Cheesy Shell Pasta

I am not sure how to name this pasta dish because I created it on a whim just for Ruth!  Ruth is hosting Presto Pasta Night this week and I wanted to be a part of it.  :-)  I called it Cheesy Shell Pasta because it had cheese in it.  LOL!  I have some Camembert cheese in my fridge and milk, so why not give it a try.  You can certainly make it more creamy and cheesy by using heavy cream instead of milk and sprinkle with more cheeses on top and bake in the oven for 5 minutes before serving.  Whatever you like right?

I just used what I have in the refrigerator and pantry to create this delicious pasta dish.  My Edda said it tasted like Chicken Alfredo.  Hehehe...  This was our lunch and Evy's lunchbox for tomorrow.

I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.  This week host is Ruth herself! Check out her delicious round up on Oct, 1st!

Ingredients:

2 cups of medium shell pasta, cooked as directed, drain and set aside

Zest of one lemon

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 cup of frozen mixed vegetable

1/2 cup of imitation lobster meat/ crab meat/ shrimps

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 of Ile de France Normandie Camembert cheese (110g), cut into pieces (or any cheese you have)

Dashes of Italian herbs seasoning

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1 tsp. sugar

Parmesan cheese, extra and optional

Method:

1.  Heat the saute pan.  When heated, add in some olive oil, then garlic and lemon zest.  Saute quickly, then add in the mixed vegetable and imitation lobster meat.  Stir well.

2.  Add in the milk and cheese.  Stir until the cheese is melted.  Add in the cooked pasta, stir well.

3.  Season with dashes of Italian herbs seasoning, salt, black pepper and sugar.

4.  Serve hot with extra topping of Parmesan cheese.

Herdez Salsa Macaroni with Shrimps

My girls didn't want to eat the porridge so I made this pasta dish for them.  It just so happen that I had a bottle of salsa in the pantry that I needed to use.  So, I created this easy macaroni and shrimps pasta with it.  None of them complaint that it was spicy so I guess it was not spicy to them, as it only listed as mild.  However, my picky eater Evy won't eat the tomatoes.  She is a strange little girl, as she will eat the blended pasta tomato sauce but not if she can see the tomato.  So, she only ate the macaroni and shrimps and picked out all the tomatoes and set it aside on her plate.

It is really hard as tomato is good for her.  I think she got influence by her daddy as he would not eat tomatoes too.  Because of this, I don't buy tomatoes.  Guess I will have to cook more spaghetti with tomato based pasta sauce as this is the only time she would eat it with no complaint. 

I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.  This week host is Valli of More Than Burnt Toast. Check out her delicious round up on Sept, 24th!

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried macaroni, cooked at directed, drain and set aside

8 extra large shrimps, smashed with your knife and minced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bottle of Herdez salsa casera mild (16oz)

2 Tbsp. Ketchup

2 tsp. sugar

Dashes of Italian seasoning herbs

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) for cooking

Method:

1.  Heat up a skillet, add EVOO.  Then, add minced shrimps and garlic, fry until shrimps are cooked.

2.  Add in Herdez salsa, stir well.  Add the ketchup, Italian seasonings and sugar.  Mix well.  Lastly, add in the cooked macaroni, stir well to mix.  Serve hot!

3.  You can serve with Parmesan cheese too.

Stir Fried Macaroni with Broccoli and Tuna

This meal was created when I took out the fish fillet to defroze in the refrigerator and ended out too lazy to do a Chinese stir-fry dinner for the night.  I loved baked fish because it was easier and healthier.  The baked fish above was really easy which I will provide the recipe in a later post.  Since I was not cooking rice, I had to come out with a dish to complement my American style baked fish .  I came out with stir-fried macaroni pasta and added broccoli and tuna in canned.  I did a similar pasta dish before but with a different pasta.  This pasta dish alone was healthy because it had broccoli, tuna and extra virgin olive oil. 

Have you tried turkey bacon before?  I tried it at Denny's when I ordered my healthy breakfast (egg white scrambles, turkey bacon and chicken patty).   I was hooked since then because it was really crispy and good and less fat than the original bacon.  I would recommend you to cook the bacon in a convection microwave oven if you have one, it was really crispy and most of the oil oozes out during the cooking process.

I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast.  This week host is The Sweet Kitchen. Check out her delicious round up on June, 18th!

Ingredients:

Macaroni, enough for 4 persons, cooked as package direction and set aside

2 cups broccoli, cut into small pieces

2 cans of tuna in oil, drained

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Lemon juice, fresh or bottle

Black peppers

Chicken stock or 1 tsp. chicken stock granules

White wine

Salt to taste

1 tsp. sugar

Extra virgin olive oil

Optional:  microwave crispy turkey bacon to garnish before serving.

