Tasty Tuesday-Stuffed Red Pepper Pasta

Today's dish uses minimal ingredients and takes hardly anytime to prepare. It has an Italian flavor and makes excellent leftovers. This is a variation of a recipe I recently found in the Nov 2011 edition of Women's Day Magazine. The original recipe is called, Sausage, Potato and Onion-Stuffed Peppers, and is found on page 105. My variation combines this recipe with pasta. Here it is:

Stuffed Red Pepper Pasta

1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
S+P
4 red bell peppers
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp dried parsley, plus a shake or two more for pasta
1 lb sausage, preferably Italian. (I use Jimmy Dean's low-fat)
1 13.5 oz package angel hair pasta
EVOO
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Combine crushed tomatoes, oregano, and 1/4 tsp S+P in a slow cooker.
Cut off the top of the red peppers and remove seeds. Keep the top as it will be a lid for the stuffed peppers while cooking. Combine onion, parsley, and sausage. Stuff peppers with sausage mixture and top with pepper lid. Place peppers side by side in slow cooker on top of crushed tomato mixture. Cook 5 to 6 hours on low or 3 to 4 hours on high.

Prepare angel hair pasta according to box directions. Drain, rinse, and return to pot. Drizzle cooked pasta with EVOO and add a couple shakes of parsley.

Remove peppers from slow cooker dumping excess liquid back into slow cooker. Discard pepper lid. Chop peppers and sausage into bite size pieces. Plate the pasta and spoon pepper and sausage mixture over top. Generously spoon tomato and juice mixture over pasta. Top with grated parmesan if desired.
Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday-Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I have decided to add some fun things to my blog, and Tasty Tuesday is one of them. Every Tuesday I will post a recipe that is tried and true, whether it's one that's been passed down in my family or one I whipped up in my own kitchen. After trying, failing miserably, and occasionally succeeding at cooking for 7 years I finally feel like I can make, not only edible, but plate licking dishes. So check back every Tuesday for a new dish to try that is sure to tickle your taste buds.

Today's dish is my very own concoction. It has minimal ingredients and is the epitome of comfort food.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP
Serves 4, double for a crowd

1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite size pieces
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
S+P (salt and pepper)
1/2 cube butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 C milk
3/4 C flour
1 can chicken broth (about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 C)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat chopped cauliflower in EVOO and spread out evenly on a large cookie sheet. Add S+P. Bake in oven for 40-45 min. Occasionally shift cauliflower around while baking to prevent sticking and burning. In a large saucepan, sauté onions in melted butter over low-medium heat until tender. Add milk, flour, and chicken broth. Whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened. This may take a few minutes so be patient. Remove cauliflower from oven and add to saucepan with other ingredients. Break cauliflower into smaller pieces with whisk. Add more S+P to taste. Let stand in bowls at least 2-3 minutes before serving as the soup will be very hot.

Notes:

Adding cheese to this recipe is perfectly acceptable. I would use an aged cheddar.

To make this recipe toddler friendly, puree hot soup in a blender for 10 seconds. Kids love the velvety texture.

This recipe can work exactly the same with broccoli if you're not a cauliflower lover.