Category Archives: Pasta

Jan16

Chicken and Noodles

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Thank you Pastures and Plates for a great idea for snowy weekend cooking!

Stroberg Family Farms

Picture this. Six years old, wandering my way through the lunch line. On the menu today: chicken and noodles. The cafeteria worker slops the delicious mess right on my plate, and to my surprise, a little pile of mashed potatoes is tucked under all that glory. So, I give it a try (my mother had taught me well, a “try” bite). Minutes later, the tray is empty. Years later, this is what chicken and noodles looks like at our house!

Makes: 8 servings

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups sweet yellow onion, diced

1 1/2 cups carrots, diced

1 1/2 cups celery, diced

1/4 cup all purpose flour

32 oz water

6 bouillon chicken cubes

2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed

2 cups frozen egg noodles

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Add butter and vegetables to dutch oven on the stovetop over medium heat. Cook 3-5 minutes to…

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Aug28

Mystery solved….what to do with leftover spaghetti noodles

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Mystery solved….what to do with leftover spaghetti noodles

In a very random conversation last week at work, my friend shared that she had made a frittata with leftover spaghetti (no sauce, mind you).  I replied “I always make too much and throw it out”.  Laura is with us today to share a super easy, economical and delicious  way to use that leftover spaghetti (who doesn’t cook too much)???

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Meet Laura

She found that this frittata is a great way to use up left-over spaghetti, and her family of three ate the whole thing and asked for it again the next night.  I plan to try it soon, but I think I’ll have to mix it up with a few different meats cuz I live with Mr. All Meat Pizza – you could use browned sausage, canadian bacon, ham, etc.  If you do try one of these alternatives to the bacon that Laura used, we would love for you to come back and comment below!

Step 1 involves chopping up the cooked spaghetti:

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Step 2 – whisk the eggs and milk, and adding the yummy (bacon and cheese) ingredients:

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The Final Frittata!

I could most definitely snarf a piece of that right now!  I’m sharing Laura’s recipe below, and hope that you enjoy as I certainly plan to!  Thanks for dropping by to get in on Laura’s quick weeknight meal!

~Connie Kaye

Spaghetti Frittata

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Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 ½ cups cut-up cooked spaghetti
2 slices of chopped cooked bacon
1 cup of shredded cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a 9 inch round pie plate with non-stick cooking oil.

Whisk the six eggs in a separate bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Laura added a Zesty no-salt substitute to give it a little more flavor without adding additional salt.

Stir in the 2 slices of pre-cooked bacon, ½ cup of shredded cheese and chopped spaghetti. (Laura used the Mexican four cheese blend because that is what she had on hand and wanted to use up.)

Pour the blended items into the pie plate and sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of cheese.  Bake for 30 min. or until center is set.

Apr25

Sweet Corn Risotto with Sauteed Shrimp

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DELISH!  Risotto is something I never tried before, as it seemed too complicated.  Wow, was I wrong.  You’ll see several of my favorite risotto recipes here, and glad to add this one as a main dish.  Here’s the finished product:

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As with the other risotto recipes, it takes some time and effort but it’s very much worth your while!  I didn’t get any other pics while constructing this dish, as I was grilling chicken on the Weber Grill and smoking pork butts on our big smoker (busy day).  However, I’ve included the recipe below, and hope that you will be adventurous and give it a whirl!  Oh yeah, one other thing…..I know frozen corn is the easy route to go, but I highly recommend grabbing a couple of ears of fresh corn at the store – definitely worth the effort!

Enjoy,

~Connie Kaye

Sweet Corn Risotto with Sauteed Shrimp

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Ingredients:

INGREDIENTS:
3 C chicken stock
3 tbsp. EVOO, divided
1 cup minced white or yellow onion
1 c. arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine, divided
2 ears corn, kernels removed (about 1 – 1 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp butter
1/3 c. parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 cloves minced garlic
1 small shallot, minced (about 3 tbsp)
3/4 – 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound medium shrimp
2 tbsp finely chopped basil

Bring chicken stock to a low simmer.  In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp EVOO over medium-high heat.  Add onion and saute until beginning to soften.  Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, one minute.  Add 1/2 cup white wine and simmer until it’s evaporated, 2 minutes or so.

Reduce heat to medium.  Add about 1/2 cup more stock with 1/4 cup white wine and simmer, stirring occasionally, until absorbed.  Continue adding stock by the 1/2 cup, stirring and letting it absorb each time, until stock is gone, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in corn, butter, parmesan and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl.

