Tag: Pasta

Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta

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I’m loving my shrimp lately! It’s fast, easy, and so so good🙌 So I added it to this amazing pasta dish which uses a nice spring vegetable, the artichoke!

Artichokes can be a little scary to prepare because they’re not a super common vegetable. However, the flavour is DELICIOUS and they contain lots of antioxidants👌 I started by steaming my own artichokes and then using the hearts and stems, because the leaves are very fibrous. In the future I can do a whole post on how to prepare an artichoke. If you want to skip all the prep and get right to the pasta though, you can buy a jar of marinated artichokes. Either way, you’re getting lots of great flavour.

If you’re using marinated artichokes, then this dish comes together in a SNAP. We’re talking 15 minutes people. THAT’S A ONE. AND THAT’S A FIVE. I The artichokes are sautéed with some garlic, olive oil and cherry tomatoes, before the shrimp get added in with some salt and pepper. All of this together creates a really light sauce that is perfect to highlight the artichokes! I then tossed in some cooked lentil spaghetti, which is great because it’s packed full of protein. It’s also gluten free so that’s a win! Whole wheat or regular spaghetti works great too though!

Once everything’s tossed up, all that’s left to do is serve. This makes an amazing quick lunch or dinner, but it’s also kind of fancy so if your looking to treat yourself to a nice meal in, you’re all set. Hope you enjoy!

Yours Truly,

Olivia:)

Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta

Ingredients

-1/2 tbsp olive oil

-15 medium shrimp, tails off

-2 chopped artichoke hearts, steamed or marinated

-10 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves

-1 large clove of garlic, minced

-2 servings of cooked lentil, whole wheat or regular spaghetti

-Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add in the garlic, tomatoes, and chopped artichoke hearts and cook for about 4 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and tender. Smash the tomatoes down during the cooking process to get the juices going in the pan.

2. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes per side, until they are light pink in colour. Season everything to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Add in the cooked pasta, remove from the heat and toss everything together.

4. Serve warm and enjoy:)


Butternut Squash Spaghetti

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Anyone craving pasta? Stupid question, I know. Pasta is just one of those comforting and delicious things that I’m down for anytime🙌 Today we’re both health-ifying and fall-ifying some spaghetti by using butternut squash, roasted garlic, and juicy tomatoes. Yes please!

The butternut squash sauce for these noodles is INSANELY easy and INSANELY good. First, you oven roast some squash (I used frozen squash chunks for extra convenience), a tomato, and garlic. Then all of that goodness is blended with herbs that remind me of fall- rosemary, thyme, and sage, and lots of salt and pepper. This makes a sauce so with an amazing flavour and an even more amazing colour😍😍 Yum!

I used some nice whole wheat pasta as a base for my sauce, because it’s a great way to get more nutrients in👌 I also love lentil or chickpea noodles, which have lots of protein! Even if you’re using regular pasta, this is still a delicious and healthy meal. We need carbs people! They give us energy so we can be our amazing selves😉 Also, they’re really tasty. So it’s a win-win!

Hope you enjoy this fall pasta dish! I know it’s going to be on repeat at my house all season long🥰

Butternut Squash Spaghetti

Serves: 2

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 servings of whole wheat spaghetti
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups frozen butternut squash chunks, or fresh butternut squash cut into centimetre cubes.
  • 1 large tomato, cut in half
  • 5 cloves of garlic, in the skins
  • 1/4 tsp ground sage
  • 1/4 tsp ground thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Add the tomato and the butternut squash onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and toss with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic cloves in tinfoil to create a little packet, and place that on the pan as well. Throw it in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes, until the squash and the tomato are soft.
  3. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
  4. Once the veggies are done roasting, toss them into a blender or food processor with the thyme, rosemary, sage, and some salt and pepper. Remove the garlic cloves from their skins and add them as well. Blend until a smooth sauce forms.
  5. Add the sauce to the pasta and coat the noodles evenly. Serve warm and enjoy!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked:)

Zucchini and Olive Pasta Bake

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It’s SUMMA TIME and there’s an abundance of zucchini! Zucchini is delicious fried, roasted, in a fritter, and in salad, but today we’re using it in a Pasta Bake. Our guest star is the olive, which adds so much dang flavour into the sauce. If you’re not a fan of olives you can leave them out, but you don’t know what you’re missing. Don’t be a party pooper and just throw them in there!

We’re using my fave kitchen tool again- the amazing veggie peeler- to create little zucchini rolls for the bake.

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The pasta that I used was Go Go Quinoa brand macaroni, and it usually takes about 4 minutes on the stove top to cook. I baked it in the oven for 10 minutes, and it was just slightly past al dente. So if you’re using just regular wheat macaroni or small shells (you don’t want to go any bigger with your pasta selection) that normally take 7-9 minutes to cook in boiling water, I bake them for 10-15 minutes for an al dente texture. My recipe below doesn’t account for that, so just keep in mind what kind of pasta you’re using when baking this bake.

And that concludes my Ted Talk about how great this pasta bake is! DEFINITELY try it out and let me know what you think because it is now officially one of my favourite recipes. Here it is!

Zucchini and Olive Pasta Bake

Serves: 3-4

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 200 ml can of sliced black olives, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
  • 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup Go Go Quinoa Macaroni **see note above if using a different pasta**
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the sliced onions and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, then add the beans, olives, tomatoes, basil, oregano, balsamic vinegar, chilli flakes, and some salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and then turn the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes.
  2. While the sauce is simmering, use the veggie peeler to create as many zucchini ribbons as you can. The centre part of the zucchini, where the seeds are, won’t make nice ribbons, so you can dice it up at toss it in the sauce, making sure it has at least 10 minutes to cook in there.
  3. Add the macaroni into a small glass loaf pan or baking dish. Roll up each zucchini ribbon into a little rosette and place evenly spaced out in the pasta, like this:
  4. Once the sauce is done simmering, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the 1/2 cup of water to the sauce and bring it to a hard simmer before removing it from the heat. Scoop enough of it into the baking dish so that the pasta and zucchini are fully covered, about 2-3 cups of sauce. You may have some sauce leftover that you can eat with the pasta after it’s baked or save for later.
  5. Cover the glass dish with foil (shiny side down) and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Hope you like this pasta dish! See you Wednesday;))

Yours Truly,

Olivia;)

Veggie Pasta

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Hey there! I haven’t posted a pasta recipe in a while, and this one is AWESOME, so I thought why not post it? The sauce isn’t a super traditional-tasting one, it uses cumin and chilli powder and some other spices, but the end result is delicious. Also it comes together in like fifteen minutes so that’s pretty sweet. Pasta is just one of those foods that’s so comforting and filling, and by adding a ton of veggies to it makes it feel lighter and healthy too, so you get the best of both worlds. Hope you love it!

Veggie Pasta

Serves: 2-3

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 white mushrooms
  • 1/2 a red onion, diced
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tbsp cumin
  • 1/2 tbsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tbsp paprika
  • 1/2 tbsp oregano
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • handful of spinach
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup water
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2-3 servings of lentil or whole wheat spaghetti, cooked

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and garlic, and cook until the veggies are soft.
  2. Add the tomato paste, chickpeas, spices and water into the pan ans stir until everything is combined. Let cook for about 5 more minutes.
  3. Put the spinach in the pan next, and cook for an additional 2 minutes until it has wilted. Season with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat and mix in the spaghetti. Enjoy!

3 simple steps later and you’ve got yourself an awesome meal;)) Have a great weekend everyone!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

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Hey there! I have a really neat recipe for you guys today. This Sweet Potato Gnocchi is super simple, yet super delicious! There are only two ingredients: Sweet Potatoes and Whole Wheat Flour, so these gnocchis are healthy as well. They’re great with tomato sauce, pesto, or even just some basil and olive oil. I hope you enjoy!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Serves: 2-3 as a main, 4-6 as a side

Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 small sweet potatoes
  • 2 1/2 – 3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

  1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into small pieces, about a centimetre wide. Steam them for about 15-20 minutes, or until soft.
  2. Dump the potatoes into a bowl and mash them using a potato masher. Make sure that there aren’t any big clumps of sweet potato left.
  3. Transfer the mashed potatoes onto a clean countertop. Add a 1/2 cup of flour, and use your hands to mix it into the potatoes. Continue to add the flour in 1/2 cup increments, until a dough forms. It shouldn’t be very sticky, but you should also be able to easily knead it. Knead the dough a few times to make sure that the flour is mixed in well.
  4. Once the dough is ready, grab a handful and roll it into a long cylinder, about 1 1 /2 centimetres thick. Starting at the end, cut the “rope” of dough into pieces that are 1 1/2 centimetres wide. You can then take a fork and press down lightly on each gnocchi, leaving an imprint. Continue to do this with the rest of the dough. You should end up with dumplings that look something like this:
  5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and dump the gnocchis into the pot. Cook them for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain the pasta. Serve with your favourite sauce.
  6. Enjoy!

I’ll see you guys later this week!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)))