This post is Sponsored By La Famiglia
I don’t know about you but pasta seems to be a dinner winner in our house on most nights with the kids. With this in mind we decided to put a collection of our favourite family pasta recipes together below. The only thing that tends to get a bit boring at times is the fact that we have the same dinners over and over. I guess for me it is more painful to hear my kids whinge about their dinner than it is to have the same thing.
Sometimes just to mix it up a bit I like to add something to the mix to try and keep it interesting. This is mostly for my own sanity haha. One thing we have found is a favourite in our household is garlic bread. It tends to go well with pasta dishes and makes it feel a little more interesting and fancy. We recently had the chance to try out the La Famiglia garlic bread and I have to say it was super tasty.
If you are a fan of garlic bread then you have to give La Famiglia a go and I promise you won’t be disappointed. You can also check out their La Famiglia facebook page here. In fact we are giving one reader the chance to win a year supply of La Famiglia garlic bread just by commenting on the blog post below and telling us one way you take your family meals from simple to special?
Check out our family pasta recipes below …
1) Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 stick of chorizo, thinly sliced
400g of chicken breast strips
1 green capsicum, sliced into strips
5 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup of cream
1 cup of white wine
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 tablespoon of water
500g penne pasta
parmesan and cracked black pepper to taste
Method
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken strips until they are golden brown.
3. Add the chorizo and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Then add in the sliced green capsicum and sliced mushrooms and fry for approx. 2 minutes.
5. Mix together the cream and white wine and add to the chicken mix. Stir in thoroughly.
6. Mix the cornflour and water together stirring slowly into the chicken – this will thicken the sauce. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes.
7. Toss the pasta through. Serve the pasta dish with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper on top to taste.
2) Hidden Vegetable Spaghetti Bolognaise
Ingredients:
1 large finely grated carrot
1 large finely grated zucchini
6 large finely grated mushrooms
1 tin of tomoatoes
1 jar of pasta sauce
500 grams of mince
Pasta
Instructions:
Finely grate all vegetables
Place mince in a frypan and brown
Add tin tomatoes and pasta sauce to the mince and stir
Add grated vegetables to the mince and stir
Cook on simmer for at least 20 mins
Boil pasta of choice
Serve
3) Mini Noodle Sweetcorn Omelette
Preparation
Break up the noodles and place into a heatproof bowl with the peas. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 2 minutes, then drain well. Return to the bowl and add the contents of the noodle flavour sachet, corn and eggs. Spray a small non-stick frying pan lightly with oil. Heat the pan and spoon 2 tbs of the mixture into a small pile. Spread out to about 7cm in diameter. Cook over medium heat for 1 1/2 minutes each side. Repeat with remaining mixture to make 12 omelettes (you can cook 3-4 at a time). Serve with salad.
Ingredients
? 75g packet fat free chicken 2 minute noodles
? 1/2 cup frozen peas
? 125g can corn kernels, drained
? 4 eggs, lightly beaten
? spray olive oil
? salad, to serve
4) Atlantic Salmon and Mushroom Pesto Pasta
Ingredients:
2 Fresh or Frozen Salmon Fillets (250-280 grams total)
Mushrooms
One Jar of Pesto
Pasta (any kind)
Instructions:
Cut up mushrooms into small bite sized pieces
Cook Salmon in Fry Pan
Cook Mushrooms in Fry Pan
Cook Pasta in water on Stove
Once pasta is cooked mix cooked mushrooms and cut up chunks of salmon through the pasta
Mix 4-6 tablespoons of pesto through pasta
Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese
5) Macaroni Beef
Ingredients
500g elbow or macaroni pasta
500g good quality mince
1 tablespoon dried onion
2 teaspoons dried garlic powder
1.5 tablespoon of Tuscan seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1 red capsicum, seeded and diced finely
100mls water
400g tin of diced tomatoes
Instructions
Cook pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
Add mince, carrot, zucchini and capsicum to a large frying pan and cook over medium heat. Add a little oil if needed.
Once mince has browned, add tomatoes, water, dried herbs and spices.
