soften

1 package of Sweet Italian Brats (4-5)

3/4 cup of red wine (Merlot or Burgundy work well)

3/4 cup of sliced sweet peppers

1 Tablespoon Of Olive Oil

1/2 cup of diced sun-dried red tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning

1 quart or jar of Pasta Sauce

(click here for the link to our homemade pasta sauce recipe)

1 small can of tomato paste (6 or 8 oz.)

1/2 cup of shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1 lb. of Penne pasta  - (we used wheat)

Instructions:

Add in roasted red tomato and let simmer until wine reduces by about half

Add in roasted red tomato and let simmer until wine reduces by about half

Add in pasta sauce and grated cheese and let simmer while pasta cooks

Add in pasta sauce and grated cheese and let simmer while pasta cooks

1 – Slice up the Brats into 1/2 to 1″ thick pieces. Add olive oil to a large skillet and cook the brat chunks on medium high heat until they are completely browned on all sides. (about 10 to 15 minutes)

2 – Add the sliced sweet peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped garlic and saute for about 5 minutes, or until the peppers and tomatoes have just barely cooked through.

3 – Add in wine, and let the entire mixture continue to simmer. Continue cooking until the wine is reduced down to about half.

4 – Add in the pasta sauce, tomato paste, shredded cheese and Italian seasonings and turn down to medium-low heat and let simmer.

5 – Cook pasta in separate pot , drain and either mix and toss into sauce before serving, or plate up and ladle hot sauce over pasta.

When made with a pound of pasta – this well easily feed a family of four, with a little left over for a light lunch the next day!  You can also add some hot pepper flakes to make a great sweet and spicy pasta.  Enjoy!

- Mary and Jim

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Canning Pasta Sauce Fresh From The Garden

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Fresh picked in the morning – a bowl of pasta sauce waiting to be made!

The finished product!

Tomato Season is here! The daily pickings have increased from a bowl full to a bushel full – and that means it’s time to make and can our pasta sauce.  Along with salsa and tomato juice – it is probably the one item on the canning shelf we use the most.

Here is our simple way to make and then can our pasta sauce so you can enjoy throughout the year.

This makes enough to can 6 to 7 quarts of pasta sauce.

We start by filling an 8 quart stock pot to the top with our Roma paste tomatoes (usually about 40 to 50 Roma’s, depending on size). We clean and chop them in to 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces (skins and all) – and then put the pot on a medium heat setting and cook down for an hour or two. Once the tomatoes have cooked down (the pot will go from full to about 3/4 full during that time) – we run it through a food mill to remove all of the skins and seeds. You are left with about a little over half of a pot of thick tomato stock.

At this point we will add the remaining ingredients to the pot.  To speed up the cook down process – and to keep the sauce thick – we use our food processor to chop each of the garden fresh ingredients into a fine liquidy chop.  Here is what we add to our sauce :

Pasta sauce cooking down…

The jars set inside the pressure canner

2 cups of red wine (we prefer Merlot)
4 large green peppers (chopped in the food processor)
2 large red peppers (chopped in the food processor)
2 medium Cajun belle peppers (chopped in the food processor)
* we use the Cajun belles to give just a touch of heat – you can omit if no heat is desired
3 large sweet onions (Vidalia are best) (chopped in the food processor)
(2) 12 oz. can and (1) 6 oz. can of tomato paste
8 cloves of crushed garlic (chopped in the food processor)
(2) tablespoons of fresh basil (chopped in the food processor)
(2) tablespoons of fresh oregano (chopped in the food processor)
(2) tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley (chopped in food processor)
(1) tablespoon of salt
(1) tablespoon of garlic salt
(1/2) tablespoon of black pepper

Once all the ingredients are in the pot – we just let it simmer for a few hours to cook in all of that great garden flavor. This is a great time to do some taste testing and a little pinch of salt, pepper or other spices if needed. Then – we simply jar up into 6 to 7 quart canning jars and put into the pressure canner for 20 minutes.
When finished – you have 6 to 7 winter time meals waiting at your fingertips! We often will brown up a pound of hamburger, add some freshly grated parmesan / reggiano cheese and a little fresh spices into a pan – let it simmer in a crock pot and serve over our pasta of choice for a quick wintertime meal.

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Making Home Made Pasta – Passing Down A Family Tradition From Italy

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My Grandmother. Born in Italy in 1899, she came to the US where she met and married my grandfather.

This past weekend, we spent the day making home-made pasta noodles with my mom, my sister and brother-in-law.  Mary and I both grew up with parents who made fresh pasta, and although I am sure we both may have been “little helpers” in our youth – this was truly the first time for either of us to really learn the art.  The best part of all, was in addition to making incredible fresh pasta – we learned so much more about the past.

Tried and true recipe with vintage tools of the trade

The recipe itself is simple.  Two basic ingredients. Eggs, and flour – with about 1 egg for every cup of flour.  It can’t get more simple than that – and it’s easy to see why pasta of all types has fed many a generation of hungry people.  It’s inexpensive and easy to make – and it filled you up!

On this day we had the privilege of using my mother’s pasta maker. It was imported from Italy over 65 years ago as a wedding present from my Italian grandmother to my then newlywed mom.

The pasta maker that was given to my mother as a wedding present in 1953 - still as beautiful as it was then!

As the day unfolded – I became amazed at just how many things my mom still used and that still looked and worked so well from those earlier years.

In addition to the pasta maker, we beat the eggs and mixed flour in brightly colored vintage Pyrex mixing bowls, and worked the dough on an old wooden pie board that was a wedding shower present.

If that wasn’t enough – we rolled and cut dough out on a classic cherry red kitchen table from the 50′s – in the extra downstairs kitchen my father had built for mom, complete with their matching vintage refrigerator and oven (still both working by the way!).

Working in the vintage kitchen - Admiral Fridge and Stove, along with a classic red table and the pasta machine.

We joked with my mom that all of her older “things” are so “in” right now – but after spending the day working with everything – it’s easy to see why that’s the case.  There is no mistaking the quality and workmanship built into the tools and appliances of our parents and grandparents era. Things were built to last, and taken care of by a generation who valued what they had.  Something that I think our generation should and could learn a lot from.

6 farm fresh eggs from our hens in a vintage red Pyrex bowl - ready to be beaten and mixed into the flour

So while we rolled the dough through the machine – We got to hear great stories about how my grandmother would make mountains of pasta right on the kitchen table – and all about big sunday dinners of the past, complete with spaghetti, fried chicken and of course, homemade wine.

We finished the day with a great family style spaghetti feast – topped with pasta sauce we had canned from our garden – and yes a little wine too (someday, hopefully we can use one of our own bottles!)   It felt like after all that pasta we should have included a nap as well!

The dough balls - all ready to be rolled through the pasta machine and then cut into noodles.

All joking aside – this day will go down as a favorite.  Spending time with family, passing on recipes, hearing stories of the past and enjoying great home-made food – that is something no amount of money can ever buy – and something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Fresh Pasta with our Homemade sauce!

We also learned some valuable lessons from my mom in keeping a pasta machine working.  Never ever use any type of water to clean it. And never use salt in the dough.  If you follow those two simple rules…you end up with one vintage machine that can crank out a lot of noodles in it’s lifetime.  We included our little step by step process of the pasta making at the bottom of the post – if you have never tried it – it’s so worth the time!