Darci Hannah: As the weather gets nicer here in Michigan, I start looking for quicker, lighter meals to make for dinner. Our family loves sweet, colorful peppers and I seem to always have a pack in the fridge. This fun recipe for Mixed Pepper Pasta can be made in one pot, and that’s always a win for me. The original recipe for this dish was a vegetarian one, and it included some ingredients I knew the men in my life (my husband and our 3 very tall sons) wouldn’t care for, namely lentils and no meat. Since the original recipe called for water, I swapped it out for chicken broth to add more flavor, and used Great Northern beans instead of lentils, because the lads seem to love them in navy bean soup. Oh, and I used a whole pound of pasta instead of the 8 ounces the original recipe called for, because I really have no use for half a box of pasta. Of course, with more pasta came more chicken broth because you want the pasta to cook until tender. And since I was expanding the recipe I added more garlic, spices, and Italian sausage… because without it, my guys would think this was a side dish!
Honestly, about the only thing that remained true to the original recipe after I was done with it were the peppers and the pasta! As I’ve learned, sometimes while working off a new recipe it’s okay to tweak it to suit your tastes and your needs. I’m just happy it still fits in one pot!
Feel free to modify the recipe below! I’m sure it would make a delicious vegetarian dish too, but I shall never know.
Mixed Pepper Pasta
Cook time: 25 minutes. Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 pound package Italian sausage
1 pound rigatoni pasta or similar
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
3 large, sweet peppers, diced in small pieces. I try to use red, yellow, and orange.
1 yellow onion, diced.
Kosher salt
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can Great Northern or navy beans
2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for serving.
Directions:
Using a Dutch oven dish on the stove, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the diced peppers and onion. Season with salt and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
In the same Dutch oven, cook Italian sausage (I’m using links here) until done. Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool. (If using links, slice into bite-sized pieces once cooled.)
Add remaining olive oil to the pan. Cook garlic and fennel seeds for 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 more minute. Add pasta and beans to the pan. Cover with 4 cups of chicken broth and ½ teaspoon of salt. Simmer, stirring often until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes. Note: You may need to add more water ½ cup at a time, if the pasta soaks up all the liquid before it is cooked.
Next, add 2 ounces of grated parmesan cheese to the pot and stir until a thick sauce is created.
Next fold in the pepper mixture and the sausage.
Heat until warm and serve immediately, garnishing with more parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Get copy of the recipe here!
Have you ever tweaked a recipe, or do you prefer to follow a recipe to the letter? Please answer in the comments below!
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah
Just Released!
A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle
By Darci Hannah
Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
Trade Paperback Release!
A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor
By Darci Hannah
Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .
It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.
Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!
Coming this July!
Murder at the Campfire Cookout
By Darci Hannah
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .
Because no one is out of the woods yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment