Tomato Alfredo Pasta

This recipe is super easy and so delicious! It’s a great way to change-up a regular tomato or Alfredo sauce! If you’d rather keep it a little more on the lighter side, you can always lessen the amount of the Alfredo sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb Farfalle pasta (or any kind you prefer)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 – 28oz. can diced tomatoes
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves chopped
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP butter
• 3/4 cup of half and half
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Boil pasta according to directions.  I like mine al dente so it’s not too over cooked.  Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.
• In a large sauce pan heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute.
• Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  If you like a thinner sauce you can substitute the diced tomatoes for a can of crushed tomatoes.  Or blend tomatoes in a blender or with an Emerson blender to get the consistency you like.
• In a separate pan, melt butter for the Alfredo sauce over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and stir until smooth and begins to brown.
• Whisk in half and half into the flour mixture and season with salt and pepper.
• Bring to a simmer and whisk continuously until thickened.
• Whisk in parmesan cheese.  The sauce will get pretty thick at this point, so this is where you will add in the past water you reserved.  You may not need it all, so add it in a little at a time. You just want to thin out the sauce a little bit.
• Add the basil to the tomato sauce and stir together.
• Add the Alfredo sauce to the tomato sauce and mix together and then add your pasta to the sauce and mix well together.
• Serve and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Dark chocolate bark with almonds and cranberries

Chocolate and I are best friends. Seriously. I have different shaped candy bowls at my desk that I use depending on the season/holiday that are constantly full of some sort of chocolate to help get me through the work day. I have my mother to thank for those candy bowls, every holiday I seem to collect a new one.  But you can never be frustrated or upset when you have a bowl of chocolate sitting next to you. So I’m dedicating my first post to chocolate.  This is probably one of the simplest things you can make but while I test out some recipes and make some adjustments, I thought I’d start with something sweet! Enjoy!
Ingredients:

• 10 oz dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup of dried sweetened cranberries ( save a small amount to sprinkle on top)
• 1/4 cup of sliced almonds roughly chopped (save a small amount to sprinkle on top)

Line a small pan with parchment paper.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler — Simmer a pot of water (not boiling, or you could burn the chocolate) place a heat-resistant bowl over the pot and add chocolate, stirring constantly until melted and smooth.  Add in your cranberries and almonds and stir.  Take off heat and pour into pan lined with parchment paper.  Spread chocolate as evenly as possible and sprinkle with remaining cranberries and almonds.  Place in fridge for about 3 hours until completely cooled and hardened.  When ready, break into small pieces and serve!

Thats it! Super simple, quick and easy but will definitely satisfy anyone with a chocolate craving!