One Pot Chicken Pot Pie Noodles

We've been trying lots of one-pot dishes lately to minimize clean up. My kids love this one! It's a win for the whole family, super easy, and hearty. It has the flavors of chicken pot pie without the extra work. You can check out the Life Made Simple blog for the original recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie Noodles

500g chicken breast

2 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, diced

4-6 local celery stalks, diced with leaves

2 carrots, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups water

2 chicken stock cubes

1 cup milk

1 cup cream

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp ground sage*

1/4 tsp chili flakes

1/4 tsp paprika

250g pasta (small shapes)

1-2 cups frozen peas, thawed**

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Pie crust crumbles (optional)

Heat butter over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Fillet and season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken pieces in the pan until browned on both sides and cooked through. Remove from heat and allow the meat to rest 5 minutes before cutting into small pieces. Meanwhile, add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the water, stock cubes, milk, and cream and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium, then add the cut chicken pieces, garlic powder, thyme, sage, chili flakes, paprika, and pasta. Cook for 12-18 minutes on medium to low (you don't want an aggressive boil, but enough to cook the pasta). Add the peas and parsley to the pasta and cook until the pasta is tender. The sauce should be getting thicker, but not dry so you may need to cover it from time to time. As it cools, it will thicken a bit more. Top bowls of hot noodles with pie crust crumbles.

*You can substitute rosemary or extra thyme here if you don't have sage. I used 4 fresh sage leaves.

**The original recipe calls for 1 cup peas and 1 cup corn, but that's too starchy for my taste so I use double the peas.

Note: The first time I made this I didn't have any cream so I used all milk. It didn't adversely affect the flavor, but it just wasn't as creamy so you can definitely just use milk in a pinch.

One Pot Goulash

I love dishes that can be prepared in one pot. This one comes together really easily and tastes great!

Easy One Pot Goulash

One Pot Goulash

500 g ground beef, pork, or chicken

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups water

1 can tomato puree (standard can--not the big one)

1 can tomatoes*

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

250g uncooked pasta (macaroni or spirals)

1 cup cheese, shredded

In a large pot, brown meat over medium heat, breaking it into small pieces. Stir in onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add water, tomato puree, tomatoes, soy sauce, oregano, basil, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Stir together just to mix. Bring up to a boil. Turn heat to low, cover with lid, and cook 20 minutes**, stirring occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom. Add in pasta, cover, and cook on low until pasta is soft. Remove from heat, throw away the bay leaf, sprinkle with cheese, and stir everything together.

Notes:

* With canned tomatoes, I just stick scissors into the can to quickly chop them a bit smaller, nothing fancy. Cans with large tomatoes are the easiest to find and cheapest so this is an easy workaround. 

** If you are in a hurry, you can just dump your pasta in here and cook for 25 minutes. The only difference in the final dish is the richness of the sauce. If you have really hungry people, just fast track it!

One Pot Farmer's Market Pasta

I stumbled across this recipe recently while looking through a list of "one pot meals." I am often skeptical of one pot dishes. Usually one pot spaghetti dishes leave me feeling like something was not quite right, but this one does not disappoint. I pared it down considerably from the original from The View From Great Island just because I did not have access to all the vegetables, but this was incredibly easy and pretty delicious! And truly a one pot meal on top of it all--very "set it and forget it" as those infomercials would say. It is definitely worth giving a try with whatever vegetables are available in your neighborhood. Have a look at the original if you want to add some more veggies, too, but they do suggest you do not leave out the tomatoes or the cheese as they form the bulk of the “sauce” part. Another dinner—20 minutes or less—that is totally possible here. 

One Pot Farmer’s Market Pasta
12 oz spaghetti, broken in half
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 cups small local tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 handfuls leafy greens, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 ½ cups water (or vegetable/chicken stock)
1 stock cube (omit if using stock as liquid)
1 Tablespoon vinegar (white/red wine, cider)
1 cup hard salty cheese, grated (parmesan, aged local variety)

Put all the ingredients except the cheese into the pot. Stir just to combine everything. Cover and bring the pot up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, uncover and stir again. Allow the pot to boil uncovered for 7-9 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Stir the pasta occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the pasta is al dente, remove the pasta from heat. There should still be a little liquid in the bottom of the pan. If there is too much, let it boil off for another minute or so. Add the cheese and stir until it melts. Serve with some fresh tomatoes or herbs sprinkled on top. 

Note: The vinegar in this recipe may dull the color of certain leafy greens. If that bothers you, try omitting the vinegar until the very end of cooking. 

