Sausage and Spinach Gnocchi

This quick and easy one skillet dinner will taste like you've been cooking all day!

Sausage and Spinach Gnocchi

1 lb ground Italian sausage
sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg gnocchi (find it in pasta aisle)
1 can diced Italian tomatoes
1/4 c chicken broth
4 c fresh baby spinach
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 c mozzarella
1/2 c parmesan
Brown sausage with onion and garlic, don't drain. Add gnocchi, stir 1 min, breaking up clumps. Stir in tomatoes, broth, and pepper, cover and cook 5 minutes on medium. Remove from heat, stir in spinach until wilted. Sprinkle with cheese and cover until melted.

Southwestern Sausage Quiche

Southwestern Sausage Quiche

3 eggs
1/3 c milk
1/4 c sour cream
1/4 c ranch dressing
1 1/2 c cheddar cheese
1/2 lb hot sausage
1 can Rotel, drained
1 pie crust
Brown sausage and drain.  Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Pour into prepared pie crust.  Cook on 350 degrees for one hour.  Allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.

Creamy Spicy Sausage Pasta

This is a quick easy meal for a busy weeknight.  You can change a few things in the recipe to make it more/less spicy.  I used freshly made pasta from our local farmer's market, but feel free to use whatever pasta you like.

Creamy Spicy Sausage Pasta

1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 can (or 2 c) low-sodium chicken broth
1 can RoTel (or I used diced tomatoes w/ jalapenos)
1/2 c heavy cream
8 oz pasta
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 c monterey jack cheese
Place olive oil in large skillet; brown sausage, onion, and garlic.  Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt, and pepper.  Bring to boil, cover.  Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese.



Homemade Meat Lover's Pizza

We are big fans of pizza in our house!  Take-out pizza can often be greasy and expensive.  This is a simple pizza that you can adapt to what you like.

Homemade Meat Lover's Pizza

bakery pizza dough (in the refrigerated area of the bakery)
pizza sauce
2 c shredded Italian blend cheese
sliced pepperoni
hot Italian sausage
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp pizza seasoning (or you can sub Italian seasoning)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
Drizzle olive oil in medium skillet.  Brown Italian sausage links for about 5-10 minutes, until browned on each side.  Add water to skillet and boil Italian sausage links for 15-20 more minutes until cooked through.  Remove from water and slice thin.  Prepare pizza dough by rolling with a floured rolling pin to desired thickness.  (You can also try tossing it if you want!)  Spread pizza sauce over pizza dough, sprinkle with pizza seasoning.  Top with cheese and desired toppings.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or until dough has browned).  While pizza is cooking, place butter in bowl and top with garlic salt and Italian seasoning.  Melt butter in microwave.  Brush over crust immediately after removing from oven.  Allow pizza to sit 5 minutes before cutting.

Spinach & Sausage Stuffed Pasta Shells

Wow, Pinterest has really good recipes!  This is my adaptation of another recipe I found on there.  I have frozen half of these since this recipe makes way more than 2 people can eat.  We'll see how the frozen ones turn out in a few weeks!

Spinach & Sausage Stuffed Pasta Shells

1 lb hot sausage, browned

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 c frozen spinach, cooked and drained

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

16-18 pasta shells, cooked and drained

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 can diced tomatoes with basil and oregano

Brown sausage with garlic, drain.  Cook shells according to package directions and drain.  Add cooked shells to a bowl of ice water to cool.  Return sausage to skillet, add tomatoes and spinach, heat for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in ricotta.  Stuff shells with a fork and place in a greased glass baking dish.  Cover with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Adapted from http://www.inspiredtaste.net/

Spicy Sausage Teragoni

Yes, I know Teragoni is not a real word.  But this recipe is a creation of mine and Brent named it "Sausage Teragoni"!  It's basically just a spicy sausage pasta dish.  It's an easy two pot meal and you can tone down the spicyness if you prefer.

Spicy Sausage Teragoni

1 lb link sausage, diced (I buy Hillshire Farms spicy)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat rigatoni pasta
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can diced Italian tomatoes
1/2 cup balsamic vinegarette dressing
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp minced garlic
oregano and basil
Cook pasta according to package directions, drain.  Brown sausage in skillet with garlic.  Once sausage is browned, add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, dressing, and seasonings.  Cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.  Toss in pasta and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese until cheese is melted.  Top with other 1/2 cup cheese.  Serve with salad.

Sausage Cream Cheese Pastry

Our Sunday School class has someone bring breakfast each week to share with everyone.  This was our week and I wanted to try something new.  I made this from our church's cookbook, but have tweaked it a little to hopefully make it better.  It sounds like a strange combination, but it's surprisingly good and was a big hit this morning!

Sausage Cream Cheese Pastry

1 lb hot sausage
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
2 pkgs crescent rolls
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Crumble and brown sausage, drain.  Beat softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with hand mixer until creamy.  Spread one package of crescent roll dough in bottom of 9x13 glass dish (do not grease).  Press seams together.  Add sausage to cream cheese mixture, stir.  Spread over crescent rolls evenly.  Top with the other package of crescent rolls.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Can be made a day in advance and refrigerated, cook 30-35 minutes.