Spaghetti with Garlic Sauce, Chicken Roll Ups, and Tomato Caprese

Once again I'm making Italian food... Yeah, I love it, you know.. This time I'm showing you one of my favorite Italian recipes for the classic tomato caprese, which is a salad you always get in Italy. Today I had it with the best spaghetti I've had in a long time and some most delicate chicken rolls with bacon and other good stuff.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb spaghetti

1 clove garlic

1 bag frozen spinach, thawed

1 tbsp garlic creme cheese

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Chicken Rolls:
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 clove garlic
5 slices of bacon
Fresh basil leaves 
salt and pepper

Tomato Caprese:
3 large tomatoes
1 small onion
1 oz. feta cheese
8-10 olives
olive oil vinegar 

Directions:

1. Boil water and cook spaghetti al dente, and drain. Set aside.
2. Make the chicken rolls meanwhile. Cut each breast into 5 slices, and beat so that they get flat with a kitchen roller. 
3. Mix tomato paste and minted garlic. Add to the chicken pieces and top with half a slice of bacon, a couple of basil leaves and salt and pepper. 
4. Bake in oven or grill for 15 minutes.
5. Make the sauce for the spaghetti by sautéing minced garlic in a little bit of olive oil in a big sauce pan. Add the bag of thawed spinach. Stir for a couple of minutes and add the creme cheese and drained spaghetti. Finish with adding milk and cheese and heat it up.
6. Make the tomato caprese by slicing the tomato and onion into rings. Put on a plate, one piece of tomato one onion ring etc. Top with feta cheese, olives and the vinegar dressing.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Spaghetti Squash in Tomato Sauce with Meatballs

  If you've never tried spaghetti squash I would highly recommend it! It taste great, and is an excellent substitute for regular pasta especially if you're gluten-intolerent or just trying to cut down on some carbs or calories. 

This recipe is just super easy. I choose to make my own meatballs, but in theory you could just go ahead and use some from frost. 

Ingredients for Meatballs
1 lb Ground Turkey
1 Egg
1 Cup Fine Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup Fresh Italian Parsley Chopped
1/2 Onion Minced
2 Cloves Garlic Minced
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and bake in oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Spaghetti Squash in Tomato Sauce with Meatballs
1 medium to large spaghetti squash, washed
1 jar of spaghetti sauce, your preferred flavor (more if desired)
3 cups of frozen meatballs

Directions:

Cut the spaghetti squash in half around the middle. Use a spoon to remove the seeds and membranes. Place cut sides down in a large crock pot.
Pour the spaghetti sauce around the sides of the squash and then place your meat balls around the sides as well.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or high for 3-4 hours. Test for doneness by piercing the squash with a fork, if it goes through the skin easily, it is done.
Use tongs to carefully remove the squash from the crock pot. Use a fork to pull out all the squash, discard the shell.
Serve with the sauce and meatballs from the crock pot. Enjoy!

Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce and Tuna Patties

Tuna is one of the easiest ways to get fish in to a daily routine of eating fish. Especially here in Utah where it's really hard to find fresh fish in the supermarket, and it's usually really expensive too.. But don't worry, because there are alternatives out there! And canned Tuna is one of the really easy one to work with, and there are millions of varieties, you just need to learn to find them. 

So here is one example of an easy tomato sauce with tuna patties, and of course spaghetti as an extender.

Sauce:
1 red onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tomato
1 big handful of herbs as: basil, rosemary, and oregano
140 g tomatopuré 
2 cans tomatoes
1½ tbsp balsamic
5 big sundered tomatoes
½ lemon, juice
Tuna Patties:
2 cans of tuna (in water)
2 eggs
60 g shredded carrots
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp panko
3 tbsp oats
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 cloves garlic (finely minched)
Salt + pebber
Others:
500 g whole wheat spaghetti
Parmasan cheese
Fresh basil and oregano

Directions:

1. Peel and minch onion and garlic. Cut the tomato and herbs into small dice.
2. Heat up a little bit of oil in a deep skillet. Needs to be big enough to hold the cooked spaghetti too later on. Sauté onion and garlic. Add the tomato and herbs. When cooked for  a couple of minutes add tomato puree, and canned tomatoes. 
3. Add balsamico and chop the sundried tomatoes and add as well.  
4. Add the lemon juice and let it simmer while the tuna patties are being made. 
5. Drain tuna for water and mix with all of the other ingredients in a bowl. 
6. Heat another pan with a little bit of oil. Shape little patties and fry until golden on each side. 
7. Cook spaghetti al dente and drain. 
8. Add spaghetti to the tomato sauce and serve with tuna patties, parmesan, and fresh herbs. 

Spaghetti with a Veggie Yogurt Sauce

So the other day I got a bit creative and made this totally spontaneous empty the refrigerator dish. Also I was really craving spaghetti, so this is what I came up with!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp italien seasoning
2 cloves garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk
1 tbsp garlic creme cheese
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup mushrooms
1/2 bell pepper
14 oz canned artichoke hearts
2 cooked chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti al dente.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a sauté pan.
3. Sauté garlic and it alien seasoning together.
4. Add tomatoes and chopped mushrooms and sauté.
5. Add in stock, milk, creme cheese, and yogurt.
6. Finish off with adding artichoke hearts and chopped bell pepper and cooked chicken cut into bite sized pieces.
7. If you want the sauce more creamy you can go ahead and thicken it a bit with some corn meal mixed with water.

Enjoy!

Creamy Green Spaghetti with Salmon

So it was St. Patricks day today, and therefore I decided to make a really fancy green dinner. Even though some kids might not like the fact that they have to eat a green dinner (cause often green equals healthy, you know. And in many kids mind that equals gross), but all of my picky host siblings loved it so much. And I did too, it was simply just amazing, and it was definitely not the last time we're having it!

Ingredients:
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 salmon filet
10 mushrooms
Sauce
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
4 handfuls spinach
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup basil pesto
salt and pepper
Sides
asparagus
tomatoes
Olive oil
salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Cook pasta for 8 minutes and drain.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle asparagus and tomatoes in olive oil and salt and pepper and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
3. Make the sauce by cutting onion and garlic very finely and sautéing in olive oil on medium high. Add spinach and put a lid on the pan. Let it cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. You might have to add the spinach a little at a time, because it doesn't fit in the pan, but it shrinks a lot.
4. Put the cooked spinach, onion and garlic in a blender, and blend with all of the other ingredients.
5. Mix the cooked spaghetti and sauce.
6. Slice the mushrooms and sauté them with a little olive oil over medium heat.
7. Cut the salmon into 1/2 inch squares and sauté with the mushrooms.
8. Mix salmon and mushrooms with the spaghetti. Top with shredded parmesan cheese and serve!

Homemade Ravioli with Pesto

I've been wanting to make my own homemade ravioli for a while, and I finally found a recipe that looked really good, and used whole wheat flour, so I decided to try it out. It was kinda tricky to roll the dough out and make the raviolis, but in the end it turned out really good, and it was a pretty fun challenge I have to say. 
After cooking the raviolis, I stirred them in some basil pesto as a sauce, and fried some chicken and broccoli, and tomato and mushrooms.

Ravioli

Ingredients:
2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon olive oil

Filling:
1 cup ricotta cheese
Minched garlic
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Mix flour and salt in a bowl, and put on table, making a little "pit" in the middle. Beat eggs in separate bowl, and pour into the hole in the flour mixture. Add water and oil. 

Stir well with your fingers, until all flour is combined with the eggs. Knead very well. 

Let it sit till the day after. 

Filling:
Minch garlic and combine with cheese and salt and pepper.

Make raviolis by taking a small piece of the dough at a time, and roll on a floured table. Cut in "slices" and put a little piece of the cheese filling on each. Sample the pieces, using a little bit of egg as glue. 

Cook for 15 minutes in boiling water.

Enjoy!