Add remaining 2 tbsp EVOO to skillet and heat over medium heat.  Add garlic, shallot, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, a minute or so.  (don’t burn the garlic)  Add shrimp and cook until pink, 3 to 4 minutes.  Don’t overcook or the shrimp will be rubbery.   Add remaining 1/4 cup wine and let simmer until evaporated, 2  minutes.  Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper, stir in 1 tbsp basil.  Add risotto back to skillet, stirring to combine with shrimp.  Garnish with basil and serve.

Mar22

Chicken Mushroom Lasagna

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The price and ease of a rotisserie chicken makes chicken creations very attractive in our busy lives.  This recipe was shared with me by a very good friend, Betty!  Meet Betty:

betty

Ignore the fact that her hubster has on that goofy looking hat – he goes all out to celebrate a holiday!   They live in Iowa and we look forward to lake weekends, as well as a few other events throughout the “non boating” season to hang out together.  They even come to Chiefs games and are Royals fans – enough said 🙂

I’ll share her recipe, although I don’t have a picture of it – apologies.  It’s one of those that I personally think is even better the next day for lunch, leftovers, etc.   Hope you enjoy like we have!

~Connie Kaye

Chicken Mushroom Lasagna

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Ingredients:

Make mushroom sauce first:
Melt 3 tbsp butter in skillet or saucepan and saute 1/2 cup chopped onion and 1/2 cup chopped green or red pepper.  Add 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1/3 cup milk, small can sliced mushrooms, 1/4 c drained chopped pimentos (optional) and 1/2 tsp basil.  Cook and stir until smooth.

Ingredients:
8 oz. lasagna noodles, (no cook variety)
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

In greased 13 x 9 dish, place half the noodles in the bottom.  Cover with half of each:  mushroom sauce, cottage cheese, chicken, parmesan cheese and shredded cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake for 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Mar18

Fresh Asparagus Risotto

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I had never made risotto until last fall, but if you have a little extra time to devote, it’s really amazing.  I adapted this recipe from Rice Select arborio rice, which is risotto.  If you don’t know what arborio rice is, here ya go — little pasta thingys that look like rice.  They turn really smooth and creamy with whatever you throw in with them.  Not hard to make, and I encourage you to give it a whirl.

I bought fresh asparagus and of course, had to try it while I was chopping – so sweet and delicious.   I’ll be buying more soon for roasting on the grill or other recipes.  Here’s the final product:

a risotto

Have patience and it’s worth it, plus whatever white wine doesn’t go into the risotto, drink it 🙂   Hope you enjoy, and if you have variations, please share in the comment section below.   And, if you like this recipe, try my Mushroom and Pea version.   Like what you see here?  If you’re not following my blog, enter your email address and you’ll have some easy dishes delivered right to your inbox.  Thanks, and keep cooking!

~Connie Kaye

Fresh Asparagus Risotto

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Ingredients:

3 cups water
2 cups chicken stock or broth
3 tbsp butter or margarine, divided
1 lb. fresh asparagus spears, with the woody root ends snapped off, diagonally sliced into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups uncooked arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Heat water and broth in 2 qt saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.  Reduce heat to low and keep warm.  Meanwhile, melt 2 tbsp butter in large saucepan over medium heat; add asparagus and cook until tender crisp.  Remove asparagus; set aside.

In same saucepan, cook onion in remaining 1 tbsp butter until soft.  Add rice and stir 2 to 3 minutes, careful not to burn.  Add wine; stir until absorbed.  (drink rest of wine)  Increase heat to medium high; stir in 1 cup water-broth mixture.  Cook uncovered, stirring frequently until liquid is absorbed.  Continue this process, one cup at a time, allowing each cup to absorb before adding more liquid.  (you may need more wine at this point)  Cook until rice is tender and mixture has a creamy consistency, a total of 25-30 minutes.

Stir in asparagus, cream, cheese, salt and pepper.  Stir until mixture is creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Serve immediately, and refrigerate any leftovers.

Mar15

A New Twist on Spaghetti (with yard bird)

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You might wonder what yard bird is — at my house, that is what chicken is referred to by the hub.  We still eat it but probably not as much as I would like.  However, this little invention is pretty amazing.  Again, with most of my chicken recipes you can boil the chicken and use the broth, or just buy a roasted chicken at your local grocery store.  If you do the latter, be sure that you buy chicken stock, not broth, as the flavor is much richer.  There’s a restaurant in KC that serves a similar dish, and it’s amazing.  So, this is kind of my copycat.

