"We're Gettin' Sauced" Noodles

Trying new things is always hard for me, especially when it comes to food dishes.  Thoughts run around in my head the whole time I am putting new ones together, will the hubby like it, was it a waste of time, a waste of money for the ingredients, can I make it vegan if my vegan son is eating, and last, will I like it after putting so much time and effort standing in front of a hot stove cooking it.  Well, I can honestly say with this dish I had no fears.  It was awesome and can't wait to eat the little bit of leftovers, unless someone else gets to them before me!  Maybe I should hide them in the drawer in the fridge, no one ever looks in there. Hmmm...

Recipe below.

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I started with Italian sausage, and removed the casings.  Break it up in a frying pan in smaller chunky pieces.

 In another larger pan,  some olive oil, garlic, onion and seasonings.  Caramelizing the onions, gives great flavor.

 Next up , colorful peppers!

 Add 1 can of crushed tomatoes and a can of diced, and don't forget to add some of the good stuff, white wine!  Add the sausage and some of drippings from the pan.  Stir it up and let it go! 

These are my favorite Pappardelle from Trader Joe's.  They are perfect for this dish, catches all the sauce, but you can use any brand you like.

 
Cook them up to your likeness and drain. To me, fully cooked is best, not al dente.

Slowly add them into the sauce a little at a time, mix them in good. And here it is, look how luscious this looks!

These are not dripping with sauce noodles, there is a lot of sauce, but covering the wide noodles

 uses a lot of it. But no worries, they're not dry, just very tasty. 

As always, don't forget the grated cheese! Oh, and the bread too.

"We're Gettin' Sauced" Noodles

Ingredients

Olive oil

6 4-5" Italian sausage links, remove the casings, can also use a mix of hot and sweet 

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 large sweet onion, cut in half then sliced thick

1 red bell pepper, cut in 1" chunks

1 orange bell pepper, cut in 1" chunks

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more if you like heat

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

3/4 cup of white wine

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 15 1/2 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

8-10 leaves fresh basil, rolled up and sliced

2 8 oz packages Pappardelle noodles

Directions

In a heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium - high heat.  When oil is hot, add the sausage and break it up into smaller chunks, but not like ground beef.  Cook until no longer pink. Set aside.

In another larger pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium - high heat.  Add the garlic, onion, bell peppers, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning.  Cook and stir until onions and peppers are caramelized. Turn the heat off, and add the wine. Stir in wine, turn the heat back on.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and sugar; add the sausage and a little bit of the drippings from the pan, parsley and basil, then stir to combine. Reduce heat to low, let the sauce simmer for 11/2 hours.

When ready to cook noodles, fill a large pot 3/4 of the way full with salted water.  Bring to a boil, add the noodles and cook to your liking. I think fully cooked noodles are better with this dish, instead of al dente. When noodles are done, drain them, add to the sauce slowly, tossing them in after each addition.  Serve immediately. Garnish with grated cheese or grated cheese shavings.  Makes 8 servings.

We're Goin' Surfin'

Haven't had scallops in a very long time, the price of them has been up, so I don't buy!  While shopping I found some at a reasonable price, and surprised the hubby when he came home from work to a nice seafood dinner.  After all, he does work hard and pay the bills.

Rather than putting them in a pasta dish, I made the scallops with shrimp in a white wine butter, garlic and dill sauce.  YUM-O!  He loved them, but then again he loves everything I make, I'm a lucky girl I guess, or he just says that so he doesn't have to make reservations! Whatever....

Recipe below.

To print recipe click on it, highlight and print.

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Rinse the scallops and pat them dry on paper towels.

 Season with salt and pepper.  Over medium high heat add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet until it melts.

 Add the scallops cook for a 1 1/2 minutes on each side, remove from pan. Drain some of the liquid off.  Return pan to the heat.

 Here comes the flavor!  White wine, garlic, butter, lemon and fresh dill.

 Mix a slurry of flour and water to thicken the sauce or you could use heavy cream.

I served the scallops and shrimp with roasted fresh french green beans and grape tomatoes, seasoned with olive oil, himilayan pink salt and pepper.

 

My other side dish, roasted purple and red potatoes with herb seasoning and olive oil.

So, this was dinner last night.  Tender, juicy, scallops and shrimp.  If I do say so myself, it was fabulous and looks pretty good too!

 I also served multi grain dinner rolls, trying to keep it healthy.

Sea Scallops and Shrimp In White Wine Lemon Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon butter

1 lb sea scallops

1 lb cooked, peeled, deveined shrimp

3 cloves minced garlic

Juice of 2 small lemons

1/2 cup white wine

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper

2 tablespoons flour mixed with 1/2 cup water (or use Wondra)

Directions

In a large skillet over high heat, heat 1 tablespoon each of the olive oil and butter.  Rinse the scallops and pat them dry. Rinse the shrimp and set aside.  Add the scallops to the hot pan and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Remove from pan.  If there is a lot of water from the scallops drain some of it off. Lower heat to medium.   Add the other tablespoon of olive oil and butter, saute garlic until fragrant, but do brown. Add the lemon juice, white wine (I usually remove from flame to do this, it's safer), chopped dill and salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.  Whisk in the flour/water slurry to thicken the sauce.  Add the scallops back in along with the cooked shrimp and simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes.  Makes 4 servings.

Scallops in White Wine Butter Sauce with Lemon Orzo

We are big fans of scallops in this house, and I try to find new ways of making them.  I use them alone in sauces for pasta or I add shrimp to the sauces.  I like them sauteed with butter and garlic, baked with cheese or breaded and fried.  My gears were turning in the kitchen, when I took this bag of them out of the freezer that I bought at BJ's Wholesale.  I wanted to do something different with them, something I knew everyone would eat.  I experimented by using some white wine, everybody loves wine, right?  And butter, that's always a given, we all love that.  I had some fresh thyme, a shallot, garlic and lemon.  I always have these ingredients in the house, you know in case I get crazy ideas like this one.  Well, I put all this together on the counter, was looking at it, and started throwing things into the pan........ and it was fabulous!  I do have to get two bags of scallops the next time I make this dish, they were all looking for seconds.  Recipe below.

My ingredients, I used a Pinot Grigio as my wine to flavor the sauce.

 Sauteed the shallot and garlic in olive oil and butter.  Zested my lemon.

 Washed and dried my scallops and seasoned with salt and pepper.

 Sauteed them in the pan with shallot, garlic, butter and olive oil.  Added the thyme at the end of cooking.

 Boiled up my orzo and drained it, then added butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and cracked black pepper, it was really smooth and creamy. 

 Served with a mixed green salad, and a glass of the Pinot Grigio, delicious!

Scallops in White Wine Sauce

Ingredients

3 lbs fresh or frozen scallops, I used Berkley & Jensen Raw Sea Scallops from BJ's Wholesale

salt and pepper

4 Tbsp butter, divided (2T and 2T)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup Pinot Grigio, or any other dry white wine

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 - 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and chopped

Directions

Wash the scallops in a colander and drain.  Lay them out on a few layers of paper towels and then cover them with a layer of paper towels.  This is to absorb any remaining water on them.  Over medium - high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil in a shallow frying pan.  Add the shallot and garlic and cook until tender, but do not burn them.  Remove from pan to a small bowl.  Season the scallops with salt and pepper and add to the pan, searing until all are browned.  Turn heat off (you are cooking with alcohol you have to be careful when there is a flame involved!), add the shallot/garlic back into the pan, the wine, remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, lemon juice and thyme, stir.  Return to medium heat, Cook for 5 -7 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate.  Serves 4.

Lemon Orzo

Ingredients

4 cups of water

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups of orzo pasta

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 Tbsp of butter

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Directions

In a medium saucepan add the water and the salt.  Bring to a boil, add the orzo and stir.  Cook until your desired doneness.  Drain in fine mesh strainer.  Pour back into the pan and add the zest, lemon juice, butter and cracked black pepper, stir until butter is melted  Transfer to a bowl.  Serves 4.