Italian sausage will find itself in appetizers, breakfast, lunch and dinner, but we especially love the Italian sausage meals we have come to love and I’ve added more sausage recipes here so there are more than 15.

Creamy Sausage Ragu

This is one of my newer recipes that I made for the twins’ lunch before they ventured a big bike ride. Not a bite left.

Stovetop Sausage and Peppers

Sausage Crusted Three Cheese Pizza (Low Carb Delish)

Baked Italian Sausage with Broccoli Rabe

This is one of the Italian Sausage Meals that my husband loves the most. Broccoli rabe marries the flavors of Italian Sausage so well, and you will see this repeated pairing in many recipes.

Italian Sausage Lentil Soup

Italian Sausage Ricotta Frittata

This is how we celebrate holiday mornings, but it’s also wonderful for lunch or dinner. Italian sausage, greens, and a dollop of ricotta.

No Beans Chili with Italian Sausage and Ground Beef

My husband makes the best chili and since I don’t eat beans, he developed a fantastic no-beans recipe just for me, and it has Italian Sausage.

Italian Sausage with Cauliflower and Spinach in Air Fryer

This is such a fun, easy, dinner that can be made in a sheet pan, fryer, or stir fried.

Orecchiete with Broccoli Rabe and Italian Sausage

This is a classic Italian dish made with a special shaped pasta and takes full advantage of this great pairing of flavors.

Italian Sausage, Mozzarella Stuffed Biscuits

This is the all in one delicious Italian sausage biscuit.

Spicy Italian Soup with Italian Sausage

I made this soup about every other month because it has all the good things like cabbage and tomato broth,  and especially the flavor driven from Italian sausage.

Italian Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sausage and Peppers

The one pot, Italian chicken dish only made better with links of Italian sausage.

One Pot Chicken and Italian Sausage with Greens and Beans

Beans, greens, broth, chicken, and of course, Italian sausage makes this one hearty meal.

Keto Sausage Crusted Pizza with Broccoli Rabe

This clever idea for no-dough pizza has made us both so happy, and is our new Friday night dinner.

Spaghetti Squash with Italian Sausage

Spaghetti Squash topped with Italian sausage, mushroom, cream, and sage is hearty, healthy and a bit umami.

Three Cheese Italian Lasagna

Oh my goodness, who wouldn’t love this dish? Filled with spaghetti squash, meat, cheese and a lovely quick tomato sauce.

Italian Eggplant Soup with Italian Sausage

Chicken with Italian Sausage and Muscadine Grapes

When Autumn rolls around, you will see muscadine grapes and now you know what to do with them.

Sheet Pan Pizza with Italian Sausage and Trader Joe’s Pre-Made Dough

You can now see just how versatile Italian sausage is. What’s your favorite way to eat it?

The post 15 Italian Sausage Meals Your Family Will Love appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

10. Chicken Thighs with Tomatoes and Olives – It’s time to make some comforting dishes and this is a winner. It’s very good leftover too.

9. Top Sirloin Cap Pichana – this is the steak you get in the Brazilian restaurant. Ask the butcher for the cut. They usually have it, but many people don’t know about it.

8. Olive Feta Salad – Perfect for a little side, salad, or appetizer. Put it on your holiday table or have this as a snack.

7. Tomato Bisque Soup – This is very old recipe here and people are still finding it, which is very rewarding.

6. Oven Baked Beef Ribs – Beef ribs aren’t as affordable as they used to be when I initially made this, but people are still seeking this out.

5. Crack Slaw with Comeback Sauce – A friend at the gym stopped me the other day to tell me she made this and it was so good. I love to hear that. By the way, this is super easy and low carb.

4. Braciole (Italian Stuffed Steak) – This is wildly popular. Use a cheaper cut of round steak and stuff with parsley, garlic and pecorino. Braise in tomato sauce. So good.

3. Italian Ground Beef with Peas and Onions Don’t laugh, but this very old recipe made back during the recession is still flying high according to google. I’ll be honest. We make this about every two weeks! Seems ordinary and odd, but it’s delicious.

2. Chicken Pot Pie with the Best Pastry Crust – This might be the star favorite in my family. We had this for Christmas, because it’s so special, made with chicken, leeks, wine. The pastry crust recipe is the only one you will ever need, savory or sweet.

NUMBER 1. The Perfect Recipe for New York Strip Steak – Lots of positive feedback on this recipe, so it always lands at number one.

Bonus Recipe

Southern Fried Corn – I left one of the top ten recipes out, because summer is winding down. It’s for fried corn, which actually was number 3 in popularity all summer long. You can still make it with canned corn.

