Shrimp Scampi

Another easy Sunday night dinner with very few ingredients! There are so many different recipes for Shrimp Scampi online, which I have combined a little bit of each of them for this dish. Clare and I first made this recipe in college and it was the first time I appreciated mushrooms and shrimp, two of what are now a couple of my favorite ingredients. Make sure you include the Worcestershire sauce; I consider it the secret ingredient!

Ingredients:
½ bag frozen shrimp
½ box Bowtie Pasta
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 lemon
3 cloves Garlic - chopped
¼ parsley – chopped
¼ c white wine
½ tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tbs olive oil
Salt/Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
Boil water and add pasta. Run shrimp under cold water in strainer to thaw. Heat olive oil in stir-fry/sauté pan. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add shrimp to pan. Cook for 2 minutes. Add juice of lemon, white wine, Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Add parsley. Mix pasta into pan and serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Chicken Parmesan

This semi-homemade dinner is so easy and only takes about 30 minutes for prep and cooking. I love cheese, and parmesan is one of my favorites to include in meals, so this dish has a lot of it! I used the Three Cheese Marinara Sauce from Trader Joe’s, and other than that the rest of my ingredients were in my kitchen or fridge! I added the fresh herbs in because I had them, but any sort of Italian Dried herbs will work as well. (Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Parsley, etc.)

Ingredients:
Pasta
½ Jar (about 12 oz) Marinara Sauce
2 pieces Chicken
1 egg white
¼ c grated Parmesan Cheese
4-6 slices Parmesan Cheese
1/3 c Bread Crumbs
¼ c Basil chopped
¼ c Parsley chopped
1 tbs olive oil
Salt/pepper

Boil Water and cook pasta. (I used about ½ a box of bowtie pasta, which made me about 3 meals worth of pasta). Place egg white on plate or shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl mix together bread crumbs, grated parmesan cheese, ½ of the amount of basil and parsley and salt and pepper. Dip chicken into egg white coating on both sides. Dip chicken into breadcrumb mix coating on both sides. Heat olive oil in frying pan. Cook chicken on medium on each side for about 2 minutes. Pour Marinara Sauce in to frying pan around chicken. Place slices of Parmesan cheese on top of chicken. Cover frying pan and cook on Medium for about 20 minutes. (Time will vary depending on thickness of chicken, so make sure to watch carefully and cut into the chicken to check that it is cooked.) Pour marinara sauce onto pasta and add chicken on top.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Sausage Pasta

The majority of what I know for cooking comes from my mom, who was a Home Ec/Foods teacher for many years. One of the main things I learned from her was expermintation, and some of my favorite memories in the recent years have been her and I trying and inventing new recipes. (Oh and she doesn’t measure anything unless it is baking!) This is pasta she ccreated and I added little things to make it my own over the years. It is a quick and easy recipe with only 7 ingredients.
Note:You can usually find sun dried tomatoes in either the produce aisle or near the canned tomatoes. But you might have to search, one time I had a grocery store employee tell me they were out of season.

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch asparagus -chopped diagonally
2 chicken sausages – cut in half and then into slices about 1/4 inch thick. (I prefer any flavor of Aidell’s sausages, usually I use artichoke and garlic or habenero and green chile for a little kick) 1 jar (about 6-8 oz) Sun-dried tomatoes, julienne cut, in olive oil
½ yellow onion – cut in about 1” square chunks
2 cloves garlic
¼ c pine nuts
½ lb penne pasta
2 tbs Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese
Salt/Pepper

Boil water for pasta. When water is boiling add pasta. Heat Olive Oil in sauté pan. Add onion and sauté until cooked (they should become partially see through and also be flimsy. Add garlic, sausage and pine nuts. Cook for 3 minutes. Add asparagus and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add sun –dried tomatoes with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3 minutes. When pasta is cooked (always taste test one!) drain and return to pot. Add veggie/sausage mix. Serve and top with Parmesan.