Method:

1.  In a saute pan, add in some olive oil, then garlic.  Fry a little, add in broccoli, stir-fry until broccoli is cooked.

2.  Add in white wine and chicken stock if used.  Add in macaroni and stir well.  Add in tuna and mix well.

3.  Season to taste with salt, sugar, pepper, and chicken stock granules (if used).  Lastly, drizzle with a little lemon juice, stir to mix well.

4.  Serve with crispy turkey bacon on top.  You can add a side dish if you like.

Penne Tuna Pasta

Have you tried the pouch tuna? I recently bought some to try because it was on sales and I seriously liked it. No draining required and it was so convenient. It was fairly expensive without the sales so stock up when it goes on sales. Friday noodle/pasta night again and of course I had to think of something to cook. Saw a packet of Penne pasta and pouches of tuna in my pantry and my sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil on my kitchen counter and thought it would make a good combo. I read that tomatoes, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese have naturally occurrence glutamate (amino acid) that said to produce the fifth taste called "umami" by Japanese. No wonder so many people loved to sprinkle Parmesan cheese on their pasta and pizza and love tomato based products and mushroom soup. Parmesan cheese especially has high level of glutamate, so I am wondering if you stay away from MSG (salt form of glutamate), do you stay away from Parmesan cheese too?




Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) Penne Rigate pasta
2 ( 5 oz) pouches premium light tuna in water
1/2 cup frozen corns
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, chopped
1 stalk of scallion, chopped
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup white wine
Salt, to taste
Pepper medley (or black pepper), to taste

Method:

1. Cook penne rigate as package direction, drain in cold water and set aside.

2. In a sautepan, heat up some olive oil. Add garlic, fry until fragrant. Add frozen corns, pinch of red pepper flakes and sun-dried tomatoes. Fry until mix well.

3. Add tuna, stir-well, white wine and mix in the cooked penne and scallion. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and fry until hot. Serve.

I'm sharing this noodle with Presto Pasta Nights, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week host is Ruth herself, do go and check out her delicious round up on Friday, Nov 6th! Thanks!

Wild Mushroom Agnolotti with Shrimps Sauce

Foodbuzz and Buitoni partnered up and sent the Tastemakers of Foodbuzz a packet of Wild Mushroom Agnolotti to try. This is one of Buitoni newest products and I was glad to be one of the first to sample this, even before it hits the market, cool right? Frankly I never had this before and was scrambling my head of how to cook this pasta. Just so it happen that Buitoni is also running a promotion contest for the original pasta sauce recipe to compliment one of these pasta in the month of April. So, put on my creative hat and started to picture a sauce that will compliment the wild mushroom agnolotti that I received. I thought shrimps will go well with the wild mushroom and some Italian herbs and white wine reduced sauce. So, this recipe was created and it passed the taste test of the four of us. The wild mushroom agnolotti was flavorful on its own but in combination with my shrimps sauce made it a more complete meal. Truly delicious! You guys should try it! Now, just hope that my creative shrimps sauce (something different eh?) will win me a prize from Buitoni. :)





Ingredient:

1 (9oz) Buitoni All Natural Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, cooked as package direction, drain and place on a plate.
5 large shrimps (size 26-30), minced (smashed with a cleaver and chopped it)
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped scallion, separated
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
20 grinds McCormick Italian herbs seasoning grinder
1/4 cup white cooking wine



Method:

1. In a saute pan, in medium heat, add olive oil. When hot, add in minced shrimps, the white part of chopped scallion and garlic. Saute until shrimps are cooked.

2. Add in Worcestershire sauce , Italian herbs seasoning, saute well. Add white cooking wine to deglaze the pan, scrambling the pan well and add the green part of the chopped scallion. Pour the thicken sauce on top of the wild mushroom Agnolotti.

3. Serve with few dashes of red pepper flakes for extra kick.

Note: You can add more shrimps if you like, just remember to increase the olive oil. ;)

Chicken Alfredo Spaghetti

We have a favorite Italian restaurant (Zio's) that we go to for our Chicken Alfredo. I tell you their chicken Alfredo, either the spicy one or the regular really hit the spot. The creaminess and flavor is just right, perfect!

So, for my Friday night dinner, I decided to cook this dish but with whole wheat spaghetti and store bought Alfredo sauce. Of course the store bought Alfredo sauce is nothing compared to the restaurant standard. I will still go back to that restaurant for the real deal.