I hope you enjoy these popular recipes. I’ll be back this week with the top ten popular desserts from September. Let me know if you make any of these recipes and how it worked out for you.

Tool Tip – This is my all time favorite kitchen tool. It’s an extra large silicone spatula from OXO. If you can order two, because you will use it every single day. I recently ordered one for a new friend who recently moved here. She lost her entire possessions as the moving truck caught on fire. She’s a new friend at the my church’s woman’s ministry and I thought why not give her my favorite tool wrapped in a bow just to show her she is loved and it’s going to be okay.

The post My Top Ten Most Popular Recipes in September appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

When I started blogging, most people were finding me via their computers. Now the majority of you find me with your smart phone. In fact, I google my own recipes in the grocery store to see what I need because after 1400 recipes, I can’t always remember the ingredients.

Creating these recipes for the blog has meant the world to me for so many reasons. I can look at one of my recipes and recall a family memory, a food memory, or a new skill.

This was Ryder making pasta. He’s now 17. The twins have been by side in the kitchen for all the years and most of the recipes.

I can make a recipe and remember the day I developed it and teaching them. Now, they are teaching me. Just the other day, Ryder asked for two eggs for an experiment. He wanted to make a rolled French omelette. He did it, and then, of course, Marshall had to make one and I had to make one. This is how skills and memories come together.

Our Sixteen Favorite Savory Recipes

These are my 16 of our favorite savory recipes. These are the ones I’ve made several times and the ones my family asks for. Some are traditional. Some are Paleo or Keto. All are delicious. Stay tuned for our 16 favorite sweet recipes.

• Ground Beef with Peas and Onions – A humble recipe I’ve made 50 times.
• Cuban Picadillo – We make this over and over and over.
• Chicken Pot Pie with Flaky Pie Crust – The family’s overall favorite comfort food. The crust is perfection.
• One Hour Roast Chicken – There truly is a secret to the best roast chicken.
• Southern Fluffy Biscuits – the only traditional biscuit you’ll ever need. There is a keto version.
• Sausage Lentil Soup– Similar to Carrabba’s but homemade.
• Homemade Italian Meatballs – I’m Italian so you know they’re good.
• Chicken Pot Pie with Flaky Pie Crust – The family’s overall favorite comfort food. The crust is perfection.
• Italian Sausage with Broccoli Rabe – If you’ve never had broccoli rabe, now is the time.
• Hunger Games Lamb Stew with Dried Plums – This recipe won a contest and yes it’s based on the dish from the series.
• New York Strip Steak Made Perfect – The MOST POPULAR RECIPE
• Beef Bourguignon, Made Easy – We make this for holidays; it’s that good.
• Frittata: Everything You Need to Know about Frittatas (I couldn’t pick just one).
• Basil Pesto with Scallops over Pasta (Doug’s Pick)
• Three Cheese Spaghetti Squash Lasagna – A lovely grain free but hearty Italian dish.

Highlights from Blogging

You might ask me what has sixteen years of blogging been like and how have I managed to keep going when most people who start blogs quit within four months?

My answer is simple: it’s a calling. I love to cook. I love to create and try new things. I love to eat good food. And most of all, I love to cook for other people. I’ve had dry spells where I have felt uninspired, but something will eventually spark an ember and I’ll start cooking again.

How Have You Changed Your Cooking Style in Sixteen Years?

I’ve gone almost completely low-carb. When I started I kept my focus on whole, healthy food, but used more carbs, (pasta, potatoes, bread). I don’t think these foods are evil. They only become harmful when made with pesticides and served in extra large portions.

Once in a while I’ll still include recipes like sourdough bread made with organic flour.

My Keto Bakery

Since I started the blog, I morphed into a sugar free bakery and will cover that in an upcoming post of my top 16 desserts. These are sold at Farmer’s Markets.

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It means a lot to me when people visit, because I do this for you. I honestly think of you when standing in my kitchen, assessing how easy or not easy this will be and how can I write the recipe so it actually works and is approachable.

Stay tuned for the upcoming post on my favorite 16 sweet desserts in 16 years. Some will be grain free, sugar free and some will be my favorite traditional desserts.

The post My 16 Top Recipe in 16 Years of Blogging appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

If you’re like me, you need some inflation fighting, cheap red meat recipes and dinner ideas, because friends, it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better. 

There are cheaper cuts of beef that are still affordable. Ground beef cubes and shoulder cuts can make outstanding meals if you have the right recipes.