Break up mince and tomatoes with a spoon.
Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring often.
Stir through cooked pasta.
Recipe Originally from TRTLMT
6) Creamy Bacon and Spinach Penne Pasta
Ingredients:
6 rashers of bacon, sliced into thin strips
1 can of evaporated milk (375ml)
1 brown onion, diced
5 mushrooms, sliced
bunch of spinach leaves
parmesan cheese, shaved
salt & pepper
400g penne pasta
Instructions:
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add your pasta.
Heat oil in a fry pan and add onion and cook until it is translucent.
Add in the bacon and cook through. Add in the mushrooms.
Stir in the evaporated milk and add the spinach leaves.
Leave it for 5 minutes to simmer away as it thickens. The spinach leaves will wilt in this time.
Once your pasta is cooked, drain and then add to the creamy bacon mix and stir through thoroughly.
When you are plating up, add the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
7) Chicken and Vegetable Pasta
Ingredients:
2 x Chicken Breasts
1 Small onion chopped
1 Carrot sliced
1/2 Jar Pasta Sauce
Pasta
Instructions:
Cut up and brown the 2 chicken breasts.
Put pasta on to cook
Add the chopped onions and sliced carrots
Mix in half a jar of pasta sauce
Once pasta is cooked add the pasta and sauce together.
Serve.
8) Tuna and Macaroni Pasta
Ingredients:
Tin of Tuna
Tablespoon of Butter
Sprinkle of dried Parsley
Macaroni Pasta
Instructions:
Cook macaroni pasta
Add tin of tuna
Add butter
Add Parsley
Mix together and service
9) Pesto Pasta
Ingredients:
Spiral pasta
Pesto
Chopped Cherry Tomatoes
Baby Spinach
Pine Nuts
Parmesan
Instructions:
Cook Spiral Pasta
Drain and add pesto once cooked
Slightly sear cheery tomatoes, baby spinach and pine nuts in a frypan with some pesto
Add vegetables to the pasta and mix through
Season with Parmesan
10) Vegemite Pasta
Ingredients:
Pasta of your choice
Butter
Vegemite
Parmesan
Instructions:
Cook pasta
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to 1 tablespoon of Vegemite per serve
Mix together off the heat
Add fresh parmesan cheese on top
Competition
We are giving one reader the chance to win a year supply of La Famiglia garlic bread (1 x loaf per week for 52 weeks = $330 which will come to you in the form of supermarket gift vouchers) just by commenting on the blog post below and telling us one way you take your family meals from simple to special? The competition is open from the 23/10/15 and closes at midnight on the 08/11/15.
Terms and Conditions: Entering the Giveaway: To enter you must answer our question as part of the Giveaway entrance. You are able to only enter once via each entry option for this Giveaway. Do not submit duplicate entries or addresses as this will not improve your chances of winning. Use of Entrant Information: Any information you fill out for this Giveaway will not be used for any other purpose except to notify you if you are the winner. Drawings: The winners will selected based on the answers to the competition question. Prizes: One individual person will each receive a year supply of La Famiglia garlic bread (1 x loaf per week for 52 weeks = $330 which will come to you in the form of supermarket gift vouchers).The Giveaway is open only to legal Australian residents 18 years of age or older. School Mum is not responsible for (1) typographical errors, misdirected or incomplete entries; or (2) computer or telecommunication system failures or similar disruptions to email services and/or the Internet. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. The competition ends at 11.59pm on the 8th of Novmeber 2015.
33 Comments
By using different techniques to cook our food! I like to look in websites and recipe books to get different ideas and inspiration to turn something simple into something special.
To make dinner a bit more special I aim to try 1 new recipe a week, and we always sit down and eat as a family! It is definitely our favourite time of day together.
I love to add my own special touches to otherwise traditional pasta dishes.
