Light Pasta Dinner
- 10.5 oz Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 Bell Pepper
- 5 Sweet Italian Sausages
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 Sprigs Basil
- 4 Cloves of Garlic
- 3 Cheese Italian Blend Cheese (Parmesan, Asigo and Romano)
- Large Shell Pasta
Cook the sausage per the method you best like, I cook in the skillet with a little water. Quarter the tomatoes, slice the bell pepper into strips after you core and seed the pepper. Finely chop the basil or I used Basil paste and used the amount that would be like using 1 1/2 springs (half the tube on the brand you see in the photo). Set aside the vegetables and Basil. Bring water to a boil and add 6 servings of dry large shell pasta. In a large skillet on medium to medium high heat warm the olive oil, use more or less to your taste. I pressed the garlic cloves in a press then added to the oil, if you don't have a press you could finely chop the garlic and then add the bail, careful not to burn the oil or garlic and basil. Once the sausage is cooked slice the links into 1/4-1/2 inch cuts and add to the oil. Once the noodles have cooked approx. 9-10 minutes the shells should be al dente or firm to tooth. Drain water, place noodles back in the pot removed off the heat and then add olive oil and sausage mix and toss.
I served with garlic bread and a nice salad.
Blueberry Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing
And if you have company, you should have dessert, right??? Okay, so maybe that's my excuse... But I came up with my very first cake recipe... So here it goes..... and I had so much fun coming up with this cake... it's heavy and filling... but what fruit based cake isn't?!?
Cake:
Preheat oven to 375*F
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 TBSP Baking Soda
- 1 1/4 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Butter, softened
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 2 Eggs
- 1 rounded cup Blueberries
Put flour, sugar, baking soda into a large mixing bowl. Add milk, butter, vanilla and eggs. Beat on medium for approx. 2 minutes or until smooth with no lumps. Puree blueberries in a food processor or blinder. I used frozen blueberries, however fresh would work nicely too.
Puree Blueberries until fine. Fold blueberry puree into batter. Pour batter into two 9 inch pans that have been greased and dusted with flour. Bake 30-35 minutes.
Icing:
- 4 oz of Cream Cheese
- 3 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 cup Blueberries
Puree Blueberries very fine, set aside. Cream the cream cheese on medium speed with mixer. SHIFT in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time mixing on low speed. Between the second and third cup of powdered sugar blend in the blueberry puree, then continue adding the powdered sugar is blended into the cream cheese and blueberries. The icing will be between the consistency of frosting and glaze or a thin frosting. Once the cakes have cooled lightly ice the top of the bottom layer, then top with the other 9 inch cake and ice the top. I let some of the icing drip down the side of the cake for an appealing look.
