OY! KRISTEN

Thank you to al fresco for sponsoring this post.

The new baby meal train ran out a while ago, so mama is back in the kitchen!

This chicken sausage, mozzarella & basil chickpea pasta is a new recipe I created for my family, and since its packed with so many vibrant ingredients, it has quickly become a team Hale favorite! For this recipe, I used al fresco's Pasta Night Mild Italian Style Chicken Sausage to make it an easy weeknight meal. This chicken sausage is a healthy time-saver, and since its crafted with Italian herbs and red & green peppers, it's a delicious addition to this pasta situation ;)

Mamas, give yourself 30 minutes to make this one, and you will also have leftovers for lunch the next day (my favorite kind of meal!)

Ingredients:

12 oz. Al Fresco Pasta Night Mild Italian Style Chicken Sausage (1 package - 2 sausages total)
8 oz. pasta of your choice (I used a chickpea rotini)
10 ounces grape tomatoes, sliced in halves
8 oz. fresh ciliegine mozzarella (round cherry size), sliced in halves
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
handful of baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 tsp fresh minced garlic
1/3 cup pine nuts (can omit for nut-free version)
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 450. While waiting for the oven to pre-heat, go ahead and cook your choice of pasta al dente, according to package instructions (I chose to use chickpea rotini.) Drain pasta and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking, toss the grape tomatoes and pine nuts with 1 tbsp. olive oil and garlic. Spread mixture on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven for 10-14 minutes, until skins are browned and begin to split. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

3. While pasta is cooking and the tomato/pine nuts are in the oven, heat a skillet over medium. Heat the sliced chicken sausage for approx. 5 minutes until lightly browned (I like to get a nice char here but you can do whatever you like!)

4. Combine all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, including the drained pasta, tomatoes and pine nuts, chicken sausage, mozzarella, chopped spinach and basil. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle a bit of extra olive oil to taste. Enjoy!

Notes:
- Even though the chicken sausage is fully cooked in the package, I like to heat it up on the stove top (although you can easily do the grill or even the microwave) to get a little crispy texture.
- If you are saving some leftovers for the next day, drizzle a bit of olive oil on top right before serving.
- With a few simple swaps, this would make an excellent Greek pasta as well! Adding kalamata olives and swapping the mozzarella for fresh goat cheese!

Artichoke Pesto Farfalle.

Happy Superbowl weekend! I always try to think of something festive to make that doesn't lead with a zillion bad calories. Why is Superbowl food so, well, unhealthy? We're mixing it up this weekend with a ridiculously good pasta. Bless you, Giada, you've done it again.

This Artichoke Pesto Farfalle is a twist on this recipe from Giada's Feel Good Food. I've swapped a few ingredients: farfalle pasta for orzo, diced tomatoes instead of cherry, subtracted the corn (I have a thing about corn), added in pine nuts, that sort of thing. Also, my sister made this the other night, and she added shrimp for a bit of protein. She says it was a hit! The possibilities are endless, but this is a good recipe to have on hand... plus, it's kind of Spring-y, which is always nice when I'm staring out the window at the eternity of snow. At least I can trick my taste buds into thinking that we are almost into warm weather season :-) So...goooooo (insert your team here)!

Ingredients:

- 1 lb. Farfalle pasta (or whatever kind of fancy pasta you prefer!)

- 1 12-oz. jar Artichoke hearts (you could also use frozen, just make sure they're thawed before you cook)

- 2 cups diced Tomatoes (you can use fresh or canned, but if they're canned, make sure you drain them completely before using)

- 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

For the Pesto:

- 3/4 cup Olive Oil

- 1/4 cup Walnuts

- 1/4 cup pine nuts (optional, but I just love them)

- 1/2 fresh flat-leaf Parsley

- 1/2 cup fresh Oregano

- Grated zest of 1 lemon

- 1/4 cup fresh Lemon juice (basically the juice from an entire lemon)

- 1 clove Garlic, smashed

- 1/2 tsp. Salt

- 1/2 tsp. Pepper

Method:

1. Cook your preferred pasta to al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. For the pesto, combine the following ingredients in your food processor: 2 cups of the artichokes, the walnuts, parsley, oregano, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper and olive oil.

3. Pulse all the ingredients until blended smoothly. You might have to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl to blend everything evenly. This should take a few minutes. Set pesto aside.

4. Chop the remaining artichoke hearts into 3/4-inch pieces and add to the pesto. Add in the (drained) diced tomatoes and parmesan cheese.

Ta da! Your ridiculously delicious dinner is served. The dish itself is so pretty to look at with all the colors, but like I said, you can dress it up a bit more with your preferred protein. I think this is a great option to have on hand on game day, when you might have more than a few (hungry) dudes showing up at the house. Now you have something healthier to serve than chips and queso :-)