Sunday Supper: One Pot Pasta

What's more comforting than a big bowl of pasta?

Not much...

This is a great meal to serve for Sunday Supper.  It's quick, hearty, and best of all it's a One Pot Meal!  Oh yea, it really, really, tasty too!

I found this recipe from Southern Living magazine...one of my all time favorite sources.  It was just unique enough to catch my eye and to try it right away.  The uniqueness is that you make a sauce and then use "ravioli" as your pasta, cooked right in the pot.  Almost like a baked dish, without the baking of course, but the result is similar.

I was so pleased with the flavors, and that I could get a hearty meal on the table in about 30 minutes.  Just serve with a nice Italian salad and some garlic bread and you are all set.

Here's how you make it:

Take your ground beef and place it in a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat.  Cook, breaking up the meat in to crumbles, until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, chop your onion and slice the mushrooms.

Remove the meat from the pan and place on a plate.  If you have a lot of grease left in the pot, wipe it clean.  I used ground sirloin so mine didn't leave any.

Add your oil to the pot and heat.  Add the slice mushrooms and onions.  Cook until caramelized about 10 min.

Add the garlic and let it cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 min.

Add your meat back to the pot, add the marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's Traditional Marinara), water, Italian seasonings, salt & pepper.  Stir to blend. 

Lookin' good!  Smells great!

Bring your sauce to a boil.  Add the ravioli, and using a spoon depress them into the sauce.

Turn down the heat to a simmer.  Cover, and cook for about 10 minutes or until the pasta is done.

Now for the good part!  Remove the lid and add the cheese!  Yes, cheesy goodness.  This makes the dish creamy and gooey...yum!

Stir it all together so the cheese melts.  Your done!  A One-Pot Wonder.  Get your salad and your garlic bread and it's manga time!  Buon Appetito!

Like my fall table runner??

Can you say comfort food?

Happy Sunday Supper!

One Pot Pasta

by Southern Living

Serves 4

1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (26-ounce) jars tomato-basil pasta sauce
1 cup water
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (20-ounce) package refrigerated four-cheese ravioli
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook ground beef in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Wipe Dutch oven clean.

Saute onion and mushrooms in hot oil over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and saute 1 minute. Stir in beef, pasta sauce, 1 cup water, and next 3 ingredients.

Bring sauce to a boil; add ravioli. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or until pasta is done. Stir in cheese. Serve immediately.


Linked to:  Melt in your Mouth Monday

Lemon Shortbread

Lemons, Lemons, Lemons

My mom's favorite citrus.  She LOVES lemons!
She prefers anything lemon.  Lemon cookies, lemon cake, lemon bars, lemon candies, lemon ice cream, and her favorite is lemon meringue pie!

So every once in a while I try to make desserts and dishes that have lemon in it.  I like the savory dishes with lemon, such as lemon chicken.  Mom, she has a major sweet tooth.  So when I decided to add lemon to our shortbread recipe it was right up her alley!

So this Lemon Shortbread is a light, subtly lemon hinted, cookie/bar.  Great with hot tea, at brunch, as a  snack, or dessert.  They are also quick and easy to make.

Oh...and Mom says they are FANTASTIC!

Let's make Lemon Shortbread.

In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add your flour and salt and mix until smooth.  Fold in the lemon zest.  Your dough/batter should look like this.

Spread it evenly out in a 9" pan that has been greased with butter.
Prick the batter with a fork to prevent the dough from gaining air pockets.

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 20 min.  Don't over bake.  Cookies should be light golden brown and set.

Remove from the oven and cool 10 min in the pan.  Then cut into squares.  Allow cookies to cool completely in the pan before removing (they will break if still hot!)

Enjoy your yummy, moist, buttery, lemony shortbread!

Lemon Shortbread

1/2 c (1 stick) softened butter
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 c flour
pinch of salt
2 t lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a mixer.  Add the flour and salt and mix until smooth and incorporated.  Fold in the lemon zest.

Grease a 9 inch square pan with butter.  Place dough in the pan and spread mixture evenly out to all sides.  Using a fork, prick the dough.

Bake for 20 minutes until light golden.  Cool 10 minutes and cut into 12 squares.  Tip:  Use a serrated knife and they will cut without breaking.  Cool completely before removing from the pan.

Anniversary Weekend - Cambria

It's my Anniversary!

MGG and I just got back in to town from celebrating our anniversary up in a quaint little town called Cambria, CA.

It's a very small coastal town above San Luis Obispo, and near Hearst Castle.  We spent a long weekend there looking at the ocean, site seeing, relaxing and just celebrating our wonderful time together.  Time flies so fast that it's nice to stop and relish it. 

Here's our wonderful hotel and the view we had.  I could stare at it forever.

They were having their annual Scarecrow Festival which was just quirky and amazing!  You could find them all around town.  Here are of the best.

We saw wonderful wildlife...

We even exercised everyday on the boardwalk that goes along the beach.

We got to celebrate us...and life...just as beautiful as this sunset.

Alas, our break away from reality must end but we take with us a lifetime of memories, and happiness to carry us through to the next time!