Easy Baked Penne with Sausage (small batch)

Tuesday, 18 July 2023

Easy Baked Penne with Sausage

 




This recipe for Easy Baked Penne with Sausage that I am sharing with you today is destined to become a firm favorite in your repertoire of quick and easy recipes that make a great weeknight supper any day of the year!



Not only is it delicious, but it goes together lickety split and uses very few simple basic store-cupboard ingredients.  It is a small batch recipe which serves 2 to 3 people which I adapted from a recipe I found on a blog called Salt & Lavender.




Easy Baked Penne with Sausage 






I really love the different names that people choose for their pages. I am sure there is a meaningful reason behind every choice.  I, myself, have been food blogging for many, many years now.



I started on the old AOL journals, and then moved to blogger when AOL shut down the journals. I started a page on Blogger called A Year from Oak Cottage because I was living in a cottage called Oak Cottage at the time in a small village in Kent, in the UK.



Easy Baked Penne with Sausage 
 





It was a daily mix of my thoughts and musings and of course a recipe each day. I got to the point however that I wanted to totally separate my personal thoughts and going's on from my cooking, which is when I started The English Kitchen.



Actually first I called it Marie Cooks Britain, but I didn't really like that name and so I changed it to The English Kitchen.  At first my photography was really appalling, but with time, experience and a better camera, the photography got much better.




Easy Baked Penne with Sausage






It is still not as good as what you will see on many other food blogs, but I like to keep things very real.  I don't edit anything, just point and shoot. The only editing I might do is to crop things sometimes.   



I am photography and technically challenged so you really see things basically as they are.  From the beginning I wanted this page to be only about the food and nothing else.


At one time it focused mainly on British cooking and English recipes, but of course with my return to Canada almost three years ago that changed somewhat.  I still do the occasional British Recipe, but like most North Americans am faced with the challenge of acquiring certain British ingredients to do some recipes.


So I now mingle the past with quite a few modern recipes, and North American recipes as well, and have been cooking a lot more over these past couple of years in small batch recipes. I am now living in a house of one person size and I realized that many of us are in the same boat. They are either an older person living on their own, or a pair of empty nesters, or maybe even a college student starting out in a kitchen for the very first time.


My focus now is on basic, simple, delicious recipes, smaller sized, uncomplicated and easy to cook, with not a lot of waste and as budget minded as possible.  I have a huge archive of British traditional recipes on here that anyone looking for  traditional British recipes can easily access, and from time to time I do cook a new one.



Easy Baked Penne with Sausage 





Its all delicious and that's the main thing. The new, the old, and everything in between.  Today's recipe really appealed to me on a variety of levels. First I loved the fact that it didn't require a multitude of ingredients.


Secondly I loved the fact that it was very easy and quick to throw together, and finally I loved the face that it was also incredibly delicious!  Quick, easy, delicious?  I am all for that!




Easy Baked Penne with Sausage







WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE EASY BAKED PENNE WITH SAUSAGE

This is really a very simple list of ingredients.  Almost everything is something I have in my cupboard, refrigerator or freezer most of the time!



  • 1/2 pound (8 ounces/227g) uncooked penne pasta
  • 2 thick Italian sausages, skinned and crumbled Italian sausages crumbled
  • 1/4 medium onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cups (340g) good marinara sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
  • 3/4 cups (90g) shredded mozzarella or cheddar (I used a cheddar mozzarella blend)
  • 1/2 cup (90g) freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • Salt & pepper as needed to taste

Easy Baked Penne with Sausage 





Now that I live on my own when I buy a package of sausages, I break it down into three packages and freeze them.  I usually buy the PC Free From Sausages.  Mild Italian or Bangers. Today I used Italian because this is a dish with Italian flair.  (They come 5 to a pack. I will freeze two each in two separate packages and one all on its own to enjoy fried.)


They are very quick and easy to thaw out as well. This morning I simply took the bag with two sausages in it and put it into a pan of cold water.  They were thawed out within the hour. Easy peasy.


