Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta

Sometimes I bookmark good recipes from food websites, such as Food Network, All Recipes.com and individual blogs. I often visit a blog written by a transplanted Korean who now lives in Washington, DC. She posts a lot of fun things about her U.S. life. One of the best  things are her lunch box ideas. She packs two lunch boxes every weekday. One is for her husband and the other is for her. Furthermore, her recipes are very easy and simple. Sometimes she introduces good grocery stores and shows her list of shopping items with their prices. It's very helpful!

This pasta recipe is from her blog. After she tried spicy Italian sausage pasta at a restaurant, she made it herself. She often packs it for their lunches. I often need lunch box ideas and it's a good tip for me!

Ingredients     
(I changed a little from her recipe.)
1 lb                hot Italian sausage from Giant
3/4 lb              pasta noodle
1 bottle           basil tomato sauce from Trader Joe's
2 C                 sliced mushroom
2 C                 sliced onion
1 T                 minced garlic
2 T                 chopped jalapeno
1 C                 grated parmesan cheese
olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped basil to taste

Directions
Parboil sausage in boiling water for 5-6 minutes and slice into bite size pieces.
Boil the noodles according to the box directions.
Stir-fry minced garlic in a hot pan with olive oil and add sliced onions.
When the onions turn brown, add sausage, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
Stir-fry everything until ingredients are almost 90% cooked. Then reduce heat, add cooked pasta noodles with tomato sauce and mix them well.
Sprinkle parmesan cheese and chopped basil on the pasta before serving.

http://blog.naver.com/zghyojin/220720363760

***

Sesame Leaves Pesto Pasta - Perilla Pesto

Pesto; one of those sauces that is a must in summertime, anytime. It is one of the easiest ways to use up spare herbs, greens and to play around with different nuts.
Also, it's quick to throw together. A great way for using big bunches of herbs or greens languishing in the fridge, and practically impossible to screw up. So there is no excuse not to give homemade pesto a go.

This year I planted a few plants in pots to grow on my deck. Sesame leaf is one of them.

It is easy to grow and can become large quickly and out of control.

Actually, my garden has been growing like crazy - sesame leaves have grown a lot. So, I picked them and made pesto with the sesame leaves.
Have you ever made pesto with herbs other than basil?
Sesame leaf(perilla) is an herb in the mint family used in several Asian dishes. So I used it.
How to make it? It's very similar to basil pesto. I just used sesame leaves instead of basil and I added some more nuts and  Parmesan cheese to taste. That's it! 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basil-pesto-recipe2.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=960thehxn1Y (Learn more, view video; 키미kimi)


***

Spaghetti with Clam

I like spaghetti with olive oil and sea food.
When I went to the grocery store fresh clams were available for a good price.  I bought some for dinner. I had white wine, garlic and peperoncini in my fridge. It was perfect together! I was happy just thinking about making spaghetti with clams!
Actually, I like to make spaghetti with olive oil and clams, but I don't like cleaning the clams. Before cooking the clams soak them in salted water for a few hours. The clams process the salted water and any sand or grit is removed.

Ingredients 
2/3 pound     uncooked spagetti such as dececco
6-7 cloves    garlic, sliced
1/2 C            olive oil
2                   peperoncini
1 T                dried Italian parsley
1/2 C             finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 C             cleaned clam
1 C                white wine
Italian parsley to taste
salt, black pepper to taste


Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. 
Cook spaghetti in the boiling water about 12-13 minutes.
Combine garlic, peperoncini and olive oil in a skillet. Cook and stir until garlic is golden brown, about another 5 minutes. 
Add cleaned clam with white wine until cook slightly.
Add cooked spaghetti and sprinkle Italian parsley and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Stir until combined.
Serve pasta topped with fresh Italian parsley.

***

Outback Steakhouse Toowoomba Pasta Copycat

I have never eaten toowoomba pasta at Outback Steakhouse but this recipe is good.

Probably my favorite recipe.
Make Toowoomba Pasta at HOME!


Ingredients
Servings 2-3
12 ounces fusilli
10-12 shrimp 
3-4 button mushrooms,sliced
1 1/2c heavy cream 
1/2c milk
minced garlic, to taste
1T soy sauce 
1T chopped green onions 
salt 
black pepper 
chili powder, to taste
crushed red pepper, to taste
1T ketchup 
parmesan cheese, to taste

Directions
Mix heavy cream with soy sauce.
Add chopped green onions and black pepper and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour or more.
Stir-fry minced garlic, shrimp and mushrooms.
Boil fusilli as directed.
Mix shrimp mixture with ketchup, chili powder,crushed red pepper, black pepper and salt.
Bring cream sauce to a boil, add shrimp mixture and parmesan cheese.
Toss fusilli with cream sauce.

Deeeeeeelicious :)


***