Gnocchi with Sausage & Spinach

I've made home made gnocchi and it's great, but you can buy shelf-stable gnocchi and keep it on hand in the pantry for a quick meal any time.  You can boil it, but in this recipe from Eating Well magazine, you fry it until tender instead of boiling to make a quick, easy meal. 

Here's what you need for this tasty, easy dinner.  

Pappardelle with Sausage Tomato Sauce

99% if the time when I make pasta, I use whole wheat noodles.  I've found a wonderful brand that really tastes great.  But whole wheat pappardelle isn't easy to find, and I have to admit I loved the white pasta in this.  But it us just as good with whole wheat! 

The recipe comes from Lidia Bastianich and it tastes fantastic.  It's a little more time-consuming than ideal for a weeknight, but if you make it once you can eat for a week (or refrigerate or freeze the leftovers for next week).  

Here's what you need:

Sausage Party!

Last night we had a small dinner party for friends.  I wanted to serve something relatively simple and something beer-friendly.  Since we are lucky enough to have a fantastic sausage-maker nearby in The Hungary Butcher, we ordered a variety of sausages and grilled them up.

We got our favourites: Hawaiian Bacon, Spanish, Jalapeño Cheddar and Honey Garlic. 

Quinoa and Potato Salad with Sausage and Tarragon

This combo may sound a little odd, but it's very tasty, full of protein and makes a nice, filling main course salad.  Leftovers are great for lunch the next day.  

The recipe came from Serious Eats. Since I had almost all the ingredients on hand, I gave it a whirl.  Here's what you need:

Spanish Sausage Hash with Potatoes & Corn

We found some more delicious sausage at The Hungary Butcher at Ogilvies Market.  This time we chose the spicy Spanish sausage.  I thought it would be nice with some crispy potatoes.  I also had some fresh corn from the market so I threw that in too.  It tasted incredible and we'll definitely have it again.  

I made this one up myself.  This will make enough for 4.  Here's what you need:

Hawaiian Bacon Sausages

There's a new farmer's market near our house called Ogilvies Food & Artisan Market.  It's just starting out so there aren't too many vendors, but it's growing.  And I love that it's open Sundays because sometimes I can't haul my lazy bones to the market on a Saturday morning.  

Lamb Sausage

This is a pretty straightforward "recipe".  I cooked up some lamb sausages from Metzger Meats to serve with my barley mushroom risotto.  

These sausages were delicious!

I set a pan of water to simmer.

And added the raw sausages and let them simmer about 5 minutes.

Then I drained the water and added a little oil to the pan to brown them.

I let them brown about 5 more minutes, turning to crisp all sides.

With the barley and some steamed broccoli this was a delicious combination.  We'll definitely have these sausages again!

Spaghetti Squash

The first time I made spaghetti squash I had a backup dinner on hand in case it was inedible. But it really surprised us!  It was actually delicious, and so healthy!

This year we grew spaghetti squash in the garden but only got one squash so far.  

Cut it open with a large, sharp knife.

Scrape out the seeds with a spoon.

And roast, cut side up, in a 375 degree oven for about an hour.
Meanwhile, make a tomato sauce.

This time I used hot Italian sausage, passata, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, onions and zucchini.

Normally I buy turkey or pork sausages and split them open to cook the meat inside, but this loose sausage meat makes things a little easier.

Brown the sausage meat in a pan or big pot.

Dice some onions...

...and peppers.

Add the diced onions and peppers and cook a few minutes to soften.  

Add the garlic and diced zucchini and cook just for a moment.

Add a bottle of passata (pureed tomatoes) and half a can of diced tomatoes and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Once the squash is cooked, remove it from the oven.

Use a fork to scrape the spaghetti-like strands of squash from the shell.

Once the strands are scraped out...

...add them to a plate or bowl as you would pasta...

and top with the finished pasta sauce.

Add some grated parmesan and fresh basil.  Delicious and healthy!