Mix all the ingredients except the spaghetti, then toss well with the spaghetti. A great late summer dish – no cooking and a use for all of the extra tomatoes from the garden!

Cook pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain, then rinse under cool water. Drain again, thoroughly.

Melt the butter in a large pot and saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the shellfish and saute for 2 minutes. Add the half-and-half, then add several big pinches of Creole seasoning, tasting before the next pinch until you think it’s right. If you’ve boiled your own crawfish, save the fat and add it in as well.

Cook for 5 – 10 minutes over medium heat until the sauce thickens. Add the pasta and toss well. Let it sit for 10 minutes over very low heat, stirring often. Serve immediately.

Notes: This is one sauce you really can’t get wrong. If there’s a little too much of something or not quite enough, it still tastes fabulous. The one trick is to NOT boil the cream sauce.

Cook and drain according to package direction: 12 lasagne noodles

Filling

Steam until limp:
2 bunches fresh spinach, Swiss chard or turnip greens, finely chopped
or simply crumble and stir in 1/2 frozen block of spinach

Add and mix well:
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large tub of cottage cheese
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup onions, diced

Topping

3 cup grated Mozzarella
4 cup pasta sauce

Spread cooked noodles with filling, roll up and lay in rows of three in greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Pour sauce over all and bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake 30 minutes until cheese is melted and browning. Allow to stand five minutes before serving.

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 lb hot Italian sausages
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 green bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
28-oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked small pasta (tubetti, ditali or shells)
5 sprigs fresh basil and 5 sprigs fresh mint, tied together in a bouquet garni
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large skillet with a lid, heat the olive oil over med-hi heat. Add the sausages and onion; cook, turning the sausages to brown all sides, until the onions are just tender, about 8 minutes

Add the garlic and bell peppers and cook another couple of minutes.

Add the tomatoes, water, pasta, basil, mint, salt and pepper (make sure the pasta is submerged). Raise the heat to high and cook until the liquid starts to boil. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the sausages feel firm and the pasta is tender, about 25 min.

Cut the sausages into slices or leave whole for serving.

Notes:
Not being able to decide whether the kids could handle hot or mild sausages, I opted for the garlic as I know that is a taste they like. Browning the sausages with the onions howver were causing the onions to burn, so I separated the sausages into a skillet until brown then added them back to the onions.

3 bell peppers seemed a bit much, so I reduced that to 1 really big bell pepper. Oh, and I chopped it into bit instead of strips. The smaller they are when you start cooking, the fewer “what are the green things?” questions at the dinner table.

I added a can of tomato paste with the diced tomatoes and left out the cup of water as I boiled the pasta separately. To me, sauces like this are always better after a lot of simmering, so that’s why I left out the pasta. I let this one “bloop-bloop” – aka simmer – for an hour and a half. Left out the mint too, as my poor plant is slow to get going this spring.

I love it because it’s perfect to use any time of year. In the summer, I have fresh tomatoes. In winter, the frozen surplus from the garden is perfect too.

2T olive oil
2 clove garlic
1 medium onion
1 can (28 oz) diced tomato or about 3 fresh

Heat oil in large skillet, sauté garlic and onion for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, breaking up with a fork Bring to a boil, simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 min. to thicken.

For creamy herb:
Choose canned diced tomatoes with herbs
½ t dried thyme
1t sugar
½ t salt
½ c half and half cream
3c dry penne pasta

Add thyme, sugar, and salt with tomatoes. Simmer as directed.
Meanwhile cook pasta. Stir cream into tomato mixture, heat through. Serve over or toss with pasta for 4.

For red pepper with bacon:
4 strips bacon, cooked until crisp, drained and chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, in strips
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
3c dry penne pasta

It is an option to saute the vegetable in the drippings from the bacon, but it’s a health choice. For this variation, add the red bell pepper to the onion and garlic and saute. With the tomatoes, sprinkle in the salt and black pepper, simmer. Cook pasta and serve sauce over or toss with pasta. Sprinkle bacon over top.