I have also been buying smaller jars of pasta sauces as well. I find that there is less waste that way.  They are the perfect size for a recipe such as this one.



Easy Baked Penne with Sausage 




HOW TO MAKE EASY BAKED PENNE WITH SAUSAGE

I was very impressed with how quick and easy this was to make. I think you will be also!



Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions just to al dente. (Knock 2 minutes off the cook time.) Drain and rinse.


Crumble the sausage into a skillet and add the onions. Scramble fry until the sausage is cooked through and the onions are softened. If the sausage is very lean you can add a bit of oil.


Add the garlic and cook further for one minute. Pour in the sauce and heat through for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, adding the pepper flaks if using.


Stir in the cooked pasta, combining everything well together.





Easy Baked Penne with Sausage 





Butter an 8 inch square baking dish. Spread the pasta into the dish, leveling it out. Sprinkle both cheeses over top.


Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Heat the broiler/grill and cook for a further 5 minutes or so until the cheese is golden brown.


Remove from the oven and serve. A salad and some garlic bread goes very well with this.





Easy Baked Penne with Sausage 





This went down a real treat with some homemade garlic toast and a salad on the side. To make my garlic toast I took a couple slices of my cheese bread and cut the crusts off. (I had made a loaf for my son and his family on Friday.)  I buttered it lightly, sprinkled it with some garlic powder, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese and popped it into the oven on a baking tray along side of the pasta while it was baking.



The salad was simply some chopped Romaine lettuce, mixed with some sliced cucumber and halved cherry tomatoes.  A simple vinaigrette dressing went well, but so would any bottled dressing.



This was a really delicious meal that I really enjoyed. I sent the rest of it home with my sister who had stopped by after work. She feeds my father his supper every day and I knew that he would enjoy it! I also thought it would ease her burden a tiny bit on a day when she was working.



Easy Baked Penne with Sausage






One of the best things about living by myself now is that I can eat pasta 'til the cows come home!  I adore pasta and now I have nobody to please but myself!  If you love pasta also, you might also enjoy the following recipes:




MUSHROOM BROCCOLI PASTA - Rich and tasty this is a vegetarian style pasta with plenty of fresh mushrooms and crispy tender broccoli.  It has a rich and creamy cheesy sauce that goes very well with both the mushrooms and the broccoli. All in all it is a very tasty combination!





TIK TOK BAKED FETA PASTA FOR TWO -  I took on the tik tok challenge and was pleasantly surprised with this recipe which I had downsized just for two people.  You pop cherry tomatoes and feta cheese into a casserole and bake it, ready to be mashed together into a lush pasta sauce. Toss it with some cooked pasta and fresh basil, and you are done!




Yield: 3
Author: Marie Rayner
Easy Baked Penne with Sausage

Easy Baked Penne with Sausage

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min
A rich and meaty sauce, this is a very simple bake and sized perfectly for either 3 regular eaters or 2 hearty eaters. Its delicious!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound (8 ounces/227g) uncooked penne pasta
  • 2 thick Italian sausages, skinned and crumbled Italian sausages crumbled
  • 1/4 medium onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cups (340g) good marinara sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
  • 3/4 cups (90g) shredded mozzarella or cheddar (I used a cheddar mozzarella blend)
  • 1/2 cup (90g) freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • Salt & pepper as needed to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil.
  2. Cook the pasta according to the package directions just to al dente. (Knock 2 minutes off the cook time.) Drain and rinse.
  3. Crumble the sausage into a skillet and add the onions. Scramble fry until the sausage is cooked through and the onions are softened. If the sausage is very lean you can add a bit of oil.
  4. Add the garlic and cook further for one minute. Pour in the sauce and heat through for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, adding the pepper flaks if using.
  5. Stir in the cooked pasta, combining everything well together.
  6. Butter an 8 inch square baking dish. Spread the pasta into the dish, leveling it out. Sprinkle both cheeses over top.
  7. Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Heat the broiler/grill and cook for a further 5 minutes or so until the cheese is golden brown.
  8. Remove from the oven and serve. A salad and some garlic bread goes very well with this.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @marierayner5530 on instagram and hashtag it #marierayner5530
Easy Baked Penne with Sausage







This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com. 



