Roasted Fennel and Sausage Pasta

I have really come to love fennel, or anise as they call it here. It's sweet and fresh and crisp. It's delicious raw and roasted. We're big fans of it now. I also have become a big fan of sausage. I never was a huge fan of pork sausage because it felt so fatty, it always made me feel a little sick. But turkey sausage is another matter. You get the wonderful flavour of sausage, but it's so much leaner! Since sausage has fennel in it, I thought it had to be the perfect thing to pair with roasted fennel. This is one of our favourite pasta dishes now and it's so easy and cheap!

Ingredients:
1 large fennel bulb, tops removed (save the frilly green part, called the fennel fronds) and outside, tough layer of bulb removed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
12 oz turkey sausage, casings removed
1/4 c chopped sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
1/3 c chicken stock
8 oz Penne pasta
Parmesan cheese to top

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. After the top of the fennel and the outside layer has been removed, cut it through the middle and cut the core out of the bulb on both sides. Chop the remaining fennel and put on a baking sheet. Toss with just enough olive oil to coat the fennel pieces and season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until the fennel starts to look golden.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 tsp of olive oil. Add the turkey sausage and break up into small pieces. Once sausage is mostly browned and cooked through, add the chopped sun dried tomatoes. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat to medium high and cook until all the liquid is evaporated. Add the cooked fennel to the pan and add the cooked, drained pasta. Top with Parmesan cheese and some of the fennel fronds that have been chopped

Sugar Free Peach Crostata

Ingredients:
1 sugar free pie crust, unbaked (I just used my favourite pie dough recipe and left out the sugar)
2 large ripe peaches
1-2 T honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Thinly slice your peaches and put the slices in a medium bowl. Taste one of the slices and add honey based on how sweet your peaches are. If your peaches are tart you'll want 2 T of honey, maybe even more. My peaches were pretty sweet so I only used about 1 T. Add the cinnamon and lemon juice and toss to coat the peaches in everything and set aside. Roll out your pie crust to about 10-11 inches in diameter and move to a baking sheet. Arrange the peach slices in the middle of the pie dough, leaving about an inch border around the edges. Gently fold the pie dough border over the peaches and gently press on to the peaches. It's a rustic dessert so don't worry about it looking perfect. Carefully spoon some of the juices in the bottom of the peach bowl over the peaches in the center. I used all of the juice in mine, it was about 1/4 c of liquid. Bake for 45 minutes or until crust is starting to brown and peaches are cooked through.

Cheap Eats: Chinese Noodles

When you're on a budget like we are, a few good cheap meals in your repertoire can really save your food budget some months. This is a dish my mom made all the time when we were growing up and I never really liked it as a kid. But when we were just in Utah visiting my mom mentioned something about Chinese Noodles and I had totally forgotten about them. I thought I would like them now that I'm an adult so I made them pretty soon after we got back from Utah and I did like them! Easy, cheap and not bad tasting either. Not a gourmet meal by any stretch, but what meal is that costs $1 or so a serving?

Ingredients:
2 c water
2 packages Ichiban (or top ramen), broken into fourths
Olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
4 eggs, well beaten
2 limes
Lemon pepper

Add water and seasoning packages from Ichiban to a large frying pan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile heat about a tablespoon of olive oil up in another frying pan over medium heat and add the onion. Cook for a minute or two and add the green pepper. Once water is boiling, add Ichiban pieces and cook for about a minute over medium heat. Flip noodles over and cook for another minute. Add the tomato to the onions and peppers. When the water from the noodles is almost all gone, stir in the beaten eggs. Add the veggies and stir to combine. Season to taste with lemon pepper and lime juice.