I like to add a little elements of fun to my meals. My kids are 6 & 4, so they enjoy being able to use the pepper grinder themselves, or serve themselves food with the tongs. Or even berries in ice blocks! Really simple things, but my kids really enjoy them 🙂
My meals become extra special when the kids help me make it!. When they have helped they always seem to finish everything as well 😀
I love creating humble and artistic meals that my family can enjoy and have fun with. Such as pasta pizza’s, taco’s or rice paper rolls, where my family can get involved and have fun cooking!
Get the kids involved in the cooking they always enjoy eating anything they have made themselves way better than anything I make for them!
A dish can go from plain Jane to gourmet. We stew our own fruits from the fruit trees in our garden, we grown some fresh herbs for a rich taste sensation. It’s all about love and care.
We make meals extra special by sharing the work and cooking together.
We add extra pureed vegetables/vegetable stock to most meals. In this way we are provide a nutritional boost and adding delicious fresh flavours. Definitely a case of “What they don’t know won’t hurt them!” 😉
Adding the right HERBS & SPICES can take any meal from ORDINARY to EXTRAORDINARY!
Parsley – That is all! Seriously though, just adding a fresh little sprig of this vibrant green frilly wonder atop of a meal magically uplifts the look of any dish and instantly adds a touch of fancy…
(Plus it literally grows like a weed which is perfect for any serial plant killer like me!) 😀
By adding so edible garnish to ligthen it up with edible micro herbs or flowers
A bowl of pasta is simple, but when there’s a plate of La Famiglia pan bread on the side, it goes from simple to special. Can’t get enough of that pan bread, so good!
I simply tell my kids that there meals are made with love, they cant argue with that
I always cut my food fancy its a treat for the kids and it doesn’t make meal time boring
I will only try new foods or meals on days that I know they won’t be tired – there’s no point doing it on a Friday night after a long week of school.
I add in a little Asian touch to every meal. This could even include eating foods using chopsticks!
We have two very young kids, so the food itself is rarely special. But we do make an effort to eat dinner together.
Master 4s favourite meal is anything with cucumber, broccoli & La Famiglia as accompaniments.
“Me eat more pan bread prease Mummy”? Lucky I always buy extra!
My family loves garlic bread. It really completes a pasta dinner.
Shopping on a budget has it’s obvious limitations but I try to make our dinners special right from the beginning with careful planning. Shopping in season helps, as does watching out for sales on our staples. Saving in some areas allows me to splurge on others so still get to enjoy the brands and products we love. Pasta and garlic bread is one of the few meals that we get to enjoy together as a family as our daughter can be a fussy eater.
Food decorating! . So that they’re more fun and special to eat. For example: heart shaped omelettes , dinosaur shaped bread, and flower shaped carrots. I also add yummy surprises. Like bacon crumbs on top of garlic breads. Mmm.
I love to let master 4 help in some way. This helps him learn why we eat certain foods and makes the time preparing fun
One of the ways we take our family meals from simple to special is to get our kids to help out with the actual preparation of the food.
Whether it be to crack the egg, or spread the sauce on the pizza dough, or pour the pancake mix. The list goes on.
This way our kids feel involved and when we eat the meal we make sure we comment on how much yummier it is because of their help.
Let’s say a plate of pasta is pretty simple, I spice it up by a sprinkling some home grown basil and homemade olive oil over it. The fam loves it!
On baked potatoes I add cream cheese then sprinkle crispy Bacon pieces on top…mmmmmm……bacon makes everything taste better!
By sitting down as a family to eat and chat about our day. That’s what a good meal is really all about!
I make meals special by getting the kids to help. They are more invested and likely to eat something if they have helped to make it. Especially homemade pizzas. Plus it’s a special bonding experience to share with them while they are young.
All the family is involved in the meal – from preparing the food, cooking, laying the table etc, everyone has a job… that way we all feel part of the occasion and we get to enjoy it even more
We add ambiance…sometimes that might mean candles and fancy cutlery, other times it’s eating outside on a picnic rug.
Make no mistake
when it comes to what we make
My girls take the cake
Love homemade with nothing fake
Each week, my children are each given one night where they choose the meal for the family and get to cook it themselves (under my supervision). This makes it special for them and they learn cooking skills and I get two nights off cooking too which is a bonus.