 Thank you so much for visiting! Do come again! 



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Traditional Eton Mess

Monday, 17 July 2023

Eton Mess 





Over in the UK, Strawberries and Wimbledon go together like peas and carrots.  Generally speaking when Wimbledon is being played it is at the very height of the strawberry season.

Pims, Strawberries and Wimbledon. The trinity of seasonality in July in the UK.   One favorite dessert to make with fresh berries in July is the Traditional Eton Mess. 

 
Eton Mess 






Crunchy Meringues, softly whipped cream, fresh strawberries, nothing says summer more than this easy and delicious dessert!  It is a dessert tradition that goes way back to the late 1800's.




It is said to have been created to serve at an annual cricket match at Eton College, which is a private school which both Prince William and Prince Harry attended. The son of a friend of mine also attended Eaton on a scholarship.



Eton Mess 




The first written recipe came about in 1893 when Queen Victoria was in attendance to a pre-wedding party for her eldest son. At that time it was called, Eton Mess aux Fraises. This embodies the penchant of British aristocrats to want to label their haute cuisine as being French.  Translated to English It merely means Eton Mess of Strawberries.


The loose way in which the dessert is amassed is what makes it a "mess."  And a very tasty mess it is indeed!  You can read more about the history of this very traditional dessert here.  



Eton Mess 

 



Essentially it is a stir together of softly whipped cream, broken crisp meringues and fresh strawberries. Sometimes a bit of brandy or even a liqueur is whipped into the cream.  The berries are cut in half or chopped.

There is no need for sweetener as the meringues on their own are quite sweet, and if you pick the right berries, they are also nice and sweet.



Eton Mess





Originally the dessert was made with either strawberries or bananas and mixed with either ice cream or cream. Broken meringues were a later addition.



Whatever its origins, one thing remains the same, it is a quintessential summer dessert that is delicious simple, easy and quick to make!  You can use other fruits, but strawberries are traditional.



Eton Mess

 
 



WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TRADITIONAL ETON MESS

Basically only three simple ingredients and a few minutes of your time.  That is if you use ready made meringues, obviously if you make your own meringues from scratch it will take longer. Quantities are for two servings. To serve more people simply double or triple.


  • 3 individual meringues
  • 1 cup (240ml) whipping or double cream
  • 1/2 pound (250g) fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled and chopped
  • Whole fresh strawberries to garnish



Eton Mess 






HOW TO MAKE TRADITIONAL ETON MESS

It really could not be easier.



Wash and hull your berries, reserving a few of the nicer looking ones for the garnish. Chop the remainder of them.


Whip the cream just until it is softly held. Do not overwhip it. You don't want it to be rigid. Always stop beating just before you think you have to.


Crush the meringues. Fold 2/3 of them into the whipped cream.


Have ready two dessert cups. (I like to use Bonne Maman jars.)


Layer the whipped cream, berries and crushed reserved meringues in the glass jars. I like to begin and end with the cream.


Top each dessert with a whole washed berry to decorate. Serve immediately.


Notes

If you are so inclined and really want to give your Eton Mess a bit of a kick you can beat 2 TBS of brandy with the cream.


Eton Mess 






This really is one of my favorite summer time desserts. Perfect for entertaining, it is quick, easy, and delicious, it always goes down a real treat whether you are serving one person, two people or a dozen people.  I have NEVER had anyone turn up their nose at this!



Our strawberries are almost finished here now.  Just the stragglers left. You might be able to get this dessert in just in time before they are all gone!




