Pasta and Sauces

Recipes for Pasta and Sauces thread...

Ron's home made Alfredo sauce...

This one is not for the low-calorie, low-fat, low-carb dieters out there... but it sho'nuff is a good'n... and very easy.

Basic list of ingredients:

You'll need a medium saucepan

One stick of lightly salted, sweat cream butter (yes... an entire stick, and don't use margarine or any other imitation spread as it won't come out right)

One quart of Heavy Cream (not milk, and especially not Skim Milk!)

2-3 average sized cloves of crushed garlic (you can roast the garlic beforehand if you prefer - it adds a good flavor) I love garlic...

Dried Italian seasoning

Grated Italian cheese blend (Romano, Parmesan, asiago, or any combination of the three - or just one of the three - make sure it's grated fine and nor 'shreaded'). The amount is based on your preference, however, I would recommend 8 ounces.

Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:


Start out by melting the entire stick of butter in the saucepan, on medium low heat.


Crush the garlic (the absolute best garlic press ever - Zyliss <~ click there) into the melted butter and bring the heat up a little to turn the garlic slightly golden.


Add the grated cheese slowly in small batches of two or three tablespoons at a time.


After the grated cheese is dissolved, the butter will thicken to look like slightly yellowish cream, with some graininess. That's the time to add the quart of heavy cream. Slowly pour it in as you stir the mixture to combine and keep it on medium low.


Keep stirring slowly. When you stir, be sure to force the spoon along the bottom slightly to keep the cheese from settling too long.


Add your herbs (Italian seasoning)


Keep it on medium low for about 5-7 minutes to ensure all the ingredients have combined. If you let it go longer, it will thicken up a lot. If it gets to that point, you can always cut it with some half-and-half to thin it out slightly, and if you don't have any half-and-half, you can use milk as a last resort (no non-dairy creamers! and definitely no water... ).


Salt and pepper to taste now, as any salt in the cheese will have been mixed in already. Salting too early can be a MAJOR mistake depending on the salt level of the cheese.


This is great on tortelloni, tortellini, fettuccine (I like both spinach and regular fettuccine - mixed - with this), or any broad noodle pasta. Linguine and other types of spaghetti, IMO, are better with red sauces.


This is also great on Italian Nachos.

[AmazingGrace]

Cheap and easy


Cheeseburger Pasta

1 lb ground beef
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can tomato soup
1 1/2 cup water
2 cups uncooked medium shell pasta

Cook beef in skillet until browned and drain. Add soups water and pasta. Heat to a boil. Cook over medium heat 14 min or until done. Stir often.

[LaVonne]

One of my easy favorites:

Angel hair pasta
garlic sauteed in olive oil
cooked shrimp
pinch of salt

Originally Posted by CareyM

One of my easy favorites:

Angel hair pasta
garlic sauteed in olive oil
cooked shrimp
pinch of salt

Add some red pepper flake to it.

[LaVonne]

Originally Posted by Ronzo

Add some red pepper flake to it.

Sounds good to me!

I'll have to try it next time I make it.

[Pressing-On]

This is the best lasagna I have ever made! Since I'm going to make it this week, I thought I would post the recipe.

Classic Lasagna

2 medium onions, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 (14.5 oz) can basil, garlic, and oregano diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1 (8 oz) can basil, garlic, and oregano tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 1/4 tsp. salt, divided
3/4 tsp. pepper, divided
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked
8 cups boiling water
1 (16 oz) container ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 (6 oz) pkgs. part-skim mozzarella cheese slices
Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Saute' onion in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and saute' 1 minute. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain beef mixture, and return to skillet. Stir in diced tomatoes, next 4 ingredients, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf; set meat sauce aside.

Place lasagna noodles in a 13x9 inch pan. Carefully pour 8 cups boiling water and remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil over noodles. Let stand 15 minutes.

Stir together ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, remaining 1/4 tsp. salt and remaining 1/4 tsp. pepper until blended.

Spoon half of the meat sauce mixture in a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Shake excess water from noodles, and arrange 6 noodles over meat sauce; top with half of ricotta mixture and 1 package mozzarella cheese slices. Repeat layers once.

Bake, uncovered at 350 for 55 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 minutes or until bubbly. Let lasagna stand 10 minutes before serving.

[Sherri]

I made the most amazing Stuffed Manicotti tonight!!! I have John Grisanti's book from his old restaurant in Memphis (now closed). This is meat manicotti with Italian sausage, ground beef and spinach in the stuffing. Then it has a Swiss Cheese sauce poured on top of that, and then mozarella and then romano cheeses. It all sits in a marinara sauce, that I actually just used Prego Meat Sauce and added sugar, because we like it sweet. The rest was all homemade, including stuffing those little pasta tubes. That was the hard part, but oh......so yummy!!!

[Esther]

Originally Posted by Ronzo

Ron's home made Alfredo sauce...

This one is not for the low-calorie, low-fat, low-carb dieters out there... but it sho'nuff is a good'n... and very easy.

Basic list of ingredients:

You'll need a medium saucepan

One stick of lightly salted, sweat cream butter (yes... an entire stick, and don't use margarine or any other imitation spread as it won't come out right)

One quart of Heavy Cream (not milk, and especially not Skim Milk!)

2-3 average sized cloves of crushed garlic (you can roast the garlic beforehand if you prefer - it adds a good flavor) I love garlic...

Dried Italian seasoning

Grated Italian cheese blend (Romano, Parmesan, asiago, or any combination of the three - or just one of the three - make sure it's grated fine and nor 'shreaded'). The amount is based on your preference, however, I would recommend 8 ounces.

Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:


Start out by melting the entire stick of butter in the saucepan, on medium low heat.


Crush the garlic (the absolute best garlic press ever - Zyliss <~ click there) into the melted butter and bring the heat up a little to turn the garlic slightly golden.


Add the grated cheese slowly in small batches of two or three tablespoons at a time.


After the grated cheese is dissolved, the butter will thicken to look like slightly yellowish cream, with some graininess. That's the time to add the quart of heavy cream. Slowly pour it in as you stir the mixture to combine and keep it on medium low.


Keep stirring slowly. When you stir, be sure to force the spoon along the bottom slightly to keep the cheese from settling too long.


Add your herbs (Italian seasoning)


Keep it on medium low for about 5-7 minutes to ensure all the ingredients have combined. If you let it go longer, it will thicken up a lot. If it gets to that point, you can always cut it with some half-and-half to thin it out slightly, and if you don't have any half-and-half, you can use milk as a last resort (no non-dairy creamers! and definitely no water... ).


Salt and pepper to taste now, as any salt in the cheese will have been mixed in already. Salting too early can be a MAJOR mistake depending on the salt level of the cheese.


This is great on tortelloni, tortellini, fettuccine (I like both spinach and regular fettuccine - mixed - with this), or any broad noodle pasta. Linguine and other types of spaghetti, IMO, are better with red sauces.


This is also great on Italian Nachos.

This sounds really good. About how long does it take to make?

[Esther]

Originally Posted by Sherri

I made the most amazing Stuffed Manicotti tonight!!! I have John Grisanti's book from his old restaurant in Memphis (now closed). This is meat manicotti with Italian sausage, ground beef and spinach in the stuffing. Then it has a Swiss Cheese sauce poured on top of that, and then mozarella and then romano cheeses. It all sits in a marinara sauce, that I actually just used Prego Meat Sauce and added sugar, because we like it sweet. The rest was all homemade, including stuffing those little pasta tubes. That was the hard part, but oh......so yummy!!!

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