The Hungry Wife

Pasta with Pesto is a super flavorful dish, that is an excellent way to welcome the spring.  Using fresh ingredients makes this pasta shine.  The combination of pasta, potatoes, and pesto may seem like it wouldn’t work, but it does, creating a hearty dish pungent with the flavor of basil.
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Simple Pasta Sauce is a something I came up with when I had planned a nice spaghetti dinner, but soon realized that I had used up my supply of homemade Weekend Tomato Sauce, and had no store bought sauce in my pantry.  Dinner was at risk, I had no backup plan and had to come up with a solution quick.  I looked in the pantry, and much to my joy, I realized I could whip up a yummy sauce that wouldn’t take hours to prepare and cook.
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Pasta with Sausage Sauce is a great dish to make when the weather starts too cool down and the harvest has begun.  The simple sausage-cauliflower sauce is delicate and delicious, perfect for when you are wanting pasta but something different then the traditional red sauce.  Pasta with Sausage Sauce is sure to be a new favorite in your kitchen.
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Penne in Almond Sauce is a great weeknight recipe.  I love finding recipes where I can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken.  It makes cooking so much easier, and adds a lot of flavor to the dish.  More then just boiling your own chicken breasts.  The almond sauce is a perfect compliment to the pasta and chicken, giving the dish a light, unique flavor.
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Spinach Lasagna is a healthy, super flavorful pasta dish that the whole family is sure to love.  A few weeks before my son was born, I decided I wanted to stock the freezer with pre-made dinners that only had to be reheated in the oven or stove top.  This would help us in the first weeks after bringing baby home, and ensure we were still eating well.
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[donotprint]There is nothing better, every now and then, then a good Fettuccine Alfredo recipe.  Roasted Corn and Chicken Fettuccine is similar to an Alfredo sauce, but not as thick and using less butter, cream and cheese.  If you are looking for a comforting pasta recipe, with a touch of indulgence, Roasted Corn and Chicken Fettuccine is exactly what you are looking for.
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Creamy Pasta Primavera is a favorite dinner recipe, especially when spring veggies are abundant.  With farmers markets reopening, this is a great recipe to make that truly highlights the best in-season, local vegetables have to offer.  Creamy Pasta Primavera is a cinch to make, taking about 20 minutes total.  This recipe gets even better though, by offering a low calories, low fat, yet full flavor to the traditional Pasta Primavera recipes, with a hint of lemon.
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Mushroom Pasta Recipe is a simple dish to make, perfect for those busy weeknight meals.  The best thing about this recipe though, is that it is low fat so you can feel good about serving it to you and your family.  The recipe results in a creamy dish, full of flavor with no heavy cream in sight.  So much so, that you will have a hard time believing it is low fat.
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Healthy Mac and Cheese is an amazing recipe!  Honestly, I think it is the best macaroni and cheese you can make with great flavor, but a fraction of the fat and calories of the old fashioned kind.  This is a true comfort food.  Just remember to taste it for proper seasoning, and don’t overdo it.

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Trattoria Spinach Fettuccine is the kind of dish that small, neighborhood Italian restaurants serve.  It features an intensely flavored double-tomato sauce with tangy feta cheese.  This recipe is so simple with few ingredients that I almost wasn’t sure if it would live up to The Hungry Wife requirements.  I sure was glad that I tried this out, it has a delicate flavor that shines so well.  All the ingredients work together to make a beautiful pasta that doesn’t require any extra seasoning.
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I used to think that I wasn’t capable and it wasn’t worth my time to make homemade Tomato Sauce, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  There is something extremely gratifying in making your own sauce, and I’ve come up with a recipe that is pretty simple, perfect for first time Tomato Sauce makers.  Using canned crushed tomatoes and a jar of ready-to-use peeled and minced garlic, makes this recipe a snap to make.  Due to the 5 hour simmer time, I decided to call this Weekend Tomato Sauce, because you can make it on a weekend when you have some free time.
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I don’t think I can ever have too many casserole recipes.  The great thing about casseroles are that they are really easy to make, and often can be assembled ahead of time.  There is a casserole recipe for everyone, whether your a vegetarian, meat lover, or on a restricted diet.  Ham and Cheese Noodle Casserole is The Hungry Wife go to recipe for a delicious, quick meal.  It is also great to serve for when guests are over, serve it with a nice side salad and crusty bread, so good.
Ham and Cheese Noodle Casserole, continued…

Everyone needs a good shrimp and pasta recipe.  Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta is the perfect weeknight dinner, you can make it real quick when time is of the essence.  You can make this dish in less than 30 minutes.  The butter-wine sauce is simple yet very flavorful, and works so well with the shrimp.  It is like having scampi mixed in with your pasta.  I like to buy marinated artichokes, and even though they are drained before adding to the butter sauce, I think the marinated herbs and oil add a nice touch to the Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta.
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Roasted vegetables served on a bed of pasta puts a new spin on classic comfort food.  Try them topped with a spinkling of Parmesan or feta cheese.

