So I've received quite a few requests lately
from subscribers that are looking for
fast, fresh, and easy pasta recipes.
So today, I'm gonna share three
of my very favorites with you
including a beautiful shrimp farfalle,
my lazy lasagna bake,
and finally a Greek chicken penne
that your entire family will love.
There are lots of substitutions you could try,
and you can remove the meat from any of them
to make them vegetarian options.
All right, so let's get started
with my shrimp farfalle.
This is an absolute go-to recipe in my house
because it's fresh, quick, and easy,
and it's really, really light
considering it's a pasta dish.
Today, we're using farfalle,
otherwise known as bow tie pasta,
but you could do this with any pasta you like,
a linguini,
a spaghetti,
an angel hair pasta,
all of those would definitely do the trick.
Here I have some water at a rolling boil.
As you can see, there's a whole lot of energy
trapped in this pot,
and that's what you want.
You want a lot of water
for your pasta to swim around in.
That's actually going to prevent it from sticking.
What we're gonna do is add just a handful
of salt to the water,
and then in goes our pasta.
Once our pasta's in, we just want to give it
a really quick stir,
and then we want to get it back to a boil
as soon as possible.
I like to put a wooden spoon
across the top of my pot.
This actually prevents it from boiling over.
We're going to cook these for about nine minutes
until they are al dente.
Resist the urge to rinse it.
I don't know why people do that.
Just leave your pasta as is
and get back to your sauce.
So, in a frying pan, I have some butter
and a little splash of olive oil.
Adding the olive oil not only adds flavor
but also prevents the butter from burning,
so it's definitely a good idea to do it.
To our butter, we're going to add some shallots
and some garlic.
Let these cook up until they become fragrant,
probably about two or three minutes.
To that, we are going to add our shrimp.
Now, I like to peel my shrimp ahead of time
because I just find it makes the pasta
much, much easier to eat.
We're gonna top that with a little bit
of salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes.
We're also going to add a good splash of white wine.
Now, if you don't drink or you don't like cooking with wine
that is absolutely fine, you can replace this
with either vegetable or chicken broth,
both will work just as well.
I'm also gonna add the juice of half a lemon.
I just want to start building up flavor.
Once that's all heated up,
we're going to throw in
a handful of beautiful cherry tomatoes cut in half,
and then some nice spinach.
I'm gonna cover this with a lid
to allow our spinach to wilt
and our shrimp to cook up beautifully,
and three to five minutes later,
you have a beautiful sauce
just ready to be poured over your pasta.
What we're looking for are for our shrimp
to be opaque and bright pink,
and these look gorgeous.
This is perfect.
So we're going to return our farfalle
to the large pot we cooked it in,
and then pour all of this beautiful
shrimp, spinach, and tomato mixture on top.
We'll give it a good stir,
put it in our serving dish,
and then finish it off with some more fresh lemon,
and this is absolutely critical,
we're going to top it
with some fresh grated parmesan,
and I mean, a lot.
You don't want to ever skimp on the parmesan.
Parmesan is like flavor loaded,
and this dish really, really needs it.
So we're gonna top it with beautiful parmesan,
and boom, it's ready to serve.
It is honestly no more than 15 minutes prep,
and it's healthy and delicious,
and your entire family is going to love it.
If you don't eat pasta, don't sweat it,
you can actually do this very same thing,
and pour it over cooked quinoa.
Next up, my lazy lasagna bake.
Perfect for those weeknights
where you just don't feel like cooking.
So, I'm starting with some rotini.
You can do this is any kind of pasta you like.
It's so versatile and so, so simple.
Then, to my frying pan, I'm going to add
a big splash of olive oil,
and then some red onions.
Once my red onions start to soften up,
about two or three minutes,
I'm going to add some garlic.
Today in this recipe,
I'm gonna be using some Italian sausage
that I've just removed from the casings.
I'm using about three sausages,
but you could use as many or as few as you like.
And then you just want to go at it with your spatula
for a few minutes and just break it up nicely.
You want it to be in, sort of, bits.
Cook them down until there's no more pinkness.
What I love about this recipe
is that it's totally customizable.
You can use hot Italian sausage, or mild.
You can use ground beef,
or you could even use ground poultry
if you don't eat red meat.
You can also make this dish entirely vegetarian.
It really is up to you.
Next, what we're gonna do is add our crushed tomatoes.
You can buy these in a jar,
or buy them in a can, or better yet,
do your own at the end of the season.
To that I'm gonna add a little bit of Italian seasoning
and some salt and pepper
and some red chili flakes for just a touch of heat.
I'm gonna let this simmer for about ten minutes
and let all these flavors get incorporated,
and then I'm going to add some fresh spinach.
I'll put the lid back on,
and two minutes later, all that spinach will be wilted,
and this sauce will be ready to go.
So, I've got my rotini back in my big pot,
I'm gonna pour my sauce on top
and give it all a good stir,
and now we could stop here.
This is good enough to eat already,
but this is a lasagna bake.
So, what we're gonna do is create layers
of this gorgeous pasta and mozzarella cheese.
So, I'm gonna put down a layer of pasta,
and then a layer of mozzarella,
and a layer of pasta,
and a layer of mozzarella,
and then another layer of pasta,
and so on, until I've filled my dish.
For anyone who's counting calories,
you can skip directly to the Greek pasta
that is coming up after this.
Cover it with a lot of mozzarella cheese
and top it with some shredded parmesan.
This is gonna help it crisp up,
and just add another level of flavor.
Into the over it's gonna go
for about 20 to 30 minutes,
and at the very end,
I'm going to broil it for about a minute,
just to make sure it gets a nice, crispy crust.
And look at this,
dinner is served!
Twenty minutes of effort,
and the results are absolutely delicious.
You can also make this ahead and freeze it
for those nights where you just don't feel
like cooking at all.
Finally, I'm gonna show you this amazing Greek penne dish.
Now, if you're a vegetarian,
just leave out the chicken.
This is the perfect option for you.
So I've cooked off some penne.
It's hanging out in a colander standing by.
I have my frying pan going.
I'm going to add some olive oil,
and to that I'm going to add some red onions.
Get those frying up.
You want to give your onions a chance
just to soften up before you add your garlic.
I'm gonna let my garlic heat up,
and then I'm going to just brown off my chicken.
And, I'm gonna give my chicken some quick seasoning
with some Greek seasoning, some salt.
Once the chicken is browned on all sides,
you're going to add a jar of diced tomatoes.
Now, you can buy these canned,
or you could actually add fresh tomatoes.
I prefer using the jarred kind
because it's got extra juice
so you really get that extra saucy flavor,
but if you only have fresh tomatoes on hand,
that is totally fine.
To that, I'm gonna add some chopped zucchini,
some marinated artichoke hearts,
and some chopped kalamata olives.
Look at all these flavors coming together,
they're totally delicious.
So I'm gonna let this simmer for a few minutes
and let all these flavors incorporate.
When it's ready, I'm gonna pour it over my penne.
Our final few steps, I'm just gonna zest
a lemon over top
just to add some more freshness,
and then mix in a whole lot of feta cheese,
because, of course, it wouldn't be a Greek pasta
without some feta.
We're gonna put it in our serving dish,
top it with a little more feta cheese,
and oh my gosh,
if you could smell this,
you would be in heaven.
I hope you'll give these three
delicious pasta recipes a try,
and if you do, be sure to tweet me
or Instagram me a photo of your creations.
I love to see what you're coming up with
in your own kitchen,
and of course, be sure to subscribe to The Domestic Geek
for lots more deliciousness
just like this.