Enjoy!

~Connie Kaye

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Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

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Ingredients:

1 whole raw chicken cut into pieces, or a roasted chicken
1 pound thin spaghetti, broken in half
2 cans cream of mushroom soup, or 1 cr. chicken/1 cr. mushroom
2.5 cups grated cheddar
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup each diced green and red bell pepper
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

If using fresh chicken, bring large pot of water to boil.  Add the chicken and boil for a few minutes, then return to medium-low and simmer, 30 to 45 minutes.  Remove the chicken and 2 cups of the broth.  When the chicken is cool, remove the skin and pick out a mix of dark and white meat to make about 2 cups.

If purchasing a rotisserie chicken, pick a mixture of white and dark meat to total about 2 cups.

Cook the spaghetti in either the same chicken broth as you cooked the chicken in, or a combination chicken stock and water, salted well.  Cook to al dente state, and do not overcook.  Combine the cooked, drained spaghetti, mushrooms, chicken, mushroom soup, 1.5 cups cheese, the peppers, onions, seasoned salt, wine, cayenne and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Stir in one cup of chicken broth or stock.

Place mixture in greased casserole and top with remaining 1 cup cheese.  Cover and freeze up to 6 months, cover and refrigerate for a couple of days, or cook immediately about 45 minutes.  If the cheese starts to get too brown, cover with foil

 

 

 

 

Dec22

Homemade Noodles

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Homemade Noodles

Just in time for the holidays!  My kids grew up loving homemade chicken and noodles at grandmas.  Well, it’s time for the grown up kids to make them on their own 🙂   So, here’s a pretty close version of what Grandma Pat used to make.  Brandi and Courtney – here ya go.  I’ll give you the noodle run down, and how you get the chicken and broth is debatable. One other thing….my first teaching job led me to southeast Kansas, where I learned that eating chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes is the norm.   May sound crazy, but it’s not too bad.

Broth/chicken options:

  1.  Purchase a whole chicken, and simmer slowly with a bunch of onion, celery, carrots and seasoning.  When chicken is done, remove from broth and let cool until you can debone it, or “pick” the chicken.  When the broth cools, skim the fat and stuff from the top and run through a strainer.  You will have delicious broth with which to cook your noodles.  You can also do this with cut up chicken, chicken breasts, etc.  The key is really seasoning the water as it cooks — you might also add some chicken stock to give the flavor a boost.
  2. Easy option – purchase a rotisserie chicken, and “pick” it as noted above.  To cook the noodles, you can still create some delicious broth using chicken STOCK, not broth.  Those new flavor packets work well too.  I would flavor with onion, etc…and let is simmer, before adding noodles.   Lastly, with either option, you might add a couple drops of yellow food coloring to give it a richer color (learned that one in the restaurant business from my Dad)

So, for the noodles, follow recipe below, and double as needed.  Note that you make and store them, or cook immediately.  Delish!

~Connie Kaye

Homemade Noodles

  • Servings: depends
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Ingredients:
2 Cups flour
3 egg yolks
1 egg
2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Make a well in the center of the flour.  Add egg yolks, egg and salt; mix thoroughly.  Mix in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough is stiff but easy to roll.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts.  Roll dough, one part at a time, into paper-thin rectangles on well-floured, cloth-covered board.  (keep remaining dough covered)  Loosely fold rectangle into thirds; cut crosswise with sharp knife into 1/4″ strips for narrow noodles.  Shake out strips and place on towel until stiff and dry, about 2 hours.  You can also cut smaller and throw them in the pot if you’re ready to go.  Note, the flour on the noodles will thicken the broth, so don’t shake it all off if you’re cooking now.

Break dry strips into smaller pieces.  Cook in hot salted broth or water 12 -15 minutes.  Do-ahead tip:  After drying, the noodles can be covered and stored no longer than 1 month.

