Orecchiette with Pesto and Sausage

Do you like pesto? I never really liked it or at least I thought I didn't like it. I'm not sure where the turning point was, but now I am ALL ABOUT the pesto. Let's look at the ingredients- basil? Hell yea, delicious leaves. Parmesan? Delicious cheese, get in my belly. Olive oil? It's good for you! Garlic? Also good for you AND will keep the vampires away! Pine nuts? Hold up. I am really not a fan of pine nuts but they serve some purpose in pesto and I can't pick the flavor out really so they're ok in this situation.

I've made this with store-bought and home-made pesto and it's good both ways! I was just excited to use my mini food processor to make pesto. It's a super easy meal that comes together in less than 30 minutes. Just pasta, some chopped onions, sausage, peas and pesto! Orecchiette is good in this dish but you could make it with whatever you have on hand. Farfalle and rotini would be perfect too.

Orecchiette with Pesto and Sausage

• 1/2 lb small pasta (orecchiette, rotini, farfalle, penne)
• 1/3 cup pesto (store bought or home made)
• 1/2 lb sausage of choice (I use sweet Italian)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• Parmesan and pine nuts for garnish if desired

Start water boiling for pasta. Cook according to directions. Add the frozen peas into the boiling pasta when the pasta is 3 minutes away from being done. Drain.

Meanwhile, saute the onions in a Tblsp of olive oil. When they are translucent add the sausage to the pan. Cook until no longer pink, drain the fat off.Add the pasta and peas into the pan and toss with the pesto to combine. Serve!

Home made Pesto

• 3 large handfuls basil leaves
• 1/2 clove garlic (you can add more I just really don't like the taste of raw garlic)
• 3 Tblsp grated parmesan 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• Enough olive oil to bind it all together 
• Spinach leaves (optional)

Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and drizzle olive oil in until it is the consistency you want. Don't let it get too runny.  I add some spinach leaves for extra nutrition, it doesn't really add any taste.

Tortellini with Shrimp, Mushrooms, and Asparagus

Welcome to my food blog! I like cooking simple and delicious recipes that come together quickly. This recipe was a perfect example of that! This dinner came together in about 30 minutes and the most time consuming part was waiting for the water to boil.

The first step was to chop a clove of garlic and saute it with some shrimp.

Once the shrimp was cooked through I removed the shrimp to a clean plate and threw a package of sliced mushrooms in the hot pan. I sauted them for a few minutes and then added a bunch of asparagus that I had chopped into bite sized pieces.

Once the mushrooms and asparagus were cooked through I put the shrimp back into the pan to let everything finish together. At this point you would add your sauce of choice. The recipe I looked at used tomato sauce and alfredo sauce mixed together. I decided to use pesto because I like it and I thought it would be tasty and it was! I think a vodka sauce would be good with this too, just use whatever makes you happy.

At that point the water was boiling so I salted it and added a package of 3 cheese tortellini and let it cook according to directions. Once it was done I drained them and added everything into the same pot. Dinner was served!

This was an awesome, easy dinner! I loved it with pesto sauce but it's very adaptable. You could use regular pasta if tortellini isn't your thing or use chicken instead of shrimp.

On the Boyfriend Rating, on a scale of one to five, the Boyfriend gave this a 4, so I'd say it's a keeper!


TORTELLINI WITH SHRIMP, MUSHROOMS, AND ASPARAGUS
Adapted from centercutcook.com



1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined with the tails removed (I used 31-40 count shrimp. This means that there’s 31-40 shrimp per pound)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound asparagus, washed, hard ends trimmed, and cut into bite sized pieces
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound cheese-filled tortellini or other tortellini of your choice

26 ounces pasta sauce of choice (less if you use pesto)


Cook tortellini according to package directions.

While the tortellini cooks, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the shrimp and cook until the shrimp is pink, about 3-4 minutes. Remove shrimp from the pan.

To the pan add in asparagus and mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 7-10 minutes. Add shrimp back to the pan, and season everything with salt and black pepper. Drain the tortellini and toss it with the shrimp and veggies. Pour the warm sauce over the pasta and shrimp and veggies and stir to combine. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serves 4-6. Enjoy!

Recipe: http://centercutcook.com/tortellini-with-shrimp-and-mushrooms/