GOAT CHEESE ALFREDO WITH ROASTED PEPPER

This is not for the faint of heart. Cheese, heavy cream, and butter. Yes please!!

PASTA CARBONARA

I was wanting to make a pasta carbonara dish and was doing a little research, and realized that the authentic recipes are nothing like a pasta carbonara dish you would order at an American-Italian Restaurant. There's no heavy cream, or wine, or peas in the sauce ( I still added them), but rather the sauce is just uncooked egg! My recipe is still not completely authentic but it was so delicious. And actually pretty healthy when you think about it! My substitutions included using Whole Wheat pasta, Turkey Bacon, and adding Peas. All together it took me about 30 minutes to make!

OLIVE GARDEN COPY CAT: CHICKEN GNOCCHI SOUP

I have done an olive garden copy cat recipe before, for their Zuppa Toscana soup, and it turned out so delicious. That one is made in the crockpot, and the main ingredients are Italian sausage, potatoes and kale. Amazing. However I must say that this Chicken Gnocchi recipe does not taste exactly like Olive Garden's (I don't think theirs has onions or thyme) but that doesn't mean it isn't great! This is a lot more creamy and filling than their Zuppa Toscana but I still don't know which is my favorite!

I tackled making some of my own gnocchi, which turned out to be super easy. All you need are potatoes, flour, and an egg. That's it! There is a nice little tutorial here, but basically all you do is bake a few potatoes for 45 minutes, remove the skin as soon as they come out, and grate it up with a very fine cheese grater. Then you add you egg and flour and mix it up! You cook them by rolling them up and placing them in a pot of boiling water, and when they  float to the top they are finished cooking.
Pair it up with some homemade garlic bread and you're good to go. Mmmmmmm carbssssss.

GNOCCHI

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 potatoes, peeled
• 2¼ cups plain flour
• 1 egg  

FOR THE SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup chicken breasts, diced and cooked (can use canned chicken or turkey)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 quart half and half (can use evaporated milk)
• 1 14 ounce can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup celery, sliced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup carrots, shredded
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 16 ounce package gnocchi (or make your own!)

PREPARATION:

1.In a large stockpot, saute the onion, celery and garlic in the butter and olive oil. When the onion is clear, add the flour and form a roux. Stir and cook a minute. Add the half and half.

2. In another pan, cook the gnocchi according to the instructions above.

3.Add the carrots and chicken to the stockpot. Stir often and when it gets thicker, add the chicken broth, gnocchi, spinach and seasonings. Cover and heat through. Enjoy!

Recipe from PassTheSushi

-Jerica-

CORN CHOWDER- FOR THOSE COLD DAYS TO COME!

Mmm today I made corn chowder from a recipe my friend Jessica gave me! I changed it up a little because it wasn’t as spicy as I wanted it to be. It was amazing though.

Vegetarian Chile Pepper & Corn Cream Chowder

2 TBS butter
1 C. Chopped Onion
2 Anaheim Peppers ( I used 4)
1/2 C. thinly sliced celery
1 pkg. frozen corn (16 oz) ( I also threw in some peas cause I love them)
12 oz. red potatoes diced
4 C. whole milk
6 OZ. cream cheese ( I used fat free- granted this is already unhealthy so it probably made no difference)
salt and pepper to taste
(Then I threw in some Cayenne peppers, chili powder, and garlic powder- to taste.)

1. melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high add onion, peppers and celery cook & stir 5 MINUTES
2. move into big soup pan and add corn, potatoes and milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Remove from heat add cream cheese salt and pepper. stir until cream cheese is melted.
EAT AND ENJOY!

-Amy-