Baked pasta with Chicken sausage

1 T olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes with juice
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 c heavy cream
1 pound rigatoni
10 oz baby spinach
12 oz smoked chicken sausage, sliced
6 oz fontina (or mozzarella) cheese
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Stir in garlic.  Cook for another minute.  Stir in tomatoes and oregano.  Cook until tomatoes are falling apart, 10-15 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes.  Season sauce with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven 10 400.  Cook pasta in boiling water.  Add spinach.  Drain, and return contents to pot.  Add tomato sauce, sausage, and cubed fontina to pot; toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Divide between two baking dishes.  Top with grated fontina and parmesan.  Bake for 20-30 minutes. 

tomatoe sauce

2 small onions
2 stalks celery
2 red bell peppers
2 zucchinis
2 carrots

Heat large saucepan over medium heat.  Add a Tablespoon of olive oil followed by all of the veggies.  Add a large pinch of oregano and 2 bay leaves.  Cook for 20 minutes. 

1 butternut squash
4 cans (14.5 oz) tomatoes with juice
2 C water
pinch of sea salt
pepper

Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  Let sauce cool, take out bay leaves and put in blender. 

Skillet Chicken Pasta with Broccoli and Sun-dried Tomatoes

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
12 ounces ziti or penne pasta
3 cups water
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4-5 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, drained and chopped coarse
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
DIRECTIONS:
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until it is rippling and very hot. Add the chicken pieces to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a clean plate and set aside.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 2 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the pasta, water and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is very thick and syrupy and almost completely absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes. There should still be a little bit of liquid in the bottom of the skillet but the pasta should be tender.
Add the broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir lightly to incorporate them into the pasta mixture. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the broccoli turns bright green and is almost tender, 2-3 minutes. While the broccoli is cooking, whisk the cream and cornstarch together.
Uncover the skillet and stir in the cream, Parmesan, and reserved chicken with any accumulated juices and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, topped with extra Parmesan, if desired.

Garlic Chicken with bowtie pasta

1 TB olive oil
chicken
1 tsp salt
1 TB olive oil
6-8 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 C green onions
3/4 C red or orange peppers
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 C chicken broth
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
2 C pasta

Fry chicken in oil until done.  Sprinkle with salt
Cook garlic in oil till golden.  Add green onions and peppers, cook 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes, broth, red pepper, cornstarch and salt.  Heat to boiling then reduce head and simmer 5 min.  Combine chicken, sauce, and pasta.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Saute in pan:
4-5 cloves crushed garlic
1 onion, chopped

with about:
1/8 c. olive oil
1 T. sugar
splash of white cooking wine

Cook until onions are slightly tender.

Add:

3 cans tomatoes or 3 - 5 c. chopped fresh tomatoes

2 cans tomato sauce

1 T. salt

pepper

2 - 3 T. of fresh basil

1 - 2 T. of fresh oregano

Simmer as long as you want. Serve over pasta. You can use this with any Italian recipe.

Guitless Alfredo Sauce

2 C low fat milk

1/3 C (3 oz) 1/3 less fat cream cheese

2 Tbs flour

1 tsp salt

1Tbs butter

3 garlic cloves

1 C grated parmesan cheese

-toss milk, cream cheese, flour and salt in a blender.

-in a sauce pan, melt butter on med-high and add garlic.  Add milk mixture to pan, stirring constantly till thick.  Remove from heat and add cheese.  Cover and let stand for 10 min.