Beef-a-Roni

Pinterest…that brilliant mixture of feeling like a failure and feeling inspired. Despite my love/hate relationship with it, I do often find amazing recipes through Pinterest, and I’m grateful for having that tool at my fingertips. This Beef-a-Roni from Mostly Homemade Mom is one of my lucky finds. Now, if you’re not American, you might be saying “What on earth is Beef-a-Roni?” Yeah…exactly. What is Beef-a-Roni? Really, it’s just a pasta bolognese with cheese on top. This recipe made enough for my family with 2 younger kiddos to have one 9x9 pan for dinner and save one for later.

Beef-a-Roni

1 lb./16 oz shell pasta or elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

500g ground beef/buff

2 cans tomato puree (or 1 large can)

1 Tablespoon oil

1 onion, diced

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon salt, to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups shredded cheese

Sauté onion in oil until translucent. Add the ground beef to the pan over medium heat and sauté until meat is browned. To the ground beef and onions, add all the remaining ingredients except the pasta and cheese. Simmer covered for 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Taste and adjust sauce seasonings accordingly. Remove from heat and toss the cooked pasta into the sauce. In a baking dish, layer half of the pasta mixture with half of the cheese. Repeat. Bake in a 170C/350F oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden.

If you’re wanting to save some for later, split the pasta/cheese between two pans and freeze one before baking. When you’re ready to use it, let it thaw and then bake according to recipe instructions. Pat yourself on the back for preparing something for your future self, just when you needed a quick meal.

Cheeseburger Casserole

Don't hate me for indulging a little in my childish side. I was just thinking about different ways to use ground beef and thought, "How about a cheeseburger in a pan?" Neither of my kids is crazy about cheese, and they both ate a lot of this if that is any indication. What would win you the "Best Parent Ever" award is if you could figure out how to put crispy french fries on top! I'm pretty sure your kids would do whatever you asked (for at least an hour) after that. This recipe has lots of inspiration, from Paula Deen to her son Bobby, who tried to cut some of the fat, to Gina at Skinny Taste who made further adjustments. Then, I added some more. The pickles are a bit of a splurge, but they take it from "tomatoey pasta" to "Oh yeah. I'm getting the cheeseburger taste."

Cheeseburger Casserole
2 cups uncooked pasta (rotini or farfalle)
2 teaspoons oil
2 medium-sized onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
500g ground beef or buff
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 can whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
3 Tablespoons mustard
2 cups grated cheese
1/4 cup chopped dill pickles

Cook pasta to al dente, according to package directions. While you're straining the pasta, use the same pot to heat the oil. Cook the onions on medium heat for about 5 minutes until they are soft. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant, stirring often. Add the ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Saute until the meat is browned and liquid has evaporated. Drain off any fat (usually not necessary here) and add the tomato paste, tomatoes, and mustard. Cook for about 2 minutes just until the sauce thickens a bit. Turn off the heat. Add the noodles to the meat mixture and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 casserole or deep dish pie plate. Top with grated cheese. To make it extra "cheeseburgery," add a few cheese slices to the top, too. Bake at 170C/350F until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Allow to rest a few minutes before sprinkling the pickles on top and serving.

Note: If you hate having to save leftover tomato paste, look for the little tiny cans available here. They are about 2 Tablespoons' worth and perfect for this.

Ratatouille

Yes, in our house, we like to model our meals off of children's movies. Actually we recently watched the movie Ratatouille, and it got me thinking about this recipe that is usually comprised of summer's bounty. I realized though that actually all the things you need for this are available here in winter, especially if you prefer the long zucchini to the fat, round variety. I loosely based my recipe off of this one from Emeril Lagasse, but tweaked it significantly to avoid spending lots on the beautiful imported peppers and lack of yellow squash (corgettes). A trick to getting this to cook up nicely is uniformity in the size of the vegetables. Serve this alongside pasta or with crusty bread for a light meal that helps get you further in your five a day!

Ratatouille
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups eggplant, diced skin on
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup green pepper, diced
2 cups zucchini (corgettes)
1 can peeled tomatoes (or 1 1/2 cups fresh)
1 Tablespoon fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried
1 veg or chicken bouillon cube
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. After they begin to turn golden, add the eggplant and thyme. Cook about 5 minutes before adding the peppers and squash. Cook another 5-7 minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, and bouillon cube. Cook 5 more minutes and taste to adjust seasoning. If it tastes like nothing, add some salt to bring out the flavors more.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Creamy Sage Sauce

A couple years ago I tried making a pumpkin cream sauce for pasta, and it turned out nearly inedible. Later I realized that you can't freeze fresh pumpkin and turn it into cooked puree later. Something about the freezing changes the flavor of the pumpkin to something not even remotely enjoyable. A friend's recommendation for a Pumpkin Pasta with Sausage recipe inspired me to give pumpkin another try in the pasta department. When my failure to plan resulted in having no sausage on hand tonight, this was what I came up with instead. And guess what? It was pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself.

For the gnocchi part, follow this Taste of Home recipe up until the point that you cook the pasta. I would, however, make an effort to time the pasta and sauce to finish around the same time. Simply substitute pumpkin puree where canned pumpkin is called for and consider using 1/2 teaspoon of salt instead of the amount called for to give the pasta more flavor. I figured out that it's incredibly difficult to roll the pasta into "snakes" if you have too much flour on the counter and that the rolling with the fork part works much better if you hold each piece in the palm of your hand. Now, for the sauce.

Creamy Sage Sauce
2 Tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage, crushed in the palm of your hand
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)

Melt the butter in a saucepan, and add the garlic and sage to the pot. Keep the heat low and stir occasionally until the garlic starts to turn golden and the sage is fragrant. Add the salt, pepper, and flour. Stir into the butter and cook on low 2-3 minutes to cook out the flour taste. Add the milk to the pot and whisk until any lumps are gone. Raise the heat to bring the sauce to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and simmer just until the sauce looks thick. If desired, sprinkle in the parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Taste to see if additional salt is needed. Toss the pasta in the sauce and serve warm.

If you need more sauce than this, up the milk content to 2 cups and increase the flour/butter by 1 Tablespoon. If you don't have sage on hand, I think rosemary or thyme would also make a great flavoring for the sauce.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is such a delicious comfort food. It's one of those dishes that I like to have regularly, especially in the cooler months. In my husband's home growing up, this macaroni and cheese was a main dish, and it totally can stand its own in that role. We eat it as a main in our house and occasionally add a green vegetable side to it. This time we had it with a side of Savory Greens. I adapted this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook from the 70s. This recipe is a baked version, but it can very easily be adapted for stove top only.

Update: I discovered that the Amul tub cheese (yellow or blue tub) makes this macaroni AMAZING! It's not healthy, but you can substitute one tub for about half of the cheese. 

Baked macaroni and cheese with crunchy topping

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
8 oz. macaroni
3 Tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon mustard
2 cups milk
2 cups cheese, grated
1/2 roll Ritz-type crackers, crushed (optional)

Boil the macaroni in salted water. If you're going for the baked version, drain it when it's slightly undercooked since it will finish cooking during baking. Otherwise, cook it to al dente. With the pasta in a strainer, melt the butter and saute onions until golden. Add flour to the pot and stir for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour. Pour in milk, stirring to remove any lumps. Add the salt, pepper, and mustard. If you're using a salty cheese, use only 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring the sauce up to a boil and drop the heat to a simmer. When the sauce is thick and bubbly, turn off the heat and add the cheese. Stir until melted. Add the noodles to the sauce. If you're going for the stove top version, you're done! For the baked version, pour noodles with sauce into a baking dish. Top with crushed crackers. Bake at 170C for 35 to 40 minutes until top is golden and bubbly.

Baked macaroni with a side of greens

A quick shortcut on crushing the salted biscuits is to just crunch them up in the package. Open and sprinkle over the top.

Pasta Sauce

A few years ago, I found an ad for Del Monte tomatoes in a magazine. In the sidebar there was a recipe for a basic tomato sauce. It has been my go-to sauce since then because it's so incredibly easy. I have had to adapt it because seasoned canned tomatoes are not available here. You could use fresh tomatoes, but I really like the richer flavor of canned tomatoes.

Basic Pasta Sauce

• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can peeled, whole tomatoes
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a non-reactive saucepan. Add the onion and saute until it becomes translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
2. Pour in the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, and water. Use a potato masher or wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes (or just squish them in your hands first). Stir until the tomato paste is evenly distributed.
3. Add the dried herbs. If you are using fresh herbs, do not add them until the end. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Taste the sauce and add salt/pepper accordingly. If the sauce is missing the sweetness of jarred sauces, add a little sugar. If the sauce seems to acidic, add one or two pinches of baking soda. Do this slowly though because once you lose the acidity of the tomato, you can't really recreate it. 

I find that step 4 is different for every batch of sauce because the tomatoes in the can are different every time. No, this sauce does not rival Western jarred sauces, but it's economical, tasty, and almost as fast as pouring sauce from a jar. For an easy meatless weeknight meal paired with pasta, garlic bread, and a sprinkling from the cheese stash, I can't beat it.

Note: When I lived in India, you could not find tomato paste or canned tomatoes. If that is still the case, you could substitute a few boxes of tomato puree or a box of puree and fresh tomatoes.