Pesto Orecchiette Italian Sausage Pasta

Recipe adapted from: RealSimple

Pesto Orecchiette Italian Sausage Pasta

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 12 ounces orecchiette
• 1 steamfresh bag of green beans or 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 steamfresh bag of english peas or 1 cup frozen peas
• 5-6 Italian sausage links, bite sized slices.
• 1 small jar pesto or 1/3 cup pesto
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Place sausage in small, oven-safe dish with enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 30 more minutes.
3. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. If using fresh green beans and frozen peas, add the green beans and peas during the last 3 minutes of cooking. If using steamfresh vegetables, heat as directed, then add to cooked pasta. Drain the pasta and vegetables and return them to the pot. 
4. Cut the sausage in to bite sized pieces. 
5. Add the sausage, pesto, and Parmesan to the pasta and vegetables and toss to combine.

Crescent Roll Donuts

When cooking for 2 I usually end up with at least 4 left over crescent rolls that never get eaten.

What to do... make donuts!

Ingredients:
Crescent rolls - UNCOOKED
Vegetable/Canola Oil (1/2 Bottle)
Sugar (approximately 1 1/2 cup)
Cinnamon (to taste)

Heat approximately 1/2 a bottle of vegetable/canola oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Put sugar & cinnamon in large bowl... mix evenly.
Test heat with small piece of dough or water.
Tear off small pieces of dough and roll into a loose ball. (2-3 from each triangle)
Place gently in grease.
If your grease is deep enough, the ball will turn itself. Mine wasn't so I made them flat (didn't roll) and flipped them myself. It didn't seem to make a difference. They do puff up and are hard to turn so you can use tongs to bathe grease over the top.
Fry till golden brown.
Remove donuts and place in sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Use tongs to roll around to evenly coat.
Enjoy!

Recipes

these are delicious!

Deconstructed Chicken Cordon Bleu

1 small jar dried beef
1 lb chicken (I use boneless)
1 pkg bacon bits (can use real bacon but I am lazy - lol)
1 can cream of chicken soup
6-8 oz sour cream
4 oz swiss cheese

Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Line with dried beef. Top with chicken - top chicken with swiss cheese. Mix soup, sour cream and bacon bits; spoon over chicken. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.


Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Enough baking potatoes for your family
Butter
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese
Bacon bits

Bake potatoes. Scoop out insides (if you can keep them intact, you can use the shells to cook the mixture in - I never can - so I make it in a casserole instead - lol). Add butter, sour cream, bacon bits and 1/2 of cheese. Mix well. Put mixture in casserole dish or baking pan (or spoon into potato shells if you can). Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes until cheese is melted. We like it browned, so we cook it longer :)