Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Another new pasta recipe



Spicy Ham & Cheese Pasta
Favorite Brand Name 365 Pasta Recipes Copyright 1997

½ (16-ounce) package corkscrew pasta I used Dreamfields rotini, more than 1/2 package
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, cut into julienne strips I used yellow peppers
1 small red onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, crushed
8 ounces cooked ham, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup ricotta cheese I used part-skim ricotta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon Tabasco pepper sauce I used Frank's
¾ teaspoon salt

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add and cook bell pepper, onion and garlic until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add ham; cook 3 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.

In large bowl, toss cooked pasta with ham mixture, ricotta cheese, parsley, Tabasco sauce and salt; mix well.

Makes 4 servings.
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This recipe caught my eye when I was looking for something to make with Dreamfields new rotini (new to me, at least). I didn't think this recipe would be bad (of course, or why would I have made it?) but I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as we did. Even my son scarfed down a good-sized serving of it. Very impressive considering I also served salad and he usually forgets about everything else when there's salad around.

Since I used Frank's Hot Sauce, this wasn't very spicy but I didn't feel it needed to be. It had plenty of flavor. I used some yellow peppers out of my freezer stash and I really liked them in this.

Question of the Day: When did you last eat pasta? What kind of pasta was it?

4 comments:

Sara said...

This sounds so good. I never use ricotta, it seems so rich.

I made pasta last week - tossed with parmesan and romano. Very good.

Annie said...

I've been cutting back on pasta lately. (My pants were getting a little tight,lol). In fact, I made a gravy this past weekend with meatballs, sausage and pork chops, and I ended up making meatball and sausage sandwiches on wheat rolls. I ate the pork chops in the gravy with a side of veggies.
I am going to make some pasta tommorrow though, enough is enough.

Btw, thanks for the link on the pizza crust. I was wondering if you used regular yeast or bread machine yeast, since you said you used your bread machine to make the recipe.
Do you just follow the bread machine instructions but use the ingredients as listed on the recipe??

ThursdayNext said...

I love ham and cheese with pasta. I usually make spinich fettucine, toss in cubed ham, and make it lowfat by adding just shaved parmasaen and romano cheeses! This looks so good!

I had pasta Sunday night. It was angel hair with shrimp with a tomato sauce. :)

Heather said...

I made a goulash on Monday and ate the leftovers last night. This week I just used Barilla shells. I usually try to use Healthy Harvest pasta, but I really wanted shells.