Cheap Red Meat Recipes Using Ground Beef

I think ground beef is probably my favorite meat, because it’s so versatile and found in every cuisine. The simplicity of oven-baked hamburger steaks delivers comfort meal pleasure as does the meatloaves.

If you haven’t had picadillo, I urge you to try it, as it’s one of the dishes I make most often.

The ground beef with peas and onions is a cheap Italian dish that we discovered at an Italian night pot luck years ago. it takes about ten minutes to make and you will marvel at how a three-ingredient meal can be so good. Ricotta or Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs will fill you up and make everyone happy.

• Ground Beef Stroganoff (you read that right)
• Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
• Hamburger Steaks (oven-baked)
• Crack Slaw with Comeback Sauce (A bag of slaw, a pound of Ground Beef)
• Old School Tacos (always a happy meal)
• Burger Steaks with Sour Cream Mushroom Sauce
• Picadillo (Cuban ground beef recipe that is so delicious)
• No Bean Chili (one of my favorite chili recipes)
• Ground Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers
• Ground Beef Italian Style with Peas, Onions (our go to)
• Five Bean Chili
• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Grain Free Keto Friendly Mini Meatloafs
• The Secret to Great Burgers

Cheap Red Meat Recipes with Cheaper Cuts of Beef

• Swiss Steak
• Steak Tips
• Teres Major, the Faux Filet
• Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
• Skillet Cheese Steak with Cauliflower (look for frozen chipped steak when it’s on sale)
• Ropa Vieja (Cuban braised flank steak)
• Chuck Roast (not always cheap, but leftovers make more meals).
• Braciole (Italian Stuffed Steak)

Cheap Red Meat Recipes Using Cheap Beef Cubes

The nice thing about these dinners is that they filling and delicious and can be made in a slow cooker.

• Slow Cooker Beef Ragú
• Italian Beef Vegetable Stew
• Beef Vegetable Soup
• Beef Cabbage Soup
• Beef Bourguignon

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Let me know if you make any of these recipes. Enjoy!

Left Over Beef Recipes will Stretch Your Dollar

• Shepherd’s Pie
• Roast Beef Hash
• Beef and Bean Pie
• Beef Macaroni Soup

The post 25 Inflation Fighting Cheap Red Meat Recipes appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Parmesan Mayonnaise Chicken Bake – This is a recipe that I once made three times in one week.  The ingredient list is chicken, mayonnaise, and parmesan cheese. Notice the cauliflower in there for a complete meal.

One Hour Roast Italian Chicken – Instead of picking up a grocery store rotisserie chicken, follow my food proof method of roasting chicken at a high heat and it only takes one hour. This is the best of passive cooking! Throw your veggies around it and you have full dinner. When I place my monthly order on Butcher Box, I made sure there’s a whole chicken. 

 Low Carb Stuffed Spaghetti Squash–  Mushrooms, Sausage, heavy cream and bacon. 

Cheese Stuffed  Grain Free Meatballs, Mozzarella or Ricotta – I’m Italian, and meatballs are my favorite food. You can choose ricotta or mozzarella to stuff. 

Shrimp Avocado Salad Recipe – Perfect for a lighter meal or a warm day. Simple ingredients pulled together for big flavor. If tomatoes account for too many carbs for you, use olives instead.

Italian Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash – As I’m writing this, I’m so glad I have all the ingredients right now Just look at how good this is.

Spicy Salmon with Bomba Sauce

This is served over cauliflower rice and the first time I made it, I made it again the next night.

Baked Italian Sausage with Broccoli Rabe – What I love about this is while I’m baking my sausage in the oven, I make the broccoli rabe. This is basically a four ingredient recipe. Sausage. Broccoli Rabe. Garlic. Pecorino. This is my husband’s all time favorite meal. 

Skillet Cheesesteak Cauliflower – If you’re eating low carb and miss cheesesteak, you’re in luck. You won’t miss the bread at all when you bake it with cauliflower. There will not one bite left over. I promise.

Italian Sausage Crusted Four Cheese Pizza – This is made so fast, we often have it have it for lunch. It takes ten minutes to make the sausage crust, then another ten to bake after you top your ingredients. Totally keto friendly.

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri – The hardest part of this recipe is making the chimichurri and that’s really not hard at all. You could use the leftovers for tacos and use these grain free tortillas. By the way a simple steak is always an option and this Perfect New York Strip Method is my all time number one recipe.

Burger Steak with Sour Cream Mushroom Sauce – This is taking simple ground beef and making it taste like royalty. 

Low Carb Pasta with Salmon Mediterranean Style – There is a pasta on the market that I like and when mixed with salmon, olive oil, and a few veggies, it’s such a treat.

Crack Slaw with Comeback Sauce   This is that one dish you will have on rotation and you have to make the sauce.

Veal stuffed eggplant – Sometimes eggplant can be intimidating. This method is not. You slice in half, rub with olive oil and put in a baking dish. While the eggplant is baking, you cook the veal. You can use other ground meat, but veal is so tender, so flavorful and, although a little pricey, so delicious. 

Let me know if you make any of these yummy low-carb dinners. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. I have many low-carb recipes here at Spinach Tiger, and these are just a few. 

More Healthy Keto Recipes

• 30 Low Carb Vegetables with 75 Recipes
• 20 Low Carb Cauliflower Recipes
• Healthy Shrimp Recipes
• Easy Boneless Chicken Breast Recipes
• 50 Keto Dessert Recipes

The post 12 Easy Low Carb Dinner Recipes We Make Over and Over appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I am Italian American, but my grandparents were Italian immigrants. Pasta was a constant in our home. However, when I went ot Italy and ate several different pasta dishes, I was surprised by the texture, and understood what al dente meant.

Pasta al dente has a bite to it

When pasta is cooked al dente, it means it has a tooth to it or a bite to it. It resists slightly.  This takes longer to digest and avoids a spike in blood sugar.

The first time I ever ate a pasta cooked correctly was a Pasta Carbonara dish in Rome. It was so delicious and satisfying and it felt almost as if the center wasn’t cooked. I learned that we Americans are doing it all wrong!

We tend to overcook pasta to a mushy, gummy mess, doing stupid things like adding in olive oil and then rinsing in cold water. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Trust me on this.

First of all there is a difference in cooking times and sauce preferences between homemade and factory made dried pasta. If you buy a quality dried pasta, and it is cooked properly, it’s often better than pasta made from scratch at home.

While homemade pasta is wonderful, factory pasta is suited more to most Italian dishes.  For example, spaghetti, rigatoni, penne pasta, and bucatini are factory pastas we all adore. These pastas are made from water and semolina flour, a golden yellow hard wheat flour, which gives the pasta its structure. There are no eggs used, and the pasta is very firm.

Factory pasta is best suited to olive oil sauces and can be used with butter sauces.  This zucchini basil  pasta dish is so delicious and a wonderful summer dish.

No matter whether the pasta is homemade or store-bought,  the rules for how to cook pasta are the same.

Spaghetti is the most overcooked pasta on earth. It should resist and have a bite to it. It’s easier to digest that way too!

You don’t always need to have a ton of pasta to make a wonderful dish. This is simply olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper with broccoli.

How Much Pasta Per Person

However, if pasta is the main course (spaghetti and meatballs), make sure you cook enough for a crowd. You will want to cook 4 ounces per person to be on the safe side, even though two ounces is a portion. This is the dish you’ll want to have leftovers.

Classic Genovesa Pesto with Green Beans and Potatoes is a bit of Carb Heaven, but make sure that spaghetti has a bite to it.

Spaghetti with Meatballs and Garden Vegetables Doesn’t Need a Sauce. This is a pasta you absolutely want to cook al dente!

Pasta Carbonara is a delightful classic.

Pasta Water 

Where there’s a sauce involved like a warm pesto, you might want to finish the cooking in the pan to bring more favor to the pasta. Put the pesto in frying pan. Add in pasta, but reserve a little of the pasta water. See Number 8 on tips.

Pasta and Chicken with Pistachio Pesto

Pistachio Pesto can be used on any pasta and is so good. 

Factory pasta is best suited to olive oil sauces and can be used with butter sauces. Bread crumbs as a topping often give pasta that little extra something.

Pasta La Fritteda 

This spinach pasta is store-bought from Trader Joe’s and will have a longer cooking time than homemade.

How to Cook Pasta al dente: Here are the rules for factory produced, dried pasta.

1. Choose the right pasta for the intended sauce.
2. LOTS OF WATER – I use a 7 quart pot fill it with 6 quarts of water to cook one pound of pasta. WHY? The more water per pasta ratio, the faster the water gets back to boiling and the faster the pasta will cook. The more water per pasta ratio, the more room the pasta has, and this avoids sticking.
3. Do NOT put oil in your pan. Just use an ample amount of water. The exception to this rule is homemade, filled pasta such as ravioli.
4. LOTS OF SALT – Once the water begins to boil, add the salt and not before. Wait a few seconds until the water is rapidly boiling and then add pasta.
5. COOK Al Dente – Only cook the pasta until it is soft, yet still has a chew. Do not overcook. Test the pasta starting at two minutes before suggested cook time.
6. RESERVE some pasta water. Before you empty the pot into a colander, reserve a cup of pasta water for your sauce
7. Do NOT rinse pasta with water. The starch on the pasta needs to stay put!
8. FINISH cooking the pasta in the sauce. Place enough sauce into a large frying pan or dutch oven and finish cooking the pasta. It will absorb some of the sauce and flavor. At this time, add in some of the pasta water. The starch in the water will help to thicken the sauce.
9. ENJOY!

