Creamy Meat Sauce

The other night, I realized that I had a partial carton of cream left in the fridge from making whipped cream. I wasn't exactly sure what I could do with it, but I did not want it to go to waste.

Looking around in my freezer and pantry, I was able to come up with some ingredients for a creamy meaty pasta sauce. The end result was delectable....even if it wasn't very healthy.....but I won't tell anyone if you won't!

First, I started off by boiling an entire box of pasta. Then, I cooked 2 small onions that had been chopped and 4 minced garlic cloves in some olive oil in a large skillet. Next, I added in a pound of ground beef and cooked it thoroughly, until it was no longer pink.

Next, I added a large can on crushed tomatoes to the meat mixture. I allowed the mixture to come up to a boil and then reduced the heat as low as it could go.  By this time, the pasta was finished, so I drained the water and returned the pasta to the pot. I went back to the sauce and with the heat still on very low, I slowly stirred in a cup of cream. I then poured the sauce on top of the pasta and stirred in about a cup of mozzarella cheese.

This easy and quick meal comes together in less than 30 minutes and makes a rich and tasty meal!

Recipe Recap

1 Tsp olive oil

2 small onions/1 medium onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 pound ground beef

1 large can crushed tomatoes

1 cup cream

1 pound pasta cooked

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Cook the onions and garlic in the oil until translucent. Then add the beef to the pan and cook until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and stir in the cream. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta, stir in the cheese and serve.

Valentines Dinner at Home: Orzo with Grilled Asparagus

Yesterday it was snowing (finally!) and although my hubby and I had plans to go out for an early Valentine's Day dinner we decided to stay in and enjoy a cozy winter evening at home. This winter hasn't been much of a winter and it was actually a welcome surprise to have a night where all we wanted to do was hole up on the couch and watch movies.

We were both in the mood for steak, but were too hungry to wait for potatoes to bake, so I decided to make a pasta salad using the asparagus I found at the store today.

Here are the ingredients that I used in the pasta salad:

Sun-dried tomatoes, orzo, oil olive, balsamic vinegar (not shown), feta, garlic (not shown), basil (not shown), asparagus and an onion. Sorry for missing so many of the ingredients, but that's what happens when I decide to add things in along the way :)

I started by boiling some salted water and adding the orzo (this took about 9 minutes to cook). While the water was heating up, I chopped up the onion and garlic and cooked them over medium heat.

 While that was cooking I chopped up the asparagus and tomatoes.

Once the onions were cooked, I added the asparagus to the pan along with a few generous drizzles of balsamic. I left this cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes so that the balsamic could reduce and get all syrupy. It looked something like this:

When the pasta was done, I drained and rinsed it under cold water.

Then I threw the orzo, asparagus mixture, tomatoes and cheese into a big bowl and drizzled it all with olive oil. 

I finished up by tossing everything together and adding some basil, salt and pepper until it tasted right.

Served alongside the steak that my hubby had been preparing, this made for a perfect cozy valentines dinner night in!

Recipe Recap:
8 oz orzo
3 oz sun-dried tomatoes
5 oz feta cheese

1 bunch asparagus cleaned and chopped

1 medium onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup balsamic

1/4 olive oil

2 tablespoons basil

salt and pepper

Cook the pasta. In the meantime, cook the onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent. Add the chopped asparagus and balsamic to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the balsamic reduces and becomes syrupy. Drain and rinse the pasta in cold water. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Throw the pasta, asparagus mixture, cheese and tomatoes into a large bowl. Mix with the olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. Serve.