To ensure even cooking and a pleasing appearance, cut all of the vegetables into approximately 1-inch cubes or pieces.  Seed the zucchini if it has a very seedy center.  Roasted vegetables are best served soon after baking.  If you’re not serving them right away, leave them on the baking sheet; when hot roasted vegetables sit in a serving bowl for too long, they steam and lose some of their special roasted texture.
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Sicilian Eggplant Pasta:  Eggplant Parmesan, is there nothing better?  And if you love to eat that dish, then you’re going to love this Sicilian Eggplant Pasta!  The Hungry Wife version of a rustic Southern Italian specialty pairs the crunchiness of fried eggplant with smooth fresh mozzarella that melts into the hot pasta.  The eggplant’s crisp egg coating prevents it from absorbing excess oil when frying.
Sicilian Eggplant Pasta, continued…

Ah, Macaroni and Cheese, the ultimate comfort food. There is no food that more people love, than a hot, creamy, cheesy bowl of Classic Macaroni and Cheese. No recipe collection is complete without a Macaroni and Cheese recipe. Buying the blue box with the powdered cheese does not compare to making it yourself, and it doesn’t take much longer.

This Classic Macaroni and Cheese recipe is a blank slate, which you can add ingredients to, try out different types of cheeses, and even bake it in the oven to make a nice crispy, cheesy top.  Here, comfort food finds its definition in the traditional cheesy macaroni.  For a little extra zip, add a shake of hot sauce.  For some other ideas, you can add chopped onions, caramelize the onions, or use onion salt.  Chopped ham can be mixed in with the dish, so can veggies, like broccoli, zucchini, or bell peppers.  Doen’t be afraid to use your imagination when making Mac and Cheese, or eat it just as it is, classic.
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Since moving to South Carolina last year, The Hungry Wife has been trying to embrace our new southern lifestyle.  A lot of that is trying out new foods, and ways to cook them.  So, when we saw this Creamy Pasta and Greens recipe in our local newspaper this morning, we thought to give it a try.  And are we glad we did!

This recipe is one of the best things The Hungry Wife has made thus far.  It has all the creamy deliciousness of an alfredo cheese sauce, mixed with the semi-bitter greens, sweetness of the bell peppers, little bit of heat from the crushed red pepper, and of course, the salty, smoky taste of yummy crispy bacon!  Everything is better with bacon.

Collard, turnip, mustard  – The Hungry Wife can take about any leafy green vegetable and make it sing.  Greens are rich iron and good for you, but many people love them simply for their taste.  If you can eat spinach, you’ll love all the other greens.  If you have never tried greens before this is your chance.  Creamy Pasta and Greens is pretty simple to make, and the best to eat.  Maybe not the most healthy recipe, but without a doubt, the most tasty and comforting.
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This Pasta with Easy Summer Sauce only requires a bit of chopping, and the green beans in the recipe cook right along with the pasta.  Here in Columbia, South Carolina it gets hot.  Really hot.  They call Columbia “famously hot” after all, and they weren’t joking.  The temperature is reliably around 90 everyday, and it’s only May.  So, what could be better in hot weather than a sauce that needs no cooking at all?

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Artichoke Lasagna Rolls are a perfect way to use up left over lasagna noodles.  I always seem to have a few left in the box – not enough for a whole pan of lasagna.  You may assemble the rolls ahead and refrigerate them until you’re ready to bake them.  Any leftover Artichoke Lasagna Rolls reheat nicely – just microwave them for 1 to 2 minutes.  When I made this recipe, I only had no-boil lasagna noodles in the pantry.  So, instead of making rolls I simply made lasagna the classic way (by layering sauce, noodle, ricotta mixture, mozzarella ect.), just on a smaller scale using the 8×8 dish.

Sometimes you need scaled-down recipes.  Maybe you live alone or with just one other person.  Maybe the rest of the family is out doing something else, and you don’t really feel like preparing a lot of food.  No matter why you’re on your own, this is a recipe to turn to.  Artichoke lasagna rolls are also awesome if you are looking for low-fat recipes.  Coming in with 545 calories, 12.7 grams of fat, 8.4 grams dietary fiber, 10 mg cholesterol, and 547 mg sodium per serving, Artichoke Lasagna Rolls and good for you too.  You don’t have to be a non-meat-eater to appreciate the deliciousness of the low-fat recipe.
Artichoke Lasagna Rolls, continued…