Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Easiest Weeknight Pasta




This is a meal that is SO easy and has so many possibilities, depending on your taste or just what you are in the mood for. Okay, it's Wednesday and you are already tired of cooking, and it's only the middle of the week. This is the perfect meal, it will be ready in less than ten minutes, and... No take out :)

First the Pasta. You can use what ever type of pasta you have in the pantry, or you can use pre-packaged 4 cheese ravioli, found in the deli section of your supermarket, I use buitoni. when I am at the grocery store I always pick up a variation of their pasta. Buitoni also makes tortellini pre made which you can put on a skewer for a quick appetizer with cheese and fresh deli meats. These pastas are always life savers! Back to the pasta-- boil water and throw in the pasta for the amount of minutes on the package. Add some salt and olive oil. The olive oil is to help the pasta from sticking and this is also the only time you can flavor the pasta itself, hence the salt.

Next, the Alfredo sauce. I have tried countless recipes for my go-to Alfredo sauce and I finally have adapted enough recipes to form my own.
Source: All Recipe's

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
2 cups of milk
3 teaspoons of garlic salt
2 teaspoons of black pepper
4 oz Parmesan cheese
4 oz mozzarella cheese

Directions:
First, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the cream cheese and garlic salt once the butter is melted. Whisk together until smooth, slowly add the milk, and continue whisking. When there are no lumps, add the cheeses and black pepper, and stir until melted.

Finally, the toppings for your pasta. Not that it even really needs any, but if I served my husband a meatless dish, he would assume it was an appetizer, definitely not the main course. I crumbled up some crispy bacon and placed on top. You could use browned sausage, turkey, bell peppers, mushrooms, basically whatever you have in your refrigerator. Enjoy!!

After dinner, the leftover sauce is great for freezing and using for another meal. Also, you can cut back on a lot of calories by using a butter substitute such as, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter or Smart Balance, reduced fat cream cheese, and skim milk. The sauce will still be divine!

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