My family has some kind of a pasta dish at least 1-2 times per week. Pasta tends to be a budget friendly meal and it’s a personal favorite of every family member, including myself.
I try and mix things up a bit from time to time so my family doesn’t get bored with having pasta so often. Sometimes I use a different flavored sauce, other times I add different things to the pasta like meatballs or fresh peppers. We even have Spaghetti Tacos from time to time (yes, we eat spaghetti in a taco shell compliments of iCarly :-)).
My mother in law used to make your sauce from scratch. Well, I call is sauce, her and my husband called it gravy. For my post I’ll go with sauce (just to drive my husband nuts since chances are he’ll read this post).
We used to invite my mother in law up for dinner from time to time when she was still alive. I would always use sauce from a jar. She used to cringe whenever she found out I was making something with jarred sauce. She couldn’t understand why I didn’t make it from scratch. I used to use the excuse that I had an infant and a toddler (at that time) so I wasn’t physically able to. Mean while my mother in law had six children and she still had time to make the sauce. The reality is that it was just easier to open a jar.
I recently had the opportunity to try out two sauces from famed celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. Chef Puck has teamed up with the Campbell’s Soup Company to create four delicious varieties of restaurant inspired sauces including…
– Four Cheese
– Arrabbiata
– Tomato Basil
– Creamy Vodka
All of the sauces are 100% natural too. They are ideal for any pasta dish you make as well as for using on homemade pizzas (I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!).
My family had the opportunity to try both the Arrabbiata and the Four Cheese.
I used the Arrabbiata on regular penne pasta. It was a big change compared to what we’re used to. The Arrabbiata has a “kick” to it. It’s made with red peppers and spices. Normally I just use a regular marinara sauce or a meat sauce. The penne tasted a lot different with a spicy sauce. It wasn’t too spicy but it did add a zest of flavor to the meal.
It was nice to change up a simple meal by just swapping out the plain marinara we usually use with something with a bit more pizzazz to it.
I used the Four Cheese sauce with stuffed shells. Stuffed Shells really don’t need too much added to them (they are yummy enough “as is”). I thought the Four Cheese would add just enough of a different taste to them without being too overpowering. I was right. The Four Cheese made the stuffed shells have more of a “gourmet” quality to them. Even my daughter commented on how it tasted like stuff shells from a restaurant. But they weren’t. They were pre-made frozen stuff shells topped with Wolfgang Puck’s Four Cheese sauce.
My daughter was correct. Wolfgang Pucks sauces does turn a plain meal into a gourmet, restaurant quality meal, with just the simple addition of one of his sauces.
Here are two yummy recipes you can try out yourself at home that utilize one of Wolfgang Pucks amazing sauces.
CHICKEN BREAST WITH HAM, PROVOLONE, ROSEMARY AND WOLFGANG PUCK’S CREAMY VODKA SAUCE
(recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck)
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves, skinless, boneless, about 8 ounces each
4 slices prosciutto or any thinly-sliced ham
4 slices provolone cheese
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of chile flakes
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tablespoons white wine
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 ounces Wolfgang Puck’s Creamy Vodka Sauce
4 tablespoons buttered bread crumbs
Basil oil, for garnish
Fried basil leaves, for garnish
Directions:
Pound chicken breasts with mallet until 1/4 inch thick, then season each piece with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place 1 slice of ham and cheese on each. Tuck in sides and roll up as for jelly roll. Skewer with bamboo skewer or tie. In medium size bowl add olive oil, pinch of chile flakes, rosemary, white wine, salt and pepper, and Wolfgang Puck’s Creamy Vodka Sauce. Whisk ingredients together and pour in to a baking dish. Place rolled chicken breast on top of sauce.
Sprinkle top of chicken with buttered bread crumbs, cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil, and place in pre-heated 400 degrees oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook chicken breasts until bread crumbs turn golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Remove from oven let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with a little basil oil and fried basil leaves. Serve with Parmesan Tomato Risotto.
SPINACH LASAGNA WITH WOLFGANG PUCK’S FOUR CHEESE SAUCE
(recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck)
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients:
3/4 pound lasagna pasta
1 pound spinach leaves, washed, stemmed, but not dried
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1-1/2 pounds ricotta cheese
3 cage-free eggs
5 cups Wolfgang Puck Four Cheese Sauce
1/4 Parmesan cheese, grated
3 cups shredded mozzarella
Directions:
Bring to a boil a large pot of water. Lightly salt the water, and cook the pasta until al dente. Remove with a slotted spoon, rinse under cold water, and set on a clean, dry towel until ready to assemble the lasagna.
Make the filling: Cook spinach with the water that clings to the leaves after washing, just until wilted. Drain thoroughly, and chop coarsely. In a small skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic and chile flakes as desired, and sauté briefly. Add the spinach and sauté just until the spinach is coated with the oil mixture. Season lightly with salt, chop and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, eggs, 5 tablespoons of Wolfgang Puck’s Four Cheese Sauce and 1 tablespoon of the grated parmesan cheese. Season generously with black pepper and salt to taste.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oil a baking tray and the inside of six 4-inch tart rings. Arrange pasta in a baking dish.
To assemble each lasagna, layer lasagna pasta. Spread some of the spinach mixture over the pasta. Repeat process two more times. Place final pasta on top, sprinkle with mozzarella and a little more Parmesan cheese. Repeat with the remaining pasta, spinach mixture, Wolfgang Puck’s Four Cheese Sauce and Parmesan cheese. (At this point, the lasagna needs to be refrigerated for 30 minutes before you are ready to bake them.)
Bake until the cheese has melted and the lasagna is nicely browned, about 20 to 25 minutes.
In a medium sauce pot, heat the remaining Wolfgang Puck’s Four Cheese Sauce and pour generously over pieces of lasagna once served.
These look SO GOOD! I can’t wait to try them out with my family. Mmm!!! 🙂
If you would like to learn more about Wolfgang Puck’s sauces please visit www.WolfgangPuck.com/Italian-Sauces. You can also follow Wolfgang Puck on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/WolfgangPuck. He is also on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/WolfgangBuzz and on YouTube, www.YouTube.com/User/WolfgangBuzz.
Kimberly
*I received free product samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinion expressed is my own and not influneced in any way.
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