Italian Style Pasta Salad

I am all about sides and salads during the summer months. This is an easy dish that can be prepped a day early if you're hosting a BBQ. You can adapt the recipe pretty easily, but don't skip the pepperoncini, they add a lot of flavor.

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Orzo with Asparagus and Breadcrumbs

I recently saw this recipe highlighted for it's springtime flavors and knew I had to try it. I bought some thin, tender asparagus stalks at my local farmer's market and went to work. This is a very easy recipe that came together quickly. it was easily be adjusted to your liking.

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Stanley Tucci’s Pasta Fagioli

I recently made this soup and it's a wonderful meal in a bowl. There's protein and vegetables and feels like a complete lunch or dinner. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy. This also freezes well if you have leftovers.

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Traditional Lasagna

Lasagna is a dish that I love, but don't make often because of how many leftovers I usually have. But when there's a crowd to cook for, it's a great option. This recipe turned out really well that it became my new go-to lasagna recipe.

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Greek Style Pasta Salad

I have always loved all thinks Greek and Mediterranean style. This one pasta salad makes a great addition to any summer picnic or BBQ. This actually tastes better on day 2 when the flavors have been able to blend together overnight. It will last about 5 days in your fridge.

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Zucchini & Lemon Pasta

The Pasta Queen has a TikTok/Instagram account that has had me interested in her recipes for a while now. She's an Italian woman living in the US and she shares a lot of different (mostly pasta) recipes. I was looking for a quick and easy dinner idea one night and I happened to have the ingredients to attempt to replicate her "Fettuccine Lemon & Zucchine". My friend had also made a variation of this recipe recently which turned out wonderfully. This is a very simple pasta but it great for a quick weeknight dinner.

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Tomato & Feta Pasta Salad

I was looking for a new pasta salad recipe recently, knowing I wanted to steer away form the usual options with Italian dressing or mayo. I wan't really finding what I wanted but this recipe changed that quickly. Of course, being an Ina Garten recipe, it is delicious! I made this for friends and sent a few home with the recipe so you know it's a keeper. The only change I made was using basil instead of parsley, but that is just a personal preference. This recipe is fantastic as written!

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Vegetarian Asian Noodle Salad

My office recently had a potluck and I often struggle whit finding out the best options to bring to these. There are always too many appetizers and dessert, so my aim is usually for something a bit heartier. Since I don't own a crock pot, I am limited to cold options. I decided and Asian noodle salad would be a great option. These are best served cold so it makes the perfect potluck menu item. I kept this dish vegetarian so that everyone could enjoy it. You can make this a day ahead and just mix it before serving it the following day.

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Simple Italian Style Pasta Bake

I was having friends over during the week and was looking for a quick and easy dish that I could make after work. I wanted something I could prepare ahead of time that would be a crowd-pleaser for all my guests. I found a few pasta bake recipe and wanted to give it a try with my own twist (and to make it simple). This was a very easy dish which I prepared the night before and baked prior to my guests arriving. Everyone loved it and it made for a great, quick weeknight main course.

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Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese

I was looking around for a recipe for a quick and easy weeknight dinner idea. I am loving all the summer produce available right now and wanted to incorporate that in to my meal. I wanted to keep it simple and luckily stumbled upon this recipe. The orzo salad makes an amazing side dish. I grilled some shrimp and added it on top to make a main course out of it. Just toss the shrimp (about 1/2 pound) with the zest of one lime, juice of half a lime, 1 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper and grill until cooked through. If you own one, a grill basket will make this step even easier.

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Spinach and Cherry Tomato Pasta

Living on my own I often look for simple recipes that can be made without much effort. This recipe is one of my go-to quick dinners for days when I really don't want to make anything too time consuming, but I still want a tasty dinner. If you ever feel like mixing it up, omit the spinach and add 1/4 cup chopped basil. That's my other go-to weeknight pasta dinner. Either way, this is a very simple and satisfying meal.

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Vegetarian Tuscan Pasta

My mom is the one who deserves credit for finding this recipe. She was looking for vegetarian options and decided to try this one out. It turns out this is a delicious pasta dish that meat lovers and vegetarians will both be happy to eat. I consider this a main course. It's filling without making you feel overly full. Great for a summer night and full of flavor.

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Simple Shrimp and Garlic Pasta

We all have those days when you feel like you don't have any time for cooking, but you still want to have a delicious dinner. This recipe fits that description perfectly. This pasta is very easy to make. You can use any noodles you have at home. Make sure to use fresh or frozen basil. I sometimes freeze my basil with a little bit of olive oil and it comes in handy for recipes like this. If you don't like shrimp, I've had this plenty of times without any protein. Leftovers heat up pretty well, but the basil will look less appetizing on day 2 (the taste is still great though).

