Jammie's Pasta

I created this recipe a few years ago for a wedding reception. We needed an inexpensive way to feed a LOT of people and what a better way to fill hungry people up, than pasta! A family friend requested the recipe for her daughter's wedding reception, so I thought that I would share it with everyone. This recipe can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, and so on to feed as many as you need to...I hope you enjoy!

Hugs,
Jennifer 

Jammie’s Pasta

1 stick plus 2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 Tbsp minced garlic

6 green onions (white and green parts), sliced

16 ounces sliced mushrooms

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced

Cajun seasoning to taste

32 ounces of your choice of pasta (I like to use different pastas with a variety of colors to make for a pretty presentation).

Bring a large stock pot full of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to stock pot; toss with 2 Tbsp butter and set aside.

 Melt remaining butter in a large skillet; add olive oil.  On medium heat add onions, garlic, bell pepper, mushroom, salt and pepper; sauté until all vegetables are tender. Remove vegetables and set aside. Add chicken and sausage and cook until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. 

Combine pasta, chicken, sausage, and vegetables to a large serving bowl; sprinkle with Cajun seasoning to taste; stir thoroughly to incorporate all ingredients. Enjoy!

Servings: 8-10 Dinner Servings or

Approximately 20-25 Party/Reception Servings

Ashton's 21st Birthday Dinner..."This Ain't Paula Deen's Shrimp Scampi!"

Now, don't get me wrong, my family LOVES food and down home cookin'! BUT we are trying to do better and since Ashton has been doing so well on her new healthy lifestyle journey, I didn't want to sabotage her with her special birthday dinner. After throwing out several ideas, she settled on shrimp scampi.

Now, my normal shrimp scampi recipe is loaded with FAT and calories but OH SO TASTY! Well let me back up, I don't ever really use a recipe; I usually just throw stuff together without measuring and it always seems to turn out the same; which makes it hard to publish a recipe because I have to mentally go back through my steps and type it all up. 

My fat gram-carb lovin' family never skipped a beat when they sat down to enjoy this dish. We served this with a healthy green salad and a NOT so healthy slice of toasted garlic bread...you gotta have somethin' to sop up all those delicious juices, right?

So, here is the recipe...try it out and judge for yourself. 

Light Shrimp Scampi with Spaghetti Squash

3 pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

½ stick of butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth

1 medium onion diced

16 ounces sliced white mushrooms

4 green onions, sliced

1 ½ Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 Spaghetti squash (or your choice of cooked pasta)

Butter Flavored Pam cooking spray

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Onion Powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place the spaghetti squash in the microwave on high for 6 minutes or until the squash is tender enough to cut in half. Once the squash has been cut in half; scoop out the seeds; trying to keep as much of the pulp intact as possible.  Spray the squash with cooking spray and sprinkle a generous amount of garlic powder and onion powder over the entire inside of the squash; then add salt and pepper to taste.  Place on the cookie sheet face down and bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven then scrape with two forks.

In a large skillet, melt butter then add olive oil. Sauté mushrooms, onions, and garlic until mushrooms are soft and onions are transparent. Add chicken broth, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper then bring to a boil. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink.  Stir in parsley and serve over a bed of spaghetti squash or your favorite al dente pasta.

The spaghetti squash was such a great pasta swap...we will definitely use this swap again! 

Enjoy! 

Jennifer