Instant Pot Pumpkin Pasta

I’ve been making Pumpkin Pasta for a long time. And tonight I finally adapted it to be a one pot instant pot meal. 

One pot, Instant Pot Pumpkin Penne 

1lb sage breakfast sausage (or 1lb ground pork*)

1lb penne

1 12oz can evaporated milk

1 15oz can pure pumpkin

1 1/2 t sage

1/2 t garlic

Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste*

Parmesan cheese to taste

In 6qt instant pot, cook sausage/pork on medium sauté until cooked thru. Remove to a plate, and drain and drippings. 

Add 4.5 cups water and 1lb penne to pot. Seal lid and pressure cook on high for 0 minutes (yes, zero. That is how long I’ve come up with thru trial and error, starting with 4 minutes, which was waaayyyy to soft). Let NPR for 10 min, then QPR. Remove lid when pin drops and steam is done. 

Quickly stir in the evaporated milk and let rest a few minutes to absorb. Add pumpkin, sage, salt, pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes. If still too runny, turn pot on low sauté for a few minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking and burning. Stir in Parmesan and serve. 

*You will need more seasoning if you use pork instead of sausage. 

This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pasta-with-pumpkin-and-sausage-recipe-1939614.amp

Baked ziti

This is a yummy baked ziti recipe I found on Martha Stewart's website. I like the baked ziti at Sbarro's, but wanted something I could make at home for cheaper (and in case my local Sbarro's closed). It is really rather simple.

Boil 8 oz ziti (or other short tubular pasta...penne or rigatoni would work). While that is going, mix a cup of ricotta with 1/2 c shredded mozzarella, 1/4 c grated parmesan, an egg, and salt and pepper. When the pasta is done and drained, pour half a jar of spaghetti sauce of choice (I used Prego mushroom) in a 2 qt baking dish. Top with drained pasta, spread ricotta mixture over the pasta, and top with remaining sauce from the jar. Then sprinkle another 1/2 c each Parmesan and mozzarella on top, and bake at 450* for 20-25 min (I baked it at 400* cuz I baked a loaf of par-baked french bread first and forgot to change it) until melted and yummy.

The recipe from Martha gave instructions how to make a salad and garlic bread, but I'll let you figure that out yourself. the recipe made enough for me for dinner last night, and 2 baggies of leftovers, but is supposed to (and could) feed four. I just like food.

Creamy Pasta with Ham and Roasted Broccoli

 

I found this recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food (www.mathastewart.com/317182/creamy-pasta-with-ham-and-broccoli) and thought it sounded yummy.  After reading the comments on the site, I did make a couple modifications, tho.  The lead in page had said you could sub in mushrooms instead of ham to make it vegetarian...I added them with the ham!  I also increased the quantities a little, as I wanted left overs for lunch, and even tho the recipe says it feeds four, it must be four people with no appetite, or who don't like food, as most recipes like this don't feed four people I know.  As it turned out, I fed two adults, a child who loves pasta, and had one container for leftovers.

Here is how I made it:  I bought a pound of broccoli crowns, which I trimmed into flowerettes.  I also had .40 pound mushrooms that I quartered.  I think more mushrooms would have been nice.  Put the broccoli and mushrooms on a baking sheet with olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Roast at 425* for about 20 minutes, until broccoli is tender and both are getting a little browned.

Meanwhile, put a large pot of salted water on to boil.  Add 8oz fancy egg noodles and cook just until tender...not mushy!  While the water was boiling and noodles cooking, I cut .40 pounds deli ham into small pieces.

Once the noodles were cooked, I drained them into a colander and put the pot back on the stove.  Here is another change I made.  When I was at the store looking at cream cheese, I saw that Philly had what they call Cooking Cremes on sale (they are flavored cream cheese based goodness for casseroles, etc.).  And the savory garlic had a couple with nearing expiration dates that were an extra dollar off.  So I got that instead of plain cream cheese.  Back to the recipe...I added about 2/3 of the container of cooking creme to the pot and stirred it to melting.  I then put everything in the pot -- broccoli, mushrooms, ham, noodles -- and stirred it all together.  I did add a couple tablespoons of hot water into the mix to thin the sauce a little.  Voila!  Everyone liked it and wanted more.  Next time, I will have to increase the quantities a little, so I can also use the whole container of cooking cream.  The original recipe also said you could sub chicken or turkey (deli meat, I assume) for the ham.  I think it would also be good with diced/shredded meat (leftover turkey, anyone?), and even diced pork would be yummy!  I was also thinking it would be good as a casserole with buttered bread crumbs on top...

I just ate my leftovers for lunch, and they were good, too...Now to figure out what is for dinner tonight!

Chicken and mushroom pasta

Tonight's dinner was planned with an eye to using up half a package of Trader Joes ceasar chicken strips. So, I sautéed a package of sliced crimini mushrooms in some butter until soft. Then I tossed in the chicken, broken into bite size pieces. I seasoned it all with salt, pepper and onion powder. I then added about 1/2 to 3/4 cup white wine and let it simmer a bit while I waited for the pasta to finish cooking (chicken broth could be used instead). Once the pasta was done (I used campanelle), I added it to the pan with the mushrooms and chicken. I stirred it all together and added some shredded Parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed (I added more pepper). It was quite yummy :)

Spaghetti carbonara

Being the end of the month, the food budget is running low. So, when looking to see what I had on hand, I decided to make spaghetti carbonara. All I needed to go to the store for was Parmesan cheese and cream (not used in this particular recipe, but I have used it in others and like the addition of several tablespoons to the egg mixture). I used a recipe from Tyler Florence on Food Network (link below). It was nice and creamy and bacony. And all I needed was spaghetti, bacon (I used double the amount called for, partly because we like bacon, and partly because that was what I had left), eggs and Parmesan cheese. Yum :)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/spaghetti-alla-carbonara-recipe/index.html