Penne Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce

A very yummy recipe that I just tried tonight....it originally came from the Cook Yourself Thin show I guess. My neighbor tried it and passed it on to me.

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil, plus extra
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cp chopped red onion
3/4 tsp salt
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
Pinch red pepper
8 oz penne
1/4 cp heavy cream
2.5 oz evaporated nonfat milk
1/3 cp grated Parmesan
1/4 cp shredded fresh basil
1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the penne.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the 2 tsp oil with the garlic over low heat until the garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the onion and 1/4 tsp salt, cover, and cook until the onion is softened, about 2 more minutes.
4. Add the tomato, 1/2 tsp salt, and the red pepper.
5. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, and simmer very gently for 10 minutes.
6. After the sauce has simmered for 5 minutes, add the penne to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente, about 6 minutes.
7. After the sauce has simmered for 10 minutes, stir in the cream and evaporated milk and simmer 1 more minute.
8. Drain the penne, reserving about 1/2 cp pasta water.
9. Add the drained penne to the sauce and simmer until the penne is al dente, about 1-2 more minutes. Add a little of the pasta cooking water if the mixture is dry.
10. Stir in 1/4 cp of the Parmesan, along with the basil and black pepper.
11. Sprinkle additional olive oil and Parmesan over the food if desired. Serve.

This yields 4 servings.

When we made the dish, we just used minced garlic instead of whole cloves, since that is what we had on hand. For the same reason, we substituted shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese for the Parmesan. It turned out really good!

Root Beer Pork

So, my husband and I enjoy cooking together, particularly on the weekends. We also like to periodically try out new recipes, a fact which undoubtedly would shock my mother, who was used to hearing me moan and groan on "new recipe night" when I was growing up. However, now Vic and I find we both get bored of having the same dinners all the time--unless of course they consist of pizza or Taco Bell. Mmmmm....yummy! Anyway, we came across a recipe for root beer pork and were intrigued enough to try it. My thought was, it'd either be really good or absolutely terrible. If the latter, we had a backup frozen pizza :) Turns out it fell on the side of really good! So, in case anyone is interested, the recipe is below.

Root Beer Pork

Ingredients

• 4 (1 inch thick) pork chops, or 1 pork tenderloin, cut into medallions
• 3 (12 fl oz) cans root beer
• 1 cp beef stock
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp chipotle-flavored hot sauce (we substituted 1/4 tsp liquid smoke & 1/3 tsp Taco Bell hot sauce)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. Place the pork into a dish and cover with 2 cans of root beer. Place in refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours. We marinated for 5 hours.
2. In a saucepan, combine the remaining can of root beer, beef stock, brown sugar, hot sauce (and liquid smoke if desired), and Worcestershire sauce. I added a pinch of salt (omit if you follow the cooking instructions for the chops below). Simmer the mixture over medium heat until it reduces to about 3/4 cup. This took us roughly 45 minutes. Set mixture aside.
3. Lightly oil the grill and preheat for medium-high heat.
4. Take the pork out of the marinade and season with salt and pepper to taste. Discard the marinade.
5. Cooking instructions for the chops: Grill the pork until no longer pink in the center or until the thermometer reads 160 deg. F. According to the recipe, this takes 8 minutes per side. Baste the chops generously with the reduction sauce and continue cooking for about 2 minutes more per side. Remove from grill and baste with any remaining sauce. Season with salt to taste before serving.
6. Cooking instructions for the medallions: Vic said he cooked the medallions for 6 minutes on one side. After flipping, he began basting the medallions continuously and cooked them for 4-5 more minutes. He then flipped the medallions back to the first side and cooked for an additional minute, basting continuously. (By this time, the thermometer said well over 160 deg F). Remove from grill and baste again. There will be leftover sauce; discard.

Enjoy!