Rotini with Red Peppers and Parmesan

We all by now know that I LOVE Pasta (and I'm Italian so go figure) but anyways, I like to create and keep a collection of quick pasta dishes that just use what I have easily on hand in my fridge or pantry. That way, I feel confident that no matter what, when I get the urge for pasta, I know I can take 12 min tops to create the best dish. Check it out...


Ingredients:
- 1/4 pound tri-colored rotini
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- handful fresh basil
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- salt
- pepper
- crushed red pepper
- olive oil

To Make:

Bring water to a boil and cook the pasta, about 8 min. in a med. pot. Salt the water. While the water is heating up, dice onion and red pepper and saute in olive oil in a med. pan for about 7 min, until soft and tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain pasta and using a large bowl, sprinkle olive oil in the bottom of the serving bowl and dump pasta into the bowl. Stir in the onion and pepper mixture and also the fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. Season with more salt and pepper and best of all top with crushed red pepper. Serve immediately and ENJOY!!

Kicked-Up Pasta Salad

Since summer is not officially over yet, there is still time for a GREAT pasta salad! This weekend, my mom said she was so sick of her "traditional pasta salad" so I said, "I'll make you MY pasta salad." My pasta salad is not only fun and delicious it's very simple and easy to make. I say it's "Kicked-Up" because I make sure that it has a BITE to it :-) Between the garlic, fresh onion, green pepper and crushed red pepper flakes, this is DEFINITELY a fabulous dish.




Ingredients:

- 1 pound of tri-colored rotini
- 1 large green pepper - diced
- 1/2 large sweet onion - diced
- 4 large carrots -shredded
- 6 cloves of fresh garlic - minced
- 1 bag frozen broccoli
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 3/4 container of Italian salad dressing
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Crushed red pepper
- Handful of fresh basil, chopped

To Make:

In a large pot, boil water and cook pasta according to the package. It should always be al-dente.

In the meantime, take a saute pan and drizzle some olive oil in the bottom. Remove all stems from broccoli and saute the broccoli until they are tender, about 8-10 minutes on med-high heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir every few minutes.
-The reason we cook the broccoli for this dish rather than add fresh raw broccoli is because this makes it much easier to eat. Imagine crunching on fresh raw broccoli in your pasta salad... it's difficult to eat.

Do not over-cook the broccoli, you want it firm and tender not soft and mushy.

In the meantime, begin dicing the onion, garlic and green pepper and shred the carrots.

In an extra large bowl, add the diced and shredded veggies in the bottom. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. When your pasta is finished cooking, drain and add immediatly into the bowl. Add salt, pepper and olive oil onto the top of your pasta and begin mixing in with the other veggies in the bottom.

Add in the broccoli and mix together. Add the Italian dressing and crushed red pepper and more salt and pepper if needed.

At this point your dish will be hot. Let the entire dish cool off before adding the basil and parmesan cheese. About 20 min.

Stir in the fresh basil and parmesan cheese and mix until all ingredients are equal througout.

Store in the refrigerator until your ready to serve.

ENJOY! (serves about 8-12 people)