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Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs

Last month I went to Lake Tahoe to visit a friend of mine who is lucky enough to call that area home. After a fun day of skiing and snowboarding we decided we wanted to cook dinner, but didn't want to make anything too labor intensive and we were starving.  She suggested making spaghetti and meatballs I was convinced this would be the perfect comfort food. We did a quick search for an easy meatball recipe and came across a very thorough meatball tutorial on The Kitchn. The recipe looked simple and the cooking technique was the easiest I've ever used. I have to admit that I never knew you could put an uncooked meatball straight into your pasta sauce and cook it that way. It is by far the easiest method I have ever used (no mess from frying, no heating up the oven). If you've never made meatballs before click on the link to the recipe and learn all there is to learn about meatballs and the many ways of preparing them.

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Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Cream Sauce

After discovering how to make fresh pasta, I knew one of the first things I wanted to do was make ravioli. I have always loved vegetarian ravioli, especially with cheese or spinach and cheese fillings. This recipe is pretty easy to make and if you don't want to both making the pasta yourself, you could buy fresh pasta of use wonton wrappers.

I don't have the proper kitchen equipment to make perfect ravioli so I had to hand-form all the pieces, which became pretty time consuming. This would be much easier (and prettier) with a ravioli mold. When making the filling, taste if before filling the ravioli to make sure the salt and pepper amounts are to your liking.

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Homemade Spelt Pasta

I have recently discovered spelt flour and am a fan. The taste of spelt flour is not too different from wheat flour, so it's a pretty good substitute. After reading a traditional Italian pasta cookbook the other day, I really wanted to experiment with making fresh pasta, but wanted to try out my recently purchased spelt flour. I found this spelt pasta recipe and was really happy with the end result.

I made ravioli the first time I used this recipe. I don't have a pasta machine, so rolling and re-rolling the dough was the best way for me to get the dough thin enough. It would be a lot easier with a pasta machine, but it is doable by hand. The result is not as delicate, but I was happy with the end result. The one thing to look out for is to make sure the pasta does not dry out since it can become brittle, so work as quickly as you can. Use this pasta for any shape or form.

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Luby's Macaroni and Cheese

When my sister got married, one of her friends collected recipes from friends and family and made her a cookbook. One of the recipes sent in was for Luby's mac and cheese, which is quite possibly my brother-in-law's favorite comfort food. Luby's, from what I gather, is a Texas classic, famous for their mac and cheese. My sister has made this recipe countless times, and each time it's great. It has that traditional macaroni and cheese taste you'd expect from a rich dish like this. Be prepared to share this with your friends once they've had a taste (and if they love mac and cheese).

My sister last made this dish for a friend who had requested a batch, so what you see above this the no-so-elegant to-go packaging. I've been visiting her for 2 weeks, and we've made all sorts of delicious meals and snacks together. Unfortunately, this was the one we made that wasn't for us. We did stuff our faces with other delicious recipes that I will be posting here shortly.

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Angel Hair with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

I don't usually make pasta dishes as a main course, but sometimes it is the perfect thing. The other week my mom and I were preparing her yard for winter, which means hours spent outside raking, cutting, mulching, and lugging tons of yard waste to the compost pile. This can build up quite an appetite. We came in one afternoon just as the rain was beginning to come down, and at that point we decided to have lunch. I had already bought the ingredients for this recipe, so I got started.

This meal comes together really quickly without too much effort. I love goat cheese, so this was the perfect, comforting meal to enjoy on a cool autumn day. Next time I make this I will try it with basil instead of parsley since I tend to prefer basil in my pasta dishes, but the parsley version was still great. My mom and I devoured the entire dish in about 10 minutes (not a pretty sight). I don't know from experience, but I imagine cold leftovers would even be good.

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Pesto alla Genovese

The last of the basil was just picked from my mom's garden. She had 2 huge plants this summer that have provided more than enough basil for the summer and autumn. Before the weather got cool, my mom picked most of remaining leaves and decided we'd make pesto. She's made lots of pesto already this summer, but its a great way to use up any leftover basil and it is delicious.

I've experimented with different types of pesto in the past (such as pistachio pesto), but have never been that impressed. This recipe has the classic pesto taste I was looking for. If you have leftover, or if you double the recipe, it freezes well for later use. I like serving my tossed in whatever kinds of pasta I have at home. I keep it simple so the pesto flavor shines, but you can use it for whatever you like.

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Peanut and Sesame Noodles

I know I have more than enough Asian noodle dishes on this blog, but I keep coming across new ones that are also great, so you can take your pick. I chose this recipe since I actually had all the ingredients for the sauce in my pantry. Usually I find an Asian recipe and realize that I'm missing some key component and then opt against making it. This is a really easy noodle dish. It makes a great lunch if you have any leftovers as well.

In this recipe, the veggies are quickly cooked with the boiling pasta so that they are crisp tender. I often just use raw veggies in an Asian noodle salad, but decided to give this method a try. I actually liked the result, but you need to be careful to not overcook the veggies. If you are hesitant at all, just use raw peppers, carrot, cucumbers, or any other veggie you like in an Asian noodle dish.

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