Sweet Corn Chipotle Pasta

It's that time of year . . . sweet fresh corn from the garden. 

This recipe is a great way to spice things up and use the corn as a main dish.

The sweetness and crunch of the corn combined with the spicy chipotle cream sauce is really tasty.

 

What you need:

1 package fettuccine noodles

4 to 6 ears fresh sweet corn

3 tablespoons salted butter

1 heaping teaspoon garlic (minced or crushed)

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup water (use the water from boiling the corn for added flavor)

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 single chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced.

cilantro for garnishing

 

What to do:

1.  Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the sweet corn.

Allow to cook for a few minutes, remove corn and let cool.

2. After cooling, cut corn kernels off and set aside.

3.Place corn kernels in non stick pan on medium high heat with NO oil or butter.

Allow the corn to cook for a few minutes without stirring.  Stir and let sit for

roasting.  Let cook until roasted looking .  When as browned as you like remove from heat.

4. Cook the pasta according to the directions on package.

 

5. Melt butter in medium size skillet, add garlic and sauté.  About 2 minutes.

Don't overcook the garlic or it will taste bad.

6. Add the flour and whisk in, let cook about 1 minutes.

7.  Whisk in the milk, half and half, salt, and water. Stir until the sauce is smooth.

8. Add Greek yogurt and chipotle pepper and stir to desired consistency.

 

9. Combine pasta, sauce and corn into one pan and stir.  Top with cilantro and serve.

 

I minced my chipotle pepper in my mini food processor.  I love to use that kitchen appliance.  It makes food prep quick, easy and not too messy.  Hope you enjoy this one, its delicious!

  I will be making this dish again for sure.  Thanks to pinchofyum.com who posted this great recipe on Pinterest.  I love trying out the many recipes I find there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

What you need:

1 box/bag Penne pasta

3/4 cup Hormel bacon bits

2 cups cooked chicken sliced to bite size pieces 

4 diced green onions

2 jars creamy Alfredo sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup fresh shredded Parmesan

What to do:

1. Cook Penne pasta according to directions on package, rinse and drain.

2. Put pasta into baking dish and add 1 1/2 jars of the Alfredo sauce.

(I keep about half a jar to add to the pasta when it is reheated as leftovers, 

as the pasta sits it soaks up the sauce and this just freshens and moistens the pasta dish).

3. Fold in 3 of the diced green onions, chicken, and 1/2 cup of bacon bits

 (keep 1/4 cup bacon bits for sprinkling on top just before baking).

4. Now add 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella and 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan and mix well.

5. Top with remaining shredded mozzarella, Parmesan, bacon bits and diced green onion.

6. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Now its ready to serve and eat . . .

This is a great meal that my family really likes.  Its our copycat version of a chicken cordon bleu pasta that is served at a local restaurant called Firehouse Pizza.  The main difference between our and theirs is that they put sliced mushrooms in theirs and we don't.  If you like mushrooms you can add about 1/2 cup sliced.

To make this I use the Chicken Marinade recipe and grill the chicken or use the Perfect Chicken recipe.
If your short on time you can use a rotisserie cooked chicken and cut it up into bite size pieces

I make it ahead of time and make extra so that it can be used for other meals such as this pasta.

I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine does.

16 Minute Bow Tie Lasagna

What you need:
5 cups bowtie pasta or a 12 0z. bag/box bowtie pasta
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 jar marinara or spaghetti sauce (24 oz). I used Rago because that's what I had in the pantry
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon garlic powder (aprox.)
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings(aprox.)
1 cup grated mozzarella ( you can add more or less depending on how cheesy you like it)
1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream

What to do:
1.  Bring water to boil and add bowtie pasta, cook til al dente (chewy).
2. While pasta is cooking; brown hamburger in a large skillet.
3. Drain any fat from the meat and keep in skillet, add cooked pasta.
4. Drizzle pasta with olive oil.
5. Add spaghetti sauce, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, mozzarella and sour cream.
6. Stir gently over low heat until all ingredients are combined and cheese is melted.
7.  You can add some grated or fresh Parmesan to give it a flavor boost(but it doesn't need it, it's great as is).
8. Enjoy the rest of your day because its such a quick fix!

I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs thepioneerwoman.com This meal is great to make any day of the week, it's simple and something most people like.  It's good comfort food and if you have extra it's great reheated the next day.  Even if you don't love sour cream don't worry you can't even taste it with everything else, it just adds a creamy texture to this great dish. Add a little green salad and a hunk of bread and you have a meal everyone will enjoy!!!

Lasagna Roll Up Recipe

What you need:
1 pound ground beef or italian sausage                                   4 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese                                            1 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 jars spaghetti sauce                                                      1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded mozarella
2 eggs                                                                                   16 lasagna noodles
1/4 tsp pepper                                                                      1 tbsp chopped  fresh parsley
Fresh baby spinach (optional)

In large skillet brown meat, drain fat.  Stir in spaghetti sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Cook pasta until al dente.  Rinse with cool water.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.

 In large bowl, stir together ricotta/cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, salt and pepper.

Spread about 1/3 of meat mixture in bottom of 9 x 13 pan.  Layout a lasagna noodle and spread cheese mixture on noodle.  Cover with spinach leaves roll up the noodle.  Set in baking dish.  Repeat until baking dish is full of rolled up noodles.  Cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle with mozarella.  Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Bake last five minutes with foil removed.
***For vegetarian version just leave meat out of sauce***

Here it is fresh and piping hot out of the oven.  It was good the first time and reheated as leftovers.

We added a green salad and a warm hunk of bread to top off this meal.