Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne with Red Cat Cream Sauce

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bell peppers, comfort food, dinner, entree, food, foodie, lunch, orange bell peppers, orange peppers, pasta, penne, pepper, postaday2011, recipe, sausage, turkey sausage

I made a similar sausage penne dish a few months ago. This time I wanted to make it a cream sauce to go with it. And Red Cat… okay, so I was drinking some Red Cat and impulsively poured some in the pan, but I love cooking with Red Cat. I also wanted to use red bell peppers, but the orange bell pepper were on sale, and looked much more fresh. I took the picture with really harsh lighting late last night, so my photo isn’t the best.

Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey sausage, 1 lb. penne, 1 shallot (minced), 2 diced yellow bell peppers, 1 c. Red Cat wine,  1 pint heavy cream, 1/3 c. flour, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven 350°F. Cook penne according to package. Drop sausage by the spoonful into pan of shallow water and simmer until meat is done (water should be gone, if not drain water). Remove sausage from pan then add wine and deglaze pan.  Toss in shallots, salt and Red Cat and simmer. Add heavy cream and flour and whisk together. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Toss together sausage, penne and pepper and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with pepper. Top penne with cream sauce and bake for about 25 minutes. Serve hot with garlic bread and fresh grated pecorino romano.

This is a great meal to make ahead and freeze, simply defrost and bake.

What’s for dinner tonight?

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Sausage & Watercress Penne

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dinner, easy dinner, easy meal, easy recipe, food, foodie, lunch, meal, pasta, penne, postaday2011, quick & easy, quick and easy, quick recipe, recipe, sausage, watercress, yellow pepper

A tasty heap of comfort food is the perfect way to end the day…

Sausage & Watercress Penne

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey sausage, 1 lb. penne, 3 c. chopped watercress, 1/2 shallot (minced), 2 diced yellow bell peppers, 1/2 c. dry white wine, fresh ground sea salt

Directions:
Cook penne according to package. Drop sausage by the spoonful into pan of shallow water and simmer until meat is done (water should be gone, if not drain water). Remove sausage from pan then add wine and deglaze pan.  Toss peppers, shallots and watercress in pan and simmer. Sprinkle with fresh ground sea salt. Return sausage to pan. Pour over pasta and garnish with freshly grated pecorino romano.

*I actually use turkey breakfast sausage for this recipe. I prefer the flavor of breakfast sausage over the other varieties…
*Some people use only the watercress leaves, I roughly chop the leaves and stems alike, it adds to the texture.

What are your weekend plans?

Lobster Penne

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asparagus, food, foodie, lobster, pasta, penne, postaday2011, recipe, seafood, sun-dried tomatoes

I was lucky enough to inherit some extra lobster, so I made myself some lobster penne for dinner. While Hubster was working late, I made this for myself. The recipe below is for one serving.

Lobster Penne

Ingredients:
1 lobster tail (or lobster claws), button, minced shallots, 1 Tbsp. of chopped tarragon, 1/4 lb. dry penne pasta, 1/8 c. champagne, 9 asparagus tips, 1/8 c. sun-dried tomatoes, percorino-romano cheese

Directions:
Prepare lobster tail how you prefer; boiled, steamed or grilled are all great. Cut into large chunks and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook penne according to package directions. In a small sauté pan, melt butter and brown shallots. Add lobster, tarragon and champagne and allow to simmer. Toss in sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus. Pour lobster and sauce over a bowl full of hot pasta. Sprinkle with freshly grated cheese.

Do you ever dine solo? What do you make?

Basil Penne with Chicken & Tomatoes

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basil, chicken, chicken recipe, cooking with wine, dinner, food, meal, pasta, pasta dish, pasta recipe, penne, provolone, recipe, Red Cat, sweet wine, wine

This is known to Hubster as Red Cat Chicken Penne. Hubster is very picky when it comes to pasta, he either wants spaghetti & meatballs or spaghetti & meat sauce (and on occasion fettucine alfredo with chicken). He doesn’t like most sauces, or any vegetables on his pasta. He even complains about the pasta shape, telling me that farfalle (or as he says bow ties) doesn’t look as good as spaghetti. So, I was surprised at how much he enjoyed this dish and quickly got seconds before I had even eaten half!

Red Cat Chicken Penne

Ingredients:
12 chicken breast tenderloins, 3 Tbs. olive oil, 1 lb. package of penne, 2 c. Red Cat (or other sweet red wine), 4 medium tomatoes,  1 1/2 c. fresh basil (cut into thin strips), extra sharp provolone, 1/2 clove of garlic minced, fresh cracked black pepper, fresh ground sea salt, 2 Tbs. butter

Directions:
Cook penne according to package directions.  Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic. Add tenderloins and brown on each side, make sure center is no longer pink. Add 1/2 c. Red Cat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan. Add tomatoes, basil, pepper and salt to pan, cook until tomatoes are soft. Remove tomatoes and basil, toss with chicken. In pan, add remaining Red Cat and butter, stirring continuously. Loosen any food stuck on the bottom of the pan. Simmer and allow sauce to thicken. Place pasta in dish, top with chicken & tomatoes, sprinkle with provolone and pour sauce over pasta. Serve hot and enjoy!

Hubster wanted me to type this one, before I forgot how I made it.