Ingredients:

1 skinless chicken breast, sliced
1 can of 8 oz. mushrooms
Olive oil for cooking
Poultry seasoning (few dashes)
Italian seasoning (few dashes)
Dried basil (2 dashes)
Salt to taste
1 (13.25 oz.) pack of whole wheat spaghetti
1 bottle of Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese
Extra cheese to sprinkle on top if desire

Method:

1. Cook spaghetti as directed, drain and set aside.

2. In a big frying pan, add olive pan, pan fry the chicken until cooked, add in mushrooms and the rest of the seasoning.

3. Add in the spaghetti, pour in the Alfredo sauce, stir to mix well. Add in the cheese and stir until cheese is melted.

4. Serve as is or top with more Mozzarella cheese (or Parmesan cheese) before serving.

I would love to share this dish with Presto Pasta Night. Presto Pasta Night was created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week host is Ruth herself at Once Upon a Feast. Please hop over on Friday to see the round up.

Spaghetti with Chicken and Shrimps

I love this easy one dish meal. I usually cooked this dish when I was tired of eating rice or when I ran out of idea of what to prepare for dinner or just plain lazy. I always keep bottled spaghetti sauce, canned mushroom and whole wheat or whole grain spaghetti in my pantry for a day like this. However, instead of the usual ground beef or ground pork, I love to use chicken and shrimps. I actually got this idea from a friend who gave us some of her spaghetti to try. I love this combination and have been cooking my spaghetti this way most of the times.



Ingredients:

One 13.25 oz (376g) whole wheat spaghetti, cook according to instruction (I cooked it for 11 minutes), drained, rinsed with cold water and set aside.
One canned of pieces & stems mushrooms (6.5 oz)
One bottle of spaghetti sauce (1 lb 10 oz)
Half yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 chicken breast, diced
About 6-8 shrimps, cut into smaller pieces
Italian herbs seasoning
Salt and a little sugar to taste
Olive oil

Method:

1. Heat up the frying pan with olive oil. Add onion and garlic, fry until onion turned transparent.

2. Add in chicken, fry until almost cooked, add in shrimps and mushrooms. Fry until chicken and shrimps are cooked.

3. Add in the spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and a little sugar. Stir to mix well and then add in the drained spaghetti. Mix to coat well with the sauce. Serve hot!

*Add chili oil or chili flakes to spice it up*

I would love to share this dish with Presto Pasta Night. Presto Pasta Night was created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week host is Equal Opportunity Kitchen. Hop over on Friday to see the round up.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Non-spicy one for the kids.


With chillies in oil added, extra spicy for the parents.

Ingredients:
1 (13.25 oz) box whole wheat spaghetti
1 cup imitation crab meats
1 skinless & boneless chicken breasts, cut
10 asparagus, cut into 1-inch
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
6 sun-ripened tomatoes, sliced
Olive oil
2 tsp. chicken stock granules
Salt & black peppers

Method:

1. Cook spaghetti as directed by package, drain and set aside.

2. In a saucepan, heat up olive oil. Add garlic and chicken breasts, fry until chicken is almost cooked. Add in asparagus and carrot and fry until the veggies are cooked. Lastly add in the sun-ripened tomatoes and imitation crab meats, stir-fry for a minute and add in the cooked spaghetti. Season to taste with salt, chicken stock granules and black pepper. Mix well to combine. Taste test and season to your liking. Serve warm!

3. Optional: Top with chillies in oil, chili oil or dried chili flakes for the extra kick.

I'm serving this up at Presto Pasta Night. This week the host will be Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.

Whole Grain Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

I was first introduced to Aglio e Olio by Rainbows. Aglio means garlic and Olio means oil in Italian and she said this is one easy pasta to prepare. Indeed she was right, and any easy recipe I wanted to try. And I was introduced to whole grain pasta by watching Racheal Ray. Anything whole wheat and whole grain is to my liking because it speaks an healthier choice. So, I purposely searched out whole grain pasta to try, if it's good then next time I will just stick to whole grain pasta, unless the other one is on-sales for a price that I couldn't refuse. I bought some beautiful grape tomatoes the other day and I thought why not I just added some to it. Since I was not used to eating plain pasta, I took out some sea scallops and cut it into half.

Verdict: I really like the whole grain pasta. It was not hard like what I have read. It's as al dente as the white pasta. And it makes me feel healthier by eating it. As for the aglio e olio, I found it kind of plain, needed an extra dose of salt to bring out the flavor. Being a true Asian, I even added some sesame oil! :P Here's my version:

Ingredients:

1 small box of whole grain spaghetti

8 sea scallops, half and seasoned with lemon pepper seasoning

Extra-virgin olive oil

Lots of chopped garlic (~5 cloves)

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, half

Salt and black pepper to taste

Korean Sesame oil

Method:

1. Cooked spaghetti per package instruction. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat a saute pan with some EVOO and pan-fry the scallops until cooked. Dish out and set aside.

3. Heat EVOO and add in garlic. Fry until golden and add in the crushed red pepper and grape tomatoes. Mixed well and turned off the heat. Add in the spaghetti & scallops (along with the juice). Season to taste with salt, black pepper and a drizzle of sesame oil.

I submitting this post to Presto Pasta Nights for this week.

Seafood Pesto Spaghetti

I was left with some cilantro pesto and I was trying to think of a different way to use it instead of making my usual pesto pasta. After much thought, I still couldn't come out with a better way to use it except to pan-fry some chicken breast cutlets and spread the pesto on top before serving. If I prepare it this way, then I would have to prepare at least two sides to go with my pesto chicken cutlets and make it an American dinner. Mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus sounded like a great side dishes. BUT, more work for me! So, ended out making this seafood spaghetti instead. All in one as my hubby preferred this better than the other version. Yeah, it's boring but he loved it! By the way, mine sharing what other way you used your pesto?



I added the juice from pan-frying the scallops and shrimps when mixing the spaghetti. You can also sprinkled a little crushed red pepper flakes before serving. Mmm...mmm... look at the bouncy shrimps and juicy sea scallops, who wouldn't want a bite?

My picky eater Evy who refused to try the chicken version was tempted to take a bite and hooked. She said, "Mmmm...hen hao zhi" and asked me to serve her a plate and cleaned the plate! :o)

Method:
Heat a saute pan with some olive oil. Fry the shrimps and sea scallops until cooked. Dish out and set aside. Heat the pan with more olive oil, stir-fry the broccoli and carrot until soften, add in the cooked spaghetti/pasta, shrimps and sea scallops, cilantro pesto and mix and blend well together, turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.



This is my first time submitting my pasta entry to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Once Upon a Feast. Do visit there to feast your eyes on the variety and interesting pastas that bloggers whipped up.

Cilantro Pesto Spaghetti

Clear my fridge time! I need to clear my cilantro which I bought two weeks ago. The best way I know how is to make pesto out of it. I have been making cilantro pesto instead of basil pesto for years. Reason is very simple, I always buy cilantro and hardly ever buy basil. My cilantro pesto consisted of cilantro, garlic, walnut, olive oil and season to taste with salt, black pepper and sugar. We love it!

I stir-fried some sliced fresh button mushroom in olive oil until soften. Added carrots and the leftover chicken breast meats from KFC and stir in the spaghetti and toasted well with my pesto and dinner was ready.

Citrusy Tuna Shell Pasta

I haven't made this dish for almost nine years. This is one of my oldest recipes that doesn't look quite appealing but will leave you wanting for more. That was the reason I wanted to make it again because I couldn't stop thinking about it! Why wait until now was because I don't normally buy can tuna, like hardly ever, thus didn't get a chance to make it. But when craving strikes, I just have to make an effort to get those can tuna. I will share my recipe with you and hope you will like it too.


Top with Mozzarella Cheese before serving. You can add some crumbs and bake in the oven to melt the cheese too.



Ingredients:

Shell Pasta, about 5-6 cups
2 cans of Light Tuna in water
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice from 1/2 lemon
5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 small box of frozen cream corns/corns/mixed veggies/peas & carrots
Dried Basil
Dried Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp. chicken granules (optional)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kick it up a notch: crushed red peppers

Method:

1. Boil the shell pasta until cooked, drain and set aside.

2. Heat a saucepan with olive oil in medium heat and add garlic. Saute until slightly brown, add lemon zest and fry a little. Add tuna, corns and lemon juice, fry well. Add pasta and stir to mix well. Season with chicken granules, dried parsley and basil. Lastly, add salt & pepper to taste.

3. Before serving, top with mozzarella cheese (or cheese of your desired) and sprinkle of crushed red peppers. The above picture was without the crushed red peppers reserved for Evy.

My Twist on Macaroni & Cheese

I was left with half a packet of cream cheese from making cream cheese bread. Thought of making cream cheese soup but I was out of milk. So, I put it in my macaroni & cheese! I was really happy with the result. Delicious!

Ingredients:

2 boxes of 7.25oz Kraft macaroni & cheese

4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese, cut into cubes

1 chicken breast, sliced

2 cups of mixed frozen vegetables, soften

Seasoning for chicken:

Poultry seasoning, Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of water/milk

Dash of salt

2 Tbsp. butter, cubed

Bread crumbs

Method:

1. Cook the macaroni as directed by packet.

2. While boiling the macaroni, heat a saute pan, add in EV olive oil and chicken breast slices. Add in the seasoning and pan-fry until chicken is cooked. Add in the mixed vegetables and fry to mix well. Set aside.

3. Once the macaroni is cooked, drain and back to the pot. Then add 1/2 cup of water/milk and cream cheese, stir to melt the cream cheese. Add in the packets cheese that came in the box, stir to mix well. Add the chicken & veggies and a dash of salt/to taste, mix until incorporated.

4. Pour into a baking dish and top with bread crumbs and dollops of butter (from the 2 Tbsp.). Bake in preheated 350'F oven for 15 minutes.