Eton Mess

 





Some other desserts in The English Kitchen which are very similar that you might also enjoy are:


CLARE COLLEGE MUSH - This particular recipe varies somewhat from the traditional Eton Mess in that it uses a mixture of yogurt and whipped cream, with a splash of Raspberry liqueur to fold the fruit and meringues into. Simple and delicious.


BANOFFEE MESS -  A simple variation which uses crushed meringues, sliced banana, toasted pecans and toffee sauce.  A deliciously moreish splodgy mess!  Bet nobody will be turning this one down!



Yield: 2
Author: Marie Rayner
Eton Mess

Eton Mess

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 15 Min
As English in the early summer as trifle and summer pudding, this is one of the easiest desserts to make. Double quantities to make 4 servings.

Ingredients

  • 3 individual meringues
  • 1 cup (240ml) whipping or double cream
  • 1/2 pound (250g) fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled and chopped
  • Whole fresh strawberries to garnish

Instructions

  1. Wash and hull your berries, reserving a few of the nicer looking ones for the garnish. Chop the remainder of them.
  2. Whip the cream just until it is softly held. Do not overwhip it. You don't want it to be rigid. Always stop beating just before you think you have to.
  3. Crush the meringues. Fold 2/3 of them into the whipped cream.
  4. Have ready two dessert cups. (I like to use Bonne Maman jars.)
  5. Layer the whipped cream, berries and crushed reserved meringues in the glass jars. I like to begin and end with the cream.
  6. Top each dessert with a whole washed berry to decorate. Serve immediately.

Notes

If you are so inclined and really want to give your Eton Mess a bit of a kick you can beat 2 TBS of brandy with the cream.


I have a recipe here to make perfect meringues. Just leave off the almonds. Or use ready made meringues.

Did you make this recipe?
Tag @marierayner5530 on instagram and hashtag it #marierayner5530



Eton Mess






This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com. 



 Thank you so much for visiting! Do come again! 



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Meals of the Week July 9th - 15th

Sunday, 16 July 2023

 

Meals of the Week



Here I am again with another Meals of the Week post!  It seems that you all enjoy these posts and I have to say I am happy for that because I really enjoy putting them together.  Somehow sharing what you have eaten makes you more accountable I think and helps to keep me on the right path!  There's no getting lazy when you know you are going to be sharing some eating inspiration with others!


I do think that when you are a person who lives all on their own, or if you are an elderly person, the temptation is there to just not want to bother much with cooking and preparing meals. It is all to easy to just open a can or pop a frozen dinner into the oven or the microwave.


The truth is however those ready meals are more often than not loaded with fat, salt and preservatives and I happy to believe we are worth much more than that and worth the effort!  They are okay once in a while if you really get into a spot, but a steady diet of them is not a very good thing for anyone!


With that in mind I aim to share my weekly menus with you each week so that, hopefully, you can be inspired to want to cook and plan some of the same for yourself!


A lot of time was spent with family this week, but I still managed to cook me up some incredible deliciousness.  Here we go!



Instant Pot Pot Roast



SUNDAY, July 9th - Dinner at my sisters

Most Sunday's I go to my sister's for supper.  This week she had pot roast which my brother in law cooked on the BBQ. (Its been quite warm and humid.)  My sister just puts everything into a deep tin foil pan, covers it tightly with aluminum foil and pops it onto the BBQ. 


My Brother in law closes the lid the BBQ and it roasts as if it was in an oven.  Just on a medium low heat and he rotates the pan every so often. It wasn't a large roast, just a medium to small one and there were potatoes, onions and carrots in the pan, plus beef broth.


Another way to beat the heat and cook a good pot roast is to use an Instant Pot. You can access my recipe for a delicious Instant Pot Pot Roast here.  Its fabulously tasty and very simple to make.



Cold Plate



MONDAY, July 10th - Cold Plate 


On Monday, it was still pretty hot and humid. I had all sorts of cold salads left from my sister's Birthday Celebration on the Saturday so I put myself together a Cold Plate. Cold Plates are very popular here in the Maritime Provinces in the summer months. I shared a tutorial on the blog on how to put one together.


On this particular day I had some cold roast chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, cucumber sticks, tomatoes and lettuce. It was delicious and because I already had the salads in, not a lot of trouble. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy as they say!



Tuna Melt Sliders



TUESDAY, July 11th - Tuna Melt Sliders 


It was still pretty hot and humid. That's July here in Nova Scotia.  Every once in a while we will get a big thunderstorm to help release some of it and cool things off.  On this particular day I turned my oven on briefly to make some Tuna Melt Sliders. 


This was a small batch recipe. My favorite tuna salad, combined with a layer of grated cheddar cheese in soft slider buns, which had been brushed with an onion Dijon butter prior to baking.  They are only in the oven for about 15 minutes altogether so not long enough to really heat up the kitchen.


Just long enough to melt the cheese.  The buns stay nice and soft with crisp tops and the cheese is all melty gooey.  I enjoyed this with some crinkle crisps (potato chips) on the side.



True Newf Poutine



WEDNESDAY, July 12th - Lunch at Jonny's Cook House 

I had wanted to take my sister out for lunch on her actual birthday the week before but the place we wanted to go to was actually closed and so we rescheduled for this week. My cousin Sheri joined us with her little boy Sawyer. It is one of our favorite places to eat!  The food is great!  And they have a bazillion different flavors of Ice Cream.


We had fish and chips, because theirs is really good, but usually we have the True Newf Poutine.  Since I developed a copy cat recipe for it (see link in previous sentence) we usually have fish and chips.  That True Newf Poutine is fabulous.  Hot crisp fries, cheese curds, hot gravy and a generous amount of Newfie style stuffing scattered over top! A real favorite around here!




Tater Tot Chicken Pot Pie



THURSDAY, July 13th -  Tater Tot Chicken Pot Pie


I used some leftover cooked chicken I had in the freezer to make a two person sized Tater Tot Chicken Pot Pie on Thursday.  This has all of the delicious flavors of a normal pot pie, with a rich and creamy gravy filled with cubed chicken, onions, peas, corn, and carrots.  


This is put into a baking dish, topped with a layer of grated cheese and then frozen tater tots are put on top to cover.  Baked in the oven the filling gets all lovely and bubbly and those tater tots get golden crispy brown delicious!  So yummy. I enjoyed with a side salad for a wonderfully economical and tasty supper! 


Instant Pot Beef Stew



FRIDAY, July 14th - Delicious Instant Pot Beef Stew 


My son arrived on Friday with his sweet wife and their three boys. They had requested that I make stew for supper. They love my stew.  I doubled my Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe and used potatoes instead of gnocchi this time around. They loved it!  Tender chunks of lean beef and vegetables in a rich beef gravy.  Delicious! 


I also baked a loaf of my favorite Cheese Bread in the bread machine which went down a real treat with the stew!


Peachy Lemon Whip


For dessert we had Peachy Lemon Whip. This is a simple refrigerator dessert I have been making since my high school Home Economics days. Its simply delicious with a graham cracker crust bottom, a lush lemon whip over top and tinned peaches to cover. 


Cheese Crusted Grilled Cheese


SATURDAY, July 15th -  Cheese Crusted Grilled Cheese  


After feeding up my son and his family on pancakes, sausage and bacon for breakfast, they went on their way to camp. They will be back again once camp is over for a few days and we will have our real visit then.   I am looking forward to hearing all about their camp!


I was exhausted though by the time supper rolled around so I made myself something simple. Just a cheese crusted grilled cheese sandwich and a mug of tomato soup.  It was perfect. Not a lot to clean up afterwards and nice and filling. No fuss, no muss.


And there you have it my meals for the past week. I tried to keep my kitchen nice and cool this past week!  I think I will be doing the same in the week to come!  It was  a very delicious week nonetheless and I got to share a lot of it with family, which was the best part of all!



This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com 




Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!



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