Pasta with Spicy Eggplant Sauce

How You can Tell if  You have a good pasta

What’s a good pasta? You should be able to tell the difference between a good quality boxed pasta and a so so pasta, because the quality pasta will have more body to it when cooked. It will plump more and have flavor, not be just bland starch.

There are two brands I think are exceptional in the moderate price range.  Alma’s and La Molinari. I’m mentioning these brands because they are only slightly higher in price than the cheaper brands and worth a few extra cents.

I also like the higher priced De Cecco pasta a lot! There are other brands with Italian names that are priced right and get premier space, and while they are not bad, they are not exceptionally good either.

It’s so important to get the pasta right, because a few simple things can make the difference between a great bite of pasta and a dish no one really cares to eat.

How to Cook The Right Pasta for the Right Sauce

A thick bolognese sauce is great with a papparadelle (a wider noodle) , but also memorable with an extra thick spaghetti that is hollowed, called bucatini.  It’s one of our favorite pastas! De Cecco makes a great bucatini.

The Best Pasta for Chicken Soup

I grew up on pastina (affilate) in my chicken soup and now the boys absolutely love and prefer this.

Pastina (affiliate)  is amazing with scrambled eggs and parmesan cheese. It’s the dish my grandmother made for me and a pasta kids can eat with a spoon. As we got older, we started scrambling eggs into spaghetti with olive oil and cheese and it’s my husband’s favorite.

Homemade Papparadelle is perfect for bolognese, but is lovely with chanterelle mushrooms and butter. A homemade egg based pasta will cook very quickly. Homemade pastas are made with eggs and softer wheat flour. They cook quickly and absorb sauces deeply.

How to Cook Gluten Free Pasta

The same rules apply, but read the directions carefully. Some gluten free pastas have long cooking times. Keep in mind that most gluten free pasta is not good reheated and will fall apart.

Gluten Free Rotini Mexican Style

Pasta is a Perfect Ingredient for a One Dish Dinner

We love one dish pasta dishes, and sometimes we turn to low-carb pasta.

In this case, a low-carb, high protein pasta was used and cooked extra long with the last few minutes cooking in the olive oil mixture to absorb the flavor.

Pasta with Salmon, Olives, Tomatoes, Cauliflower

Low Carb Pasta with Peach Pork Bolognese.

Pasta is one of those dishes the whole world loves and makes in so many different ways. Eaten in moderation, it’s a great part of life. Properly cooked, it’s easier to digest and enjoy!

Here’s my latest pasta dish. Stuffed Shells and How to Stuff Pasta, great for a crowd.

Print

How to Cook Pasta Like an Italian (al dente) and Which Pasta to Use

How to Cook Pasta Properly.

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound of pasta or as desired.
• 6 quarts water
• 2 tablespoons salt

Instructions

• How to Cook Pasta: Here are the rules for factory produced, dried pasta.
• Choose the right pasta for the intended sauce.
• LOTS OF WATER – I use a 7 quart pot fill it with 6 quarts of water to cook one pound of pasta. WHY? The more water per pasta ratio, the faster the water gets back to boiling and the faster the pasta will cook. The more water per pasta ratio, the more room the pasta has, and this avoids sticking.
• Do NOT put oil in your pan. Just use an ample amount of water. The exception to this rule is homemade, filled pasta such as ravioli.
• LOTS OF SALT – Once the water begins to boil, add the salt and not before. Wait a few seconds until the water is rapidly boiling and then add pasta.
• COOK Al Dente – Only cook the pasta until it is soft, yet still has a chew. Do not overcook. Test the pasta starting at two minutes before suggested cook time.
• RESERVE some pasta water. Before you empty the pot into a colander, reserve a cup of pasta water for your sauce
• Do NOT rinse pasta with water. The starch on the pasta needs to stay put!
• FINISH cooking the pasta in the sauce. Place enough sauce into a large frying pan or dutch oven and finish cooking the pasta. It will absorb some of the sauce and flavor. At this time, add in some of the pasta water. The starch in the water will help to thicken the sauce.
• ENJOY!

The post How to Cook Pasta al Dente, Like an Italian appeared first on Spinach Tiger.