Toss It Together Pasta Surprise Recipes

PESTO SURPRISE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; rinse with cold water and drain.
• Prepared zesty Italian dressing according to package directions.
• In a large bowl, toss together pasta, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, green olives and cheese. Pour dressing over all, add pesto, and stir until evenly coated. Refrigerate or serve immediately.

FIVE INGREDIENT PASTA TOSS

Steps:

• Combine the olive oil and garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the bow tie pasta and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Place the pasta, beans, tomatoes, basil, and 2 tablespoons of the garlic olive oil in a large bowl; toss gently until combined. Serve the remaining olive oil at the table to drizzle over individual servings.

SUMMER PASTA TOSS II

Steps:

• In a large pot with boiling salted water cook pasta until al dente. Drain.
• In a large saucepan heat the Italian dressing and olive oil together over medium heat. Add drained spaghetti; toss well to coat. Add chopped tomatoes, chicken or turkey, and grated Parmesan cheese and toss lightly.
• Serve warm.

SURPRISE PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until almost cooked; about 10 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
• Using a food processor, chop the onion finely. Wash it out and then put in the bell pepper. It should turn to liquid. That's the surprise!
• Add tomato paste, garlic, onions, oregano, and bell pepper juice to the browned beef. Allow it to settle a little bit, folding it all together. Add the tomatoes and cover; simmer for another 15 minutes. With a fork or spatula crush the tomatoes and blend the juice into the sauce; continue simmering for about 10 more minutes. Serve over cooked pasta.

SIMPLE PASTA TOSS

Steps:

• Cook and drain pasta as directed.
• While pasta is cooking, in a large pot, heat olive oil and saute chicken, garlic, salt, garlic powder, basil, and oregano until chicken is cooked.
• Add sun-dried tomatoes and cook for two minutes.
• Remove from heat and toss with pasta.
• Serve with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

SHRIMP TORTELLINI PASTA TOSS

Steps:

• Cook tortellini according to package directions, adding peas during the last 5 minutes of cooking., Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink., Drain tortellini mixture; add to skillet. Stir in salt, thyme, pepper and remaining oil; toss to coat.

NOT-SAGNA PASTA TOSS

Steps:

• Heat a large pot of water to boil for pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Heads up: you will need a ladle of the starchy cooking water to help form sauce before draining.
• Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the meat and break it up into small bits as it caramelizes. Once meat has good color to it, 4 to 5 minutes, add garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and season with salt, pepper, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 5 minutes, deglaze the meat and onions with red wine, cook off a minute, then combine about 1/2 cup of stock into the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.
• Place ricotta cheese in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Add a ladleful of boiling, starchy pasta water to the ricotta and stir to combine. Add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan to the ricotta and mix it in.
• Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with cheeses. Add half the thick meat sauce to the pasta bowl and combine. Tear or shred the basil and add to the meat and pasta, toss again. Taste to adjust salt and pepper. Serve bowlfuls of Not-sagna with extra sauce on top and more grated Parmesan to pass at the table.