 

 

Jun19

Lasagna “Soup”

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When my kids were growing up, I wasn’t able to be very creative in the kitchen because 1.  Too busy outside keeping up with the animals and helping my kids in the arena, and teaching full time, and 2. They weren’t into creative Connie cooking.   However, I’m so tickled that as my daughter has grown up, she now has my love of cooking and is creating some delicious meals.  Together with my husband, they encouraged me into the creation of Connie Kaye’s Kitchen.   (I would share son Brice’s stew, but have NO idea how he made it.)  At her Ohio wedding reception:

B & C

Brandi shared this recipe with me last fall, and it’s really delicious.  I’m really not sure that I call it soup, but even though it’s summer, it’s delicious and you can throw it in the crockpot and have a meal ready when you get home.  Or, in my case, a meal ready back at the dock.   I encourage you to be creative and adjust to your crowds liking.

I hope you enjoy her recipe, and you can visit her blog here.

~Connie Kaye

Lasagna Soup

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Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (I have used 1/2 beef and 1/2 pork and it’s really good too)
1 onion chopped (I use a medium sized onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar (I have a sweet tooth so I double it)
1- 32 oz box of chicken broth
2 can (14.5) diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
2 c. broken lasagna noodles
1 5 oz package grated parmesan
2 c. shredded mozz cheese

In large heavy bottom pot, combine beef, onion , garlic and cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes or until beef is browned. Stirring occasionally. Drain well.

Stir in thyme, sugar, broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and salt. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, reduce & simmer for 20 minutes. Add noodles and stir until tender. Stir in parmesan cheese.

Put soup in ovenproof bowls and sprinkle with mozzarella. Broil until cheese is melted to desirable level.

 

 

 

Mar12

Roasted Broccoli Alfredo (for Lent or anytime!)

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Roasted Broccoli Alfredo (for Lent or anytime!)

I’m so pumped to introduce you to my first guest blogger, Kristal Little, who hails to us from St. Louis, Missouri.

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Meet Kristal!!

I was lucky to meet Kristal through friends (John and Sherri) of mine who will soon be her in-laws.  She is marrying a great guy (a.k.a. John) in August at Stone Soup Cottage in Missouri which sounds amazing.  A graduate of the Culinary Institute of St. Louis, she is now employed by them (somethin must have gone right ;))  She’s also a personal chef and teaches high school baking classes which I personally think would be a blast.   Oh yeah, I also want to mention they have a Shiba Inu named Oli.   Now I had NO idea what that was, so I asked Mr. Google for help.  I don’t know that I’ve seen one before, but here’s a pretty cute pic:

Dog Breeds

Meet Oli!

So Kristal had the amazing idea to share a recipe that might come in really handy to make for dinner on Friday during Lent.  If you’re tired of fish, give this dish a try.  And don’t forget – the key is roasting the broccoli as it really brings out the flavor.    Gather your ingredients and lay broccoli on sheet pan to roast:
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Note:  in the recipe below, you are directed to concasse a tomato.  Now, I gotta be honest.  When Kristal told me to do this, I seriously thought she had misspelled a word.  (She went to school to be a chef; me, a teacher.  You see la problema!)  So, you learned something new, and easy today.  Here ya go:

Boil a pot of water.  Core the tomato and slice a small X in the bottom of the tomato. Don’t cut too deep.

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Boil tomato for 15-20 seconds.  Remove from boiling water and shock in a bowl of ice water.  Peel the skin from the tomato.  Cut in half. Remove all the seeds and dice.  Voila!

What an easy go to recipe, and you could easily add chicken if desired.    Here’s the finished dish of yumminess:

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Hope you enjoy this dish, and I hope to see Kristal soon at the lake!  Thanks also to all of you who are following this blog, which include people residing in three different countries thus far.  Hope you are finding some good, easy recipes to make your life easier and free up more time to spend enjoying this beautiful weather with friends and family.  ~Connie

Roasted Broccoli Alfredo

  • Servings: a hungry crowd
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Ingredients:

1/2 lb farfalle noodles
16oz heavy whipping cream
10-15 cremini mushrooms
1 tomato
1 bunch broccoli
1 TBS minced garlic
1/4 c Parmesan plus more for garnish
1tsp red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss broccoli florets in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast broccoli on a sheet tray for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, start a pot of water for the pasta. Don’t forget to salt your water!  Once it comes to a boil, use this water to concasse your tomato.  Slice mushrooms and set aside.  Cook pasta according to the package.

In a large saucepan, bring cream to a simmer on med-high heat.  Simmer until it’s thick ( about 5 minutes). Add garlic and Parmesan.  During the last few minutes of boiling, add mushrooms to the pasta.  Drain and add mushrooms, pasta, and broccoli to the cream sauce.  Mix well.  Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Garnish with tomato and more Parmesan.