Tag Archives: pasta

Lower Carb Amazing Red Sauce over Spaghetti Squash

Leave a reply

The sauce is so delectable and rich, you will not miss the pasta. You will shed about 30 carbs per cup from this dish though.

If you’ve never tried it, spaghetti squash is a big yellow squash that you bake and when it’s done, you use a fork to shred the flesh and it turns into strings that resemble noodles. It’s a healthier, lower-carb option than past; a cup of spaghetti squash has less than 10 carbs compared to about 40 carbs in pasta.

My amazing red sauce was adapted from a recipe my dear friend Heather Landwer gave me a few years ago. I had my own red sauce recipe at the time, but it took about 5 hours to make and this one is just as good but takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes (most of that time is just simmering). It is an intense, thick red sauce and it pairs perfectly with spaghetti squash. I liked the combination so much, I will not use traditional pasta again with this dish.

Amazing Red Sauce over Spaghetti Squash

Serves 4

1 (16-ounce) package Jimmy Dean Sage or Hot sausage

1 large white onion

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 (12-ounce) can tomato paste (note, this is the big size)

1 tomato paste can filled with water

1 (15-ounce) can diced or stewed tomatoes

1 large garlic clove, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 large spaghetti squash

Olive oil and salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds and strings in the cavity. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt on the flesh. Pierce the flesh with a knife in several places. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour.

While the squash cooks, chop a large white onion. In a pot or pan with a tight lid, fry the sausage and onion together. When sausage is nearly cooked, add oregano, basil and sugar.

When it’s cooked through, drain the fat off the sausage and return the mixture to the pan. Add tomato paste, water, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Then reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

When the squash is done, remove it from the oven and use a fork to shred the inside. Continue to shred until you have removed all the flesh away from the shell. Serve topped with red sauce.

Chicken Alfredo

Leave a reply

Pasta is one dish I never order in a restaurant because it’s so easy and inexpensive to make at home. Like this Chicken Alfredo. The most time consuming part of this dish is cooking the pasta. I make mine with angel hair because the sauce sticks to the noodles more.

DSC_0622 (2)
Chicken Alfredo

Serves 4

Both breasts from rotisserie chicken

8 ounces angel hair pasta

¼ cup butter

1 garlic clove

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cusp fresh Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2 tablespoons fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh chives (optional)

I use chives because we have them in our garden. It’s not worth buying chives for this dish, so the chives are optional. Also, I love basil in alfredo but you can skip it if you’re not crazy about basil.

Do not salt your sauce until the end because there is a lot of salt in cheese.

This dish comes together quickly at the end, so have everything prepped.

First, put water on to boil for pasta.

Then remove the chicken breasts and the skin and chop chicken into chunks and set aside.

Slice basil and chop parsley.

When water is ready, add the pasta

Cook pasta according to aldente directions on the box, strain and set aside.

In a large skillet , heat butter and garlic for 1 minute. Add heavy cream and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add Parmesan, chicken, pasta, parsley and basil. Cook 2 minutes until sauce sticks to pasta. Garnish with fresh  basil and chives, if desired. Serve immediately.

This photo does not do this dish justice. Just know it’s delicious!

Jumbo Shells Stuffed with Feta, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Chicken- SO EASY!

Leave a reply

This dish comes together so quickly that the longest part is typically boiling water. It’s an excellent dish and is good warm, at room temperature and even cold, so you can pack any leftover for lunch.

In the winter, I add dried rosemary, but in the summer, sprinkle the dish with fresh basil.

In this dish, you use 2 ounces of feta cheese crumbles and to give you perspective, the containers in the store are usually four ounces, so you want half that much feta.

This pasta just explodes with the flavor of feta, roasted red pepper and has lean protein. It’s easy and do delicious.

Jumbo Shells Stuffed with Feta, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Chicken

Serves 2

12 Jumbo Shells

2 ounces feta cheese crumbles

¼ cup artichoke hearts

¾ cup jarred roasted red bell peppers (half of a 14 ounce jar)

¾ cup finely chopped rotisserie chicken

Pinch of dried Rosemary or fresh basil

Cook jumbo shells according to package directions (usually about 12 minutes). Drain.

While the shells cook, place feta cheese, artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers in a food processor and pulse until mixture is fairly smooth. You will see plenty of specks of feta and that is fine, but you want the red pepper and artichoke to be smooth.

shell5

Finely chop your chicken and stir it into the roasted red pepper sauce. Add a pinch of dried rosemary or fresh basil. If I have fresh basil, I garnish the tops of the dish with it.

When shells are cool enough to handle, spoon filling into shells and serve. It’s that easy! Enjoy.

In terms of vegetables, this goes great with sautéed spinach or roasted asparagus.

shells