Pesto Ravioli

For Rach and all the other pesto lovers out there. I got this out of a magazine and tweaked it just a little bit. I never seem to follow recipes the way they say! Anyways, I'll put what the recipe said vs what I actually did.

2 Tbs olive oil
2-3 zucchini thinly sliced(recipe called for 1 yellow bell pepper, but that didn't sound that great to me)
1/2 cup baby carrots thinly sliced (6-7 carrots)
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 package refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli
1/2 cup pesto (recipe said 1/4, but it didn't seem like enough, so I think I ended up with 1/2)
grated parmesan cheese

-in large skillet, heat oil over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add veggies and saute 5-1o minutes until tender. Remove vegetables from the skillet and set aside.
-Pour broth into skillet. Add ravioli and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes or until ravioli are cooked. Using a large spoon, remove about 1/2 cup of broth and discard or it gets too soupy. Return veggies to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in pesto sauce and evenly coat ravioli and veggies. Sprinkle with grated parmesan if desired.

Made a good one dish meal. Add a salad and you've got twice the veggies!

Oh, and my package of ravioli was "family size", but it really wasn't that big. Enough for me, David, and Reagan who doesn't eat much. So if serving big, double this.

Turkey Spinanch Lasagna

What You Need:

1 lb ground turkey (can sub ground beef if you want to die of a heart attack!)

2 large garlic cloves, crushed or 2 large spoonfuls of minced garlic from a jar

1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (I use Bertolli Marinara or Ragu works)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 (12 ounce) container of cottage cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons pepper

8 lasagna noodles, uncooked

1 (10 ounce) package of spinach, thawed and drained (make sure you get all the juice out otherwise it is super gross after cooked!)

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Brown ground turkey (or beef) with garlic in large skillet over medium heat. I add pepper and salt to taste during this time as well. Drain the meat and put back in skillet to add spaghetti sauce.

Combine egg, cottage cheese, and pepper.

Spread 1/2 of meat sauce in a 12 x9x 2 inch baking dish. Top with half each of uncooked noodles, cottage cheese mixture, spinach, meat sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, and cover with foil.

Cook for 50 minutes, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cook uncovered 10 more minutes

Let stand 10 minutes before serving

Give yourself a full hour and a half to prepare this dish. (30 minutes prep, one hour to cook)

Serves: 6

Chicken Pasta with Tarragon Cream Sauce

This is a favorite of mine that I picked up when I was in Belgium. Soooo good, but not that healthy for you. The tarragon adds a unique flavor, almost minty.


Ingredients:

16oz pasta (I prefer bowtie, penne, or spirals. So much easier than dealing with the long stuff.)
4 chicken breasts
8oz sliced mushrooms (Optional)
1 pint heavy whipping cream (At least)
2 cups shredded swiss or parmesan cheese
4Tbsp Margarine/Butter
Tarragon-fresh or dry
Garlic salt-to taste
Salt-to taste


Directions:


Cook pasta according to directions, drain. Cook and cube chicken, (or buy the already cooked chicken slices for convenience.) In a big saucepan melt the butter, add mushrooms, saute until tender, adding garlic salt. Add heavy cream, bring to a boil, stirring constantly to avoid burning. After cream is boiling, reduce to med-high, and start adding cheese (the swiss has a stronger flavor, so if you don't like it use parmesan) a little at a time, making sure it's melted before adding more. The sauce will thicken. You may not need both cups. Fold the chicken into the mushroom cream sauce, then add tarragon to taste-at least 2 Tbsp (for dry spices you can use less.) Put pasta back in the pot that you cooked it in over heat, add chicken mixture, stir it all up, adding more cheese or cream if necessary. Serve. You can garnish with fresh, diced tomato.


(You can play around with how soupy you want your cream sauce. I like it to be pretty thick so it sticks to everything.)

Chicken Pesto Pasta

OK, I don't know if this even counts as a recipe, but it's one of my new favorite easy meals to make. Any time we go to an Italian restaurant, Clint just asks for chicken pesto pasta, even if it's not on the menu, so I decided to try to make it. It uses the same pesto sauce that I buy for the chicken pesto pizza, and I use the same rotisserie chicken from Wal-mart, so I usually make this and the pizza in the same week. If you buy one of those chickens, which only cost about $4.50, it has more than enough meat for both recipes.

Ingredients: (All the ingredients are in the title of the recipe)

• ~2 cups cooked chicken - small pieces (I use Wal-mart rotisserie chicken)
• Pesto sauce (comes in a little green tub in the refrigerated pasta area next to the deli at Wal-mart)
• Angel hair pasta (or any kind of pasta you want to use)

Directions:

• Boil and drain pasta
• Add pesto (I use the whole container, but you could probably use less)
• Add chicken
• Mix and serve!

If you use a whole box of pasta and the whole container of pesto, I think this will serve about 6 people.

Note: Jodi tried this recipe, and she added a little bit of healthy stuff that made it even better. I tried it when I made it again, and it was great! Saute some finely diced zucchini in olive oil until it's soft, then add diced tomatoes at the end just to warm them up a little. Add this mix to the pasta and mix it in. Yum!