The past week was hectic around our house.
I hosted our high school?s annual debate tournament on Saturday, Joey came home with all kinds of stories from his adventures at a wedding in Texas and I spent a few evenings at the school for parent-teacher conferences. (As a side note, I had some very pleasant conversations, and it was a nice reminder that my students are all so awesome because they have awesome parents, too.)
To say that we were exhausted was a bit of an understatement. The only one with any energy in our house was the schnauzer, and even she was game to sit on the couch.
Needless to say, cooking was not high on my ?want to? list this week, so I decided to try something that looked quick and easy: enchilada pasta. It?s a one-pan meal, so it was not only quick to make but quick to clean up as well.
The recipe comes from a blog called ?No. 2 Pencil.? You can find it at http://www.number-2-pencil.com/ 2013/12/09/one-pan-enchilada-pasta/.
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One-Pan Enchilada Pasta
Ingredients
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of a small onion, diced
1 pound ground turkey or beef
1 packet of taco seasoning
2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (or use water)
19 ounces red enchilada sauce (get whatever spice level you like)
8 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) uncooked rotini pasta (I used penne)
2 cups Mexican-style cheese
Directions
Brown the turkey/beef, garlic and onion until the meat is cooked through and crumbled in the pan.
Drain any grease.
Add the taco seasoning, chicken broth, enchilada sauce and pasta, stir, and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and put a lid on the pan. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and stir. Let simmer for another five minutes with the lid off.
Add about one and one-half cup of cheese to the pan and mix in.
Add the rest of the cheese and place the lid back on the pan for a minute or so to let it get nice and melted on top.
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The blog suggests serving this with black olives and green onions on top, which I think would be really good. It really does taste a lot like eating enchiladas.
The one thing I?ll caution you on is to make sure you have a nice, big pan to make this in. I cooked this in my regular skillet, and it was overflowing a bit when I brought everything to a boil.
The nice thing about this recipe is that not only can you make it in less than 30 minutes, it makes quite a bit of pasta, and it reheated well for leftovers, which was another blessing for our busy week.
I?m hoping that this week will be a little less hectic, but even if it isn?t, I?ll make up some pasta and go to bed early?that is if the schnauzer will let me.
When not helping husband Joey with newspaper work, Lindsey teaches speech, debate and forensics at Haven High School. She can be reached at lindseyclarion@gmail.com.
