try this carnival: PASTA!!! **GIVEAWAY!!**

Welcome to the  monthly "Try This: Spice Up Your Kitchen" carnival! This month's theme is PASTA. I don't know about  you, but pasta is an absolute staple in my house and one of the main reasons I could never do a no-carb diet. I love me some pasta!

Today I invite you to share your family's favorite pasta recipe with us. We have several, so it was hard to narrow it down. But I chose a recipe that my family totally loves. I don't know where it came from, it was kind-of invented with what we had laying around and morphed into a family favorite! 

Sausage and Spinach Pasta

1 pound of your favorite pasta (I recommend orecchiette or shells)
1 lb sweet italian sausage, casings removed
1 package of fresh baby spinach
1/4 c chopped sweet onion
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
Parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, according to package instructions. Drain (reserving 1/4 cup pasta water) and return to pot.
2. Brown sausage in a large skillet. When almost done, drain if needed, and add onion. Brown for a few minutes more and add spinach. Stir frequently until spinach is wilted, then add garlic and stir for about one minute more. Add diced tomatoes and reserved pasta water, simmering for about 5 minutes to let flavors blend.
3. Serve sausage mixture over pasta, garnish with parmesan cheese as desired!

This month's carnival is extra special. I am giving away TWO cookbooks! The super handy and helpful Busy People's Fast and Frugal Cookbook AND The Silver Spoon Pasta Cookbook, which is just gorgeous and has over 350 amazing pasta recipes!! Both of these cookbooks are just fabulous and you will return to them again and again! I will pick two winners who will each win one cookbook! Yay!

Here are the rules:
1. Contest ends Saturday, November 7.
2. Entry #1: Submit a recipe to the carnival. (It can be an old post on your blog - just remember to link to the specific post, not your whole blog please.)
3. Entry #2: Leave a comment telling me what your very, very favorite comfort food is.
4. Entry #3:  Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winner will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

I hope you all have a great time looking through all the recipes today – I cannot WAIT to find some new pasta recipes!! And remember: when you add your post to the Mr. Linky, please link to your specific post – not your general blog URL.
Here's how to play, if you have questions.

Comments

[auntie brenda]

Creamy Ziti

1 lb. bacon
1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms
1 lb. ziti
3/4 cup half and half
1/3 cup margarine
2 tsp. parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup scallions

Cook bacon. Set aside and drain most of the drippings. In same pan, combine mushrooms, garlic and scallions. Cook until golden.

In separate pan, melt margarine. Add half and half, parsley and cheese. Add bacon and veggies. Pour over cooked pasta.

[Kellyn]

See...the spinach did me in. I can't eat cooked spinach, uncooked is wonderful though. I would so make this without that though! lol

Comfort food...chili. It stands, I just love it. Or Chicken noodle soup...now I am hungry. It's too early for chili! lol

[Kellyn]

I tweeted!

http://twitter.com/fritzfactz/statuses/5448141993

[Musings of a Housewife]

My favorite comfort food? Hm. That's a hard one. I'm going with pizza. :-)

[Jennifer Y.]

Well, my very favorite pasta dish in the whole wide world was Penne Rustica from Macaroni Grill. Then the closed them all down in the area!! I have yet to attempt it myself. Thanks for the reminder. I must find a recipe and try to make this!!

Here is a crockpot recipe for super easy chicken alfredo.

Crockpot Chicken Alfredo
4-5 large boneless chicken breasts
2 jars alfredo sauce
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
16 oz. box pasta
1/2 bag fresh spinach (optional)
salt, pepper, and garlic to taste

1. Put chicken in the crockpot, sprinkle with seasonings.
2. Pour alfredo sauce over chicken and top with mushrooms. Season again.
3. Cook on low for 4 hours. (I have put the chicken in frozen and cooked for 8 hours on low. Turns out fine. Disclaimer: don't try this if you are not comfortable with putting the meat in frozen. I am, but some people get in a tizzy.)
4. If adding spinach, add spinach at the end and cook until just wilted.
5. Cook pasta according to package diretions.
6. I sometimes shred the chicken and mix it up with the sauce, or you can serve the whole piece over pasta.
6. Serve pasta with chicken & sauce.

[Jennifer Y.]

My very favorite comfort food is mashed potatoes. Made with cream. And butter.

[busygirl]

Favorite comfort food? Give me plain ol' spaghetti any day!

[busygirl]

oooh I tweeted the carnival as well :)

[Jennifer Y.]

Tweeted: http://twitter.com/jlk77/status/5453034053

[Eve]

Rosemary Chicken Pasta Alfredo

Ingredients You Will Need:
2 cups cooked fettuccini (1 cup uncooked, 8 to 10 oz)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large, skinless, boneless chicken breasts cubed
2 cups Alfredo sauce

Place pasta in boiling water, and cook until al dente. This takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain pasta.

While pasta is cooking, pour oil, rosemary, Italian seasoning, lemon juice and salt into a large skillet. When the oil heats up, toss the cubed chicken into the skillet. Let chicken cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The chicken is done when the juices run clear. Pour pasta and Alfredo sauce into skillet with chicken. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. When the sauce is warm, the dish is done. Remove skillet from stove, and serve.

[Eve]

my favorite comfort food is mashed potatoes and gravy

[Eve]

http://twitter.com/shopgurl/status/5487223457 tweet

[Juice]

Comfort food - shepherd's pie the way my mama makes it!

[Karen]

I just made a very similar dish last night, one that I had first tried a couple of months ago. It is DELICIOUS: http://verbatim.blogs.com/verbatim/2009/09/a-new-dinnertime-favorite.html
I'm going to have to keep coming back to this post to see all the great recipes!

[Karen]

My favorite comfort food is a big bowl of stuffing and